Between the Idea

And the Reality

Between the motion
And the act

Falls the Shadow


Between the conception
And the creation

Between the emotion
And the response

Falls the Shadow”

From “The Hollow Men” by TS Eliot.

A trait of leaders and individuals who lead successful transformation is that they excel in overcoming the gap between the idea and reality.

They achieve real and measurable organizational and business transformation.

They understand that the shadow is the gap between the plan and the outcome, the strategy deck and the business results, the possibility and the achievement.

Transformational leaders recognize that the single biggest challenge as well as the best enabler of overcoming the gap is focussing on people/talent inside and client’s future needs outside.

After the strategies, the acquisitions and the re-organizations nothing is really achieved.

Everything is easy in a Board Room or Consultant Deck but people get in the way.

But once people are aligned nothing is impossible.

Because companies do not transform. People do.

Seven Steps.

Alignment takes time and successful leaders are always managing transformation through a seven step program that closes the gap.

1) Confronting reality: Transformation means change and since change is difficult it must be made clear that there is no option but to change. Usually some combination of changes in peoples behavior and technology advancements gives rise to completely different business models, competitive sets or market expectations. The lack of urgency or clarity about the need to change is the most common reason transformations fail. This is sometimes true with companies led by long time leaders comfortable in the ways of the past who have high margin current businesses.

World class leaders and companies are never defeated. They decide to defeat themselves by chanting the following mantras:

Cannot sacrifice margin.

New competitors and markets are too niche or too unsophisticated.

Customer and clients will not accept the change.

We do not have the skills and this sounds like a different business.

All true. But that is why leaders are paid. Not to state the obvious but to take the company to tomorrow.

The single biggest driver of success is leaders who look at reality in the eye and do not turn away. They face the shadow.

And then they lead the company and themselves across it.

2)Simple and frequent communication: Change must be communicated again and again in simple ways. The use of analogies and stories. Examples from other industries. Progress updates. All in language that is human and understandable versus some corporate buzzword bingo.

This communication is not just internal but with Clients and the Analysts if the company is public as well as with suppliers and partners. Share the road map of where and why the changes are happening and why they provide future competitive advantage.

3) Realistic empathy: Transformation is always painful because it requires us to twist ourselves into new forms. To navigate a period of uncertainty and doubt. In the metamorphosis between a caterpillar and a butterfly there is a very ugly larval stage. It is important to signal the difficulty and commiserate with the challenges. Be aware there will be setbacks and pushbacks and often mid-journey corrections when one is deep in the shadow.

4) Detailing of personal benefits: To cross into the unknown and to take a risk there must be a clarification of what the benefits to the individual are versus just to the company. For instance they will learn relevant skills, be more promotable or be more hire able. Most employees do not have enough equity or long term loyalty to a company to be told that if it is good for the company it is good for them.

5) Aligned incentives: Successful leaders know that if they want to create new skills, new approaches and new behaviors they need to incentivize those new skills. When firms fail to navigate the shadow of transition it is usually because the incentive systems are still aligned to the business model and power structure of yesterday.

6) Investment in upgrading the talent mental operating system: Without a significant investment in training of new skills needed for the new world it is hard to transform. While some talent will be acquired from outside, successful leaders ensure that existing workers are provided with ways to upgrade their mental operating systems.

7) No sacred cows: This is the hardest in many ways. To succeed Domino’s decided their fifty year pizza recipe sucked and they were a pizza logistics company and not just a pizza company. Microsoft dropped its focus on Windows and eliminated the Windows operating division. Adobe dropped packaged software and moved past a creative only focus.

No division, no employee and no past tradition should be sacrosanct except that decisions must be legal, ethical, scientifically aligned and have a high chance of delivering mid to long term financial success.

Check how many of these seven steps you or your company are undertaking.

Also these seven steps are not just ways to transform companies but to transform ourselves to make ourselves more aligned with tomorrow. We need to face our own personal realities. Understand that change sucks. Invest in learning. Be willing to unlearn and let go.

The future does not fit in the containers of the past or the mindsets of the past.

Every one of us as and individual and a leader can transform and soar.

Now available for pre-order. More about the book including table of contents, endorsements from CEO’s, Deans and Futurists and places to pre-order:

Rishad Tobaccowala focusses on modern leadership and helping people see, think and feel differently about how to grow themselves, their teams and business. More here: