… the change on the outside of your organization or the change on the inside of your organization?
This is the million – maybe billion-dollar – question for every executive.
The only quote I have ever liked from Jack Welch:
The underlying question that is really on the mind of every executive leader is… how do we not become the next Kodak, Circuit City, or Blockbuster?
If you are gifted enough to be the next futurist like Marshall McLuhan, then great.
Or if you’re a writer for Harvard Business Review, you may have said something this simple about the current pace of change:
- It’s perpetual — occurring all the time in an ongoing way
- It’s pervasive — unfolding in multiple areas of life at once
- It’s exponential — accelerating at an increasingly rapid rate
The reality?
For most executives, they are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
The vast majority of organizations are dealing with change fatigue, burnout, and a feeling of disconnect greater than ever before.
They feel like they are falling behind each day.
Marc gets it.
We all know what got us here is not going to get us there.
How do we fight the gravity of the past which served us so well?
This was the core theme of my TEDx talk from 2022, and one of the reasons I believe we landed at #40 on the list out of 15,900 talks – Who Says We Have To Do It This Way?
Executives are faced with impossible decisions of how to do more with less, keep up with the competition and have their heads on a swivel.
While this is happening, most executives feel ignored.
They send out emails to address the opportunities and challenges they see… and yet only ~70% of employees open the emails and 45% read the email in less than nine seconds.
(read that again)
And if they want to kick it old school, they call a scheduled meeting. Considering the 252% jump in weekly time spent in meetings since 2020, we know more meetings only add to the pain – ultimately leading to burnout.
It’s never been harder to get everyone on the same page, right?
This is the conundrum.
For most executives, it’s hard to read the label on the jar you are in, which is why we recently wrote about how the role of a CEO has changed.
If this is all true, then what?
Here’s where Latch comes to shine.
The world's first tool for CEOs and executives who need to get everyone on the same page without scheduling more meetings.
It’s a simple weekly cadence:
- See something
- Say something
- Invite your team to do something
That’s right… The biggest unlock for leaders is leaning into this weekly rhythm.
Your message doesn’t have to center around the strategic plan for the next three years.
Or even the big rocks for the next quarter.
Latch enables leaders to hone their team’s focus for the coming week.
If the pace of change is moving faster than you can move the organization, start running a shorter race.
Our Head of Product Jess Greenwood recorded this quick video to step through a real-life example of what happens when this idea is put into practice.
So what happened?
The CEO had confidence that his people truly heard him.
More than that, the CEO could see the actionable next steps that his team was committing to in order to move this plan forward.
That feedback loop was the unlock to genuinely driving clarity, alignment, and action.
As leaders, we're always craving better.
In 20+ years of working with thousands of leaders and 600+ organizations, I’ve never met an executive who goes to bed every night with nothing on their mind.
They are ruminating on the next 10 ideas for how to make their organization better. Unfortunately, there’s no effective way to disseminate these thoughts and ideas – unless they want to send an email no one reads or schedule another meeting no one wants to attend.
One simple way to increase the speed of your organization is to shorten the game with a brief yet impactful touchpoint each week. It’s how you can empower your team to see something, say something, and do something about it.
Ultimately, don’t we all want to feel like we are winning and contributing to the whole?
Instead of spending endless hours crafting email updates and hosting more meetings, consider how Latch can asynchronously inspire hundreds of actions from your team on a weekly basis.
If you take action, your team will too.
