Vardell Blog Part 10: Make It Stick – Or – Did You Cross the Finish Line?

Make It Stick – Or Did You Cross the Finish Line?

By Dave Vardell

If you told my two grown sons this phrase “ don’t stop until you cross the finish line” they would immediately ask “Do you know my Dad?”  Guilty as charged.  If we don’t create sustainable change have we really accomplished our job as leaders?  I think not.

Some would say for a leader to have a legacy they must “Make It Stick”.  I am sure that is true but for me if a leader has integrity he must “Make It Stick”.  Otherwise, those led will rightly consider him or her disingenuous.  Leadership is tough isn’t it?  We never get a break.  A colleague of mine once said he was going to write a book someday that would be entitled “Nobody Buys Me Lunch”.  Why, I said?  “Because I am surrounded by customers – even employees!”  We always must cross the finish line.  But when we do and we do it repeatedly we have a peace that surpasses all understanding.  We are truly “Leaders”.

I was just at an event this week talking with a gentleman about Change Leadership and our client’s experiences.  We discussed the essential requirement of developing trust and he said, “Too many people had BEEN lied to and cheated of trust.  In fact, he mentioned Michael Covey’s book (I mentioned in my earlier article), The Speed of Trust.  He liked the book but did not believe it could be done.  He has a lot of life experiences that comprises his deeply held belief.  I understand his pain.  But, I haven’t given up.  Have you?

Here, I have chosen to focus on the essential of “leadership follow-through”.  As you know, if you have read my prior articles, I have dedicated this series of blogs to Kotter’s “8 Steps of Change”.  In those prior blogs I have illustrated using my own early career experiences and how we applied those same principals though not perfectly.  I will leave you to search on your own, “Making It Stick”, where Kotter outlines the key principles for lasting benefit to the company, employees and others who stand to gain.  (Kotter’s The Heart of Change Chapter 8 page 159).

For now, I plea with those of you in leadership positions or aspiring to such responsibility to lead, as Jim Collins outlined in Good To Great, as

a “Level 5, Servant Leader” and nothing less.  Best wishes in these most turbulent of times.

As always, I value your comments and insights, so please send them to dave@totalvaluepartners.com