Don't push me

Last summer I was facilitating a leadership breakout session. I started the session out with a simple exercise:

I had the group split into two and face each other. They then put their hands up in front of them and gently put their hands against their partner's. At that point I told the group facing me to push. The results were predictable: the group that was being pushed, pushed back. This is human nature - we do not want to be pushed around - we don't want to lose control of ourselves or our situation.

One of the challenges of leadership / management is getting people to do things that they might not want to do, but are important. We need to push.

After everyone had sat down, the next question was: "what if the person pushing you had told you that a piano was falling and they needed to get you out of the way so you wouldn't get hurt (or killed!)?" The unanimous answer was "push all you want."

This is the key. People will allow themselves to be pushed or directed if they see there is some benefit to them. Too often management simply gives orders without explanation. The response is push back. It might be in the form of grumbling, complaints among employee groups, or even outright mutiny. All bad.

Take two minutes to explain what you are doing, or better yet, find a way to relate it to how it might benefit the people doing it. You'll find the pushing goes a lot easier.