79ENGAGEMENT AND LEADER
LOGICS
Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their
minds without prejudice and without fearing
to understand things that clash with their own
customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is
not common, but it is essential for right thinking.
— Leo TolstoyToo many change plans are downright harebrained and silly. How
do they get so offtrack? It often comes down to leaders ’ not under-
standing the importance of readiness in planning and imple-
menting change. We once worked with an organization whose
future - state picture of itself was so dramatically different from
its current reality that we asked its leaders how they planned to
develop such new capability. In response, they showed us a spread-
sheet that proved they had enough head count. Sorry. Head count
does not equal talent. Availability is not a skill. Amid excitement
about big stretch goals, leaders sometimes confuse aspiration and
capability.
But what exactly does transformation require from you and
other senior leaders?
First, as this chapter explains, it requires you. No change effort
gets off the ground without leader engagement. By engagement we
mean a deep Inside - Out process. Engagement is not telling; it is
asking. It is including others as equal, collaborative inquirers mutu-
ally engaged in the process of fi guring out how to address complex
challenges. As we illustrated in Chapter Three , Inside - Out is a