Revelation above Salvation

In my experience it happens a little too often.

A new appointee to a senior role is about to arrive. The hopes of the organisation, or of part of it, are pinned upon this appointment.

All will be well once they are here. Look what they have done elsewhere – if we just appoint her/him then we will turn things around.

Salvation.

Is this real?

Is this realistic?

Is this setting up the new appointee, or the business, for success or for failure?

Could it be that those expectations are precisely the kind of interference which would get in the way of most people? Is it really ever the case that one person can change everything?

What I believe to be true is that the route to organisational change is not through salvation … although some careful appointments, including a new CEO, may be part of it.

It is through revelation.

By which I mean something like “the act of revealing or communicating organisational truth”.

And this takes time, there is no quick fix. It requires careful exploration, appreciative enquiry, debate, challenge, soul-searching.

It can be aided by an external catalyst (I’m happy, often, to play that part) but it is, in its essence, an organisation and its leaders choosing to look very hard at themselves and to devise then drive actions which will deliver fundamental change.

So I say: be wary of salvation.

Be aware of the need for revelation.