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Home » Business And Finance Articles » In Leadership The Critical Convergence Drives Great Results

In Leadership, The Critical Convergence Drives Great Results

The Leader's Fallacy lives! We subscribe to the Fallacy when we believe our enthusiasm with a particular leadership challenge is automatically reciprocated by the people we lead.

If ignorance is bliss then leaders going around blithely adhering to the Leader's Fallacy have cornered the market on happiness.

The truth is, it's more realistic to believe in INVERSE RECIPROCITY: i.e., whatever motivates you, "DE-motivates" the people.

That's especially so for leaders who are trying to motivate people to meet extraordinary challenges.

You'll never know how good you are as a leader unless you are motivating others to be better than they think they are. In that endeavor, you'll inevitably get at least some of the people angry.

Most people are settled into a comfortable status quo and resent being challenged to break out.

But if you aim to lead people to get great results, they not only have to be pushed but more importantly, they must be challenged to push themselves.

They will only push themselves to accomplish extraordinary things for you when they share in your enthusiasms. That sharing is called critical convergence, the joining of your enthusiasms and theirs so they are as enthusiastic as you about meeting the challenges you face. Until a critical convergence happens, you can't get great results consistently.

Don't think the critical convergence will happen automatically. You must work hard to achieve it.

After all, you yourself must be motivated about those challenges. If you're not motivated, you shouldn't be leading. But your motivation is irrelevant simply because it's a given.

Here's what's relevant: Can you transfer your motivation to the people so they are as motivated as you are? And can you translate their motivation into action that achieves results?

Everyone has major needs that shape their thinking and their actions day in and day out. If you want those people to take ardent action for you, you must provide solutions to the problems of those needs so the action you have them take brings them closer to realizing those solutions.

By the way, the critical convergence is not "win/win". It's much deeper and richer. Unlike "win/win", the critical convergence is an on-going relationship process from which flow mutually beneficial expectations and solutions.

Here are three steps you can take to help make a critical convergence happen.

(1) Understand their needs.

(2) Turn their needs into problems.

(3) Have their commitment to your cause be a solution to their problems.

To get the best out of people, we must embrace the best in them. Whenever you need to lead people to tackle important challenges, recall the Leader's Fallacy. Don't be taken in by it. Know that their commitment to your cause doesn't come automatically. You have to earn it by embracing the best of who they are. Take the trouble to build a critical convergence. You'll see a significant jump in results.

2006 © The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in newsletters and on web sites provided attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not required: mail to: brent@actionleadership.com

And here is another random article you might be interested in...

Are You Scared to Start a Home Based Business?

Every year more and more people are working from home, starting their own businesses. Men and women, even teenagers are starting their own home business ventures. In the last ten years work-at-home businesses have tripled, according to statistics. I think it's probably more than that actually. Just look at how many people make a living selling things on EBay!â„¢

It's no wonder really why so many people want to work at home and there are a vast amount of good reasons why.

The costs of traveling, including vehicle maintenance, the cost of gas, child-care, and dry-cleaning, are just a few good reasons why it's cheaper to stay home and work, right?!

Not having to answer to a boss or a supervisor is another great reason too. Being able to set your own hours and work when you want to work is a definite plus as well.

Some people can't see how they are going to do it though. I mean, how are you going to give up work and replace that income and not worry about how you are going to pay the bills? It's impossible, right? -- Wrong! -- It's not impossible, and it will take some hard work at first, and some extra working hours, but you can do it if you want to badly enough.

Choose a business that will allow you to work in your spare-time and keep your job, and you have eliminated the risks. This is not possible in all circumstances, but for the small business person, it's the ideal way to go. If this is not possible, make sure you set aside enough income to live on while you get your business established.

There's going to be some sacrifice in the short term, such as working extra hours in the week building your business. But those kind of sacrifices will still allow you to sleep at night and not put you in the poor house, thereby increasing your chances of success!

A lot of people do some "side work, or extra work" at first to gain customers or to save up some extra cash to start a business or pay for inventory. I know one mechanic who did some evening and weekend work so he could save enough money to buy his own tools and work out of his garage at home, for himself. Now that garage has grown into two workshops in his back yard and he employs another mechanic to help him out.

I have two friends who do the home parties. One lady sells Mary Kay and the other lady sells candles. Both are quite successful. The lady who sells the candles has only been doing so for just over eighteen months and her income exceeds $50,000 per year. Once you have the vision of working from home, you will find a way to make it happen.

You need DISCIPLINE AND MOTIVATION. That's as important as your business idea. You need to be a go-getter kind of person to have your own business. You need to be willing to get things off the ground yourself, and often willing to work for no financial return at first, or very little financial return. It helps to have vision; you have to sow the seeds to see the flowers. Overnight success is quite rare.

You can help yourself stay motivated by making a "to do list", and "working your business" every day in some small or big way. It doesn't really matter as long as you have a "plan" and keep chipping away at it until it happens. You hear people say all the time that you need to set your goals, well that's great advice, and a "to do list" will enable you to cross off things as you work through them, giving you a feeling of accomplishment as well.

If you really have the dream of working for yourself out of your home, it is possible, you just have to be determined to find a way to do it. Millions of people are realizing this dream, - you can make it happen for you too!

Copyright 2005 Simplistic Solutions