Stacking the Deck. Pottruck David S.

by staying the same.

      Link the Purpose and Mission

      In leading breakthrough change, we must first convince others – those to whom we report and those on our team – that our proposed change has a positive, necessary, and urgent purpose. To be convincing and to draw people to your leadership team, you have to be clear about the problem or opportunity you are tackling. First with the team and later with the larger organization, you've got to help people believe that the change facing them is actually progress. You will be most successful when you tie the change to the company's mission and show how the change will help achieve it.

      If you are rolling your eyes at this reference to the importance of the company's mission, you are not alone. Even though nearly every company has a mission statement that is communicated to all employees from virtually the day they enter the company, and perhaps even in the recruiting process, company mission statements often become a joke among employees. Mission statements simply aren't lived up to in many companies. In these cases, tying the proposed change to a mission that no one believes the company leaders really care about is doomed from the start.

      It is beyond the scope of this book to delineate the importance of establishing a strong company culture – the values the company lives by, the actions that make those values real, and a mission that inspires employee passion and commitment. And yet every executive interviewed for this book underscored the critical importance of employees believing in and feeling connected to the corporate culture. When employees believe in a mission, they get excited and passionate about contributing to the company's goals. Thus, connecting a breakthrough change to the company mission and explaining how it contributes to the mission can help employees see and appreciate why a change may be necessary – even critical – to the company's future success.

      With more than 25 years as a senior leader in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, Ginger Graham has a successful track history with change. Now the president and CEO of Two Trees Consulting, she made it clear that many of her largest opportunities and successes have been born of very difficult circumstances. Ginger well understands that “crisis opens the door for change and new solutions.” As an example, she explained that at age 37 she became CEO of a privately held business that was in turmoil after a number of leadership changes and product recalls. The company, Advanced Cardiovascular Systems, had leading technology in the world of interventional cardiology. But when Ginger came on board, they were losing market share and had received a warning letter from the FDA. There was finger-pointing and blaming; in those stressful times, she “quickly learned about people and how they operate.” Employees, people who were there for the mission, were disillusioned and worried about what would happen next. She was faced with a classic burning platform, a situation in which the need for change is obvious and immediate.