Attack the System, not the Person – A Leadership Communication Concept

Leadership communication is challenging, especially when a leader needs to get certain results from co-workers.  As the leader in my company, I sometimes need to get what I want when co-workers may not be doing things the way I need them to do.  I also love to empower my people.  When I can do both at the same time; when I can get what I need and empower people at the same time, I am really happy! One of my favorite core concepts for leadership communication is what I call “attack the system, not the person.”

When you are frustrated because you are not getting what you want from co-workers or employees, stop and think about what you really want.  Ask yourself what is missing from your business system that allows the frustration to continue. And ask what system can be created in order to get what you want.

Hold off on communicating with the co-worker until you are clear about what is missing from your business system. Instead of confronting the person, confront the system. Create a process that will fix the problem, make things work the way you want them to work and prevent yourself from future frustration.

Once you know what system is needed, ask the co-worker involved to help you create a system that will work for both of you.  Chances are that the other person also is frustrated and recognizes that something is not working. This communication concept offers no blame, no shame, no one is made wrong.  Only the system is attacked, not the person.  And Voila! Instantly you empower the other person to solve a problem for you and you get what you want.

One of my clients is the President of a growing company.  She was frustrated for weeks about the fact that some of her employees were not communicating fully with clients.  Serious problems had arisen in servicing their clients. In fact, one of her biggest clients actually pointed his finger in her face, told her she had a problem and she had better fix it.  She has been struggling with how to tell her employees that they are not doing a good job and how to train them to communicate more effectively.

In a coaching session, I helped her completely transformed her experience of the issue by looking at the situation not as a personnel problem but as a system problem.  She identified what was missing in the system that would allow information to be shared among employees and clients. Within two days, she had empowered her employees to co-create a new communication system.  Her employees were thrilled at the connection she established with them.  She got what she wanted and everyone in her company was happy.

As an exercise for yourself, think of a time when you could not get an employee or co-worker to do what you needed.  See if you can identify what was missing in your system that was causing the problem.  Consider how you could have asked the co-worker to help you create a system that would have solved the situation and made it a non-issue.

Can I help you help your people to develop the system that makes things run smoothly in your business? If so, reach out to me through the contact form.

I have resolved so many communication issues this way over two decades and with many co-workers. I hope this helps you do the same.