In an earlier blog, Lidia Swinkels, co-founder of Summiteers, explained why effective transformation requires close collaboration between content, process, and behavior. But there is something else that contributes to a better and faster result in change processes: a deep, personal connection with the people you work with.

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My piece of cake

Many consultants take their clients’ ineffective behaviors for granted. After all, that is not what they were hired for. Nor are they trained to pay close attention to this, because “other firms do that”. They focus on the decision the steering committee needs to make or the document that needs to be approved, and with that the job is done. A shame. When we started Summiteers, we very consciously decided to take a broader approach. I already explained this in an earlier blog. We always include the behavioral component. We often discuss this during the intake with the client. If we see ineffective behavior, we do not ignore it, but do something with it. In this way, in addition to the substantive question, you also contribute to the development of an individual and a team, which as a result not only functions better and more effectively, but also collaborates more smoothly. And yes, intervening on that behavior takes a little extra time, but in the long run it makes you much more effective.

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Deep connection leads to better and faster results

By also including behavior as a component in our assignments, we ultimately make collaboration smoother as well. This also makes working on a project much more enjoyable and effective for us. When you have conversations about personal effectiveness, or ineffectiveness, and the challenges that come with it, a deeper, personal connection quickly emerges with the people you work with. Of course, you can act as the distant consultant who observes from the sidelines, completes the task, and then leaves, but that is not what we choose to do. Because we gain deeper insight into someone’s interests and challenges, we can also be more effective in terms of content and process. There is understanding and trust, and as a result you simply work together much more effectively. That is not only more enjoyable, but the result also becomes much better and deeper, and ultimately you achieve it faster too.

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Being vulnerable takes courage

This approach asks a lot of us as advisors. In fact, you are playing chess on quite a few boards at the same time. You tackle a substantively complex issue, work on the process, think of the steps to be taken, the stakeholders, the communication, and at the same time you observe what is happening with an individual and within the team. By intervening on this, we help the organization and the process move forward. We think this is really powerful, and Paul and Dolf already wrote a blog about this before, but it also brings complexity with it. Substantive discussions are nice and safe, but talking about behavior touches on the personal. That requires us to dare to be vulnerable ourselves. And we do so gladly.

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Need help with strategy execution?

We are Summiteers. We create movement, make what is complex understandable again, make big things manageable, turn a vague idea into something concrete, and make difficult things succeed. Could you use help with this? Get in contact with us.

Interested, but not yet ready for the journey? Follow our LinkedIn page and get inspired.

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