Today, in the era of change, every transformation and change – irrespective of it being personal or organizational or social has a super hero who leads from the front. These heroes don’t wear a cape and are in disguise! They look like anyone of us or it can be within us.
We often identify superheroes as individuals with extraordinary strength, however each of us does possess something that makes us extraordinary. Whatever that something is, that’s your superpower, the source of your strength, and what defines you as a superhero.
It is a challenge to identify the crusaders or change agents within an organization or work environment, amongst various leaders trying to build sustainable performance and growth. Have you identified one yet in your organization or within yourself? These people are rare indeed, and they are the most important people in your organization.
One who champions the cause of change! It is must to accelerate the transformation journey! The first key ingredient for any organizational transformation are the Heroes – Value Adders (people who are running the show on the ground).
Rare identification of your Super heroes is not enough you have to rather support them and encourage them to work even harder for the development of both your organization as well as they themselves. But the question is how you will support your superheroes?
In any case, we are not discounting that any journey is a team journey. Super heros also need a team with whom he/ she can work and face all the challenges that comes their way to perform smoothly the transformation journey. Also you need to give them appropriate time and required resources to accomplish the targets. As there is no point in choosing the perfect heroes but not giving them the time, resources, and support to do their job.
For any organization, it is necessary to keep their Super Heroes engaged. Below are some tips of how organizations can keep their heroes engaged.
Support: Either from external experts, line managers, or peers. Organization can use a buddy system where inexperienced champions are matched up with experienced champions from different parts of the business. By communicating over the phone or even face to face interactions over the lunch or on the coffee table.
Training: Besides support, formalized training is a great way to keep people engaged and knowledgeable. This could be training in skill development or sustainability so people know the latest research and policies, or as a way to develop transferable skills that they can use in their day job – be it leadership, strategy planning, communication, or presentation.
Reward and Recognition: When they hit / succeed their goals it is important your heroes get the recognition they deserve. It is also important that this recognition comes from the top, especially if people are going above and beyond their job description. This doesn’t even need to be lavish, just knowing you are appreciated is usually enough.
So there you have it; identify your heroes by recognizing their extraordinary powers and abilities, unmask them and get them to join your team, then train and support them to reach their full potential. Together you can make any initiative a super success leading your organization towards business excellence.
Contributed & Adapted by: Aakash Borse & Raveena Rathi
