The Vision Driven Leader Question 8

Overcoming Resistance to Vision

• Resistance is a constant; all visions face hardships, setbacks, and disappointments.
• Responding effectively to resistance is crucial for vision-driven leaders.
• Environmental, social, and psychological factors cause resistance.

Environmental Resistance

• Organizations are often optimized for "business as usual," so initiating change can create inefficiencies.
• Launching new initiatives often forces leaders to take on tasks outside their expertise.
• Economic and technological limitations can also create environmental resistance.
• NASA lacked the computing power and knowledge of the lunar surface when President Kennedy set the moon mission goal.
• Evelyn Berezin had difficulty finding microprocessors for her word processor.
• Tim Cook dealt with crises at Apple's manufacturers in China.
• Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick had to change customers' perception for Uber.
• Sony's e-reader launch was hindered by contract issues with publishers.
• Overcoming environmental resistance leads to thriving visions, while failure to overcome it can lead to their demise.

Social Resistance

• Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis's discovery of the importance of hand-washing drastically reduced mortality rates, but his superior and fellow physicians rejected his ideas.
• Semmelweis's critics were outraged and ridiculed his insistence on hand-washing, which was a social reflex.
• The more Semmelweis attacked his critics, the more he was ostracized from the medical community.
• The Semmelweis reflex is opposing a new vision or understanding because it upsets the status quo.
• Vision-driven leaders often face the Semmelweis reflex, especially with daring ideas.
• The Semmelweis reflex can occur publicly or within an organization.
• Vision-driven leaders can bring energy, innovation, and growth, but they also question the status quo.
• Questioning the status quo can create instability and uncertainty for change-averse colleagues and bosses.

Psychological Resistance

• Psychological resistance occurs when doubt, anxiety, or fear of rejection prevent leaders from confidently selling their ideas.
• Leaders may question if their ideas are too radical, grand enough, or face resistance.
• The fear of failure or lack of resources can also trigger internal resistance.
• Staying connected to your "why" is essential to overcoming internal resistance.
• Remind yourself of the vision and why it matters.
• Keeping negative emotions at arm’s length is important.
• Recognizing negative emotions without letting them dictate actions enables you to keep moving forward.

Traits That Beat the Resistance

• Tenacity in the face of rejection.
• Integrity is tested by ethical compromise.
• Courage in the face of settling for less than success.

Tenacity

• Creatives experience many rejections.
• Creatives imagine stories, songs, and graphic art, and make many personal sacrifices.
• Rejection is often part of the creative process.
• Creatives will often get bad news such as their song not making the final album cut, the book failing to resonate with publishing boards, or the gallery having no room,
• Hermann Melville's Moby Dick was rejected by the publisher Bentley & Son.
• John Grisham had 40 rejections before landing a small deal and going on to sell over 300 million units in print.
• Staying the course with commitment to the vision is important, because the payoff is worth the pain.

Integrity

• Maintaining integrity is crucial when facing ethical compromises.
• One of Nelson Books' biggest authors advocated views divergent from mainstream, traditional Christianity.
• Publishing the book would conflict with the Christian market and violate corporate integrity.
• Canceling the book meant losing substantial revenue.
• The CEO of Thomas Nelson agreed to cancel the book because it was the right thing to do.
• Maintaining integrity earned the company trust and a successful year.

Courage

• Courage gives life to the vision once the initial enthusiasm wears off.
• Leaders face the decision of taking a stand for the original vision or conceding.
• Taking a stand for greatness requires commitment and playing full-out.
• Connecting with the original vision is essential; and remind yourself what's at stake.
• Listening to your heart and intuition can guide you.
• Speaking up and advocating for the vision is necessary of the leader and gives voice to your heart and go on the record.
• Being a stubborn is ok. There's a difference between that and being rude.
• Using humility helps withShouldering the load, sharing failures and sharing wins with the team.
• Humility unifies and pride divides.
• Resistance is predictable, preparing with tenacity, integrity, and courage is essential.

Resistance and Rewards

• The Apollo 1 disaster led to NASA redoubling their commitment and realizing Kennedy's vision.
• The Chrysler minivan vision was initially rejected but saved Chrysler from bottoming out.
• Steve Jobs was thrown out of Apple but returned and saved the company with the iPhone.
• Semmelweis's vision of hand-washing triumphed after his death, saving countless lives.
• The vision-driven leader is committed to designing and pursuing a desirable future outcome for their organization, and recognize resistance is part of realizing their vision.
• To become the most effective vision-driven leader, tenacity, integrity, and courage are essential.