There are two things every leader wants from their organization: Predictability and Reliability.
To tell you the truth, every stakeholder wants these two things from every organization – they’re that important. Take the stock market for example. In the stock market, if you project results and then deliver or exceed those results you are rewarded, and if you fail you are punished. In the government, if an elected official can be relied upon to do what he or she has promised, they stay in office, and if not they end up being voted out. Not for profit organizations are answerable to their funders in the same way—providing the expected results in the expected time. Even employees want to count on their jobs to be there and that they are able to do their jobs in an environment with predictable methods, policies, and procedures.
These two main factors are important for professionals, customer service, education, and, many would argue, popular entertainment like television and music. Even household products! Being predictable means we can measure where we are and where we should be. Reliability is about trust. Can you trust this person, company, or organization to deliver on its promises? We all want the people, things, and organizations to do what they are supposed to do.
When a company decides to change they become, as far as people are concerned, unpredictable. There is doubt among employees, shareholders, and customers about the company’s ability to fulfil its promises even if it has reliably done so in the past. “Why the change?” they ask, “If it’s not broke don’t fix it” they say, “and if it is broke that must mean it’s all over!”
As a leader, navigating a large organizational change is one of the hardest tasks to accomplish, because it is accompanied by doubt and fear from all sides. Remember your goals, and keep reminding your employees, customers and shareholders that this change will be for the better. Steering your organization through the change curve and back to a more-comfortable state of reliability and predictability may be one of your greatest leadership challenges. Have confidence in yourself, and faith that the effort will be worth it and you will be successful.
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 David Swain, BSc Mgmt., MSOD, CEC, PCC with over 30 years’ experience in both coaching the leaders of large organizations and leading them himself.
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