Leadership 2000 and Beyond Enabling Change: The Vertical Turtle
by Dr. R. Glenn Ray

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Let me relate a story that happened to me to illustrate this point. Some years ago in July a weather front came through Marietta dumping four to five inches of rain on the surrounding area. After the rain had subsided, I took this opportunity to visit my favorite hiking trial which followed a small stream swollen out of its banks by the flood. As I walked down the trail, I suddenly saw in the distance a blur of yellow. It attracted my eye as I moved toward it.

Once I got closer, I realized that the yellow was from the undershell of a box turtle. It was stuck straight up in the mud - a vertical turtle. Needless to say, I was surprised by the turtle`s predicament. While pondering his turmoil, I suddenly noticed that a large landslide had occurred which ripped the turtle out of his safe burrow and deposited him vertically in a four-wheeler rut in the path.

Realizing the nature of this event, I connected it to the chaos and change with which many of my clients struggle daily. The catastrophic change had unexpectedly snatched the turtle out of its comfort zone and thrust it into a new, unique experience. Employees who had been rewarded for independent work are suddenly shoved into teams. Managers who have managed by memos and dictates suddenly are forced onto e-mail and the Internet to be successful. We can`t stop change nor should we if we could. The trick is in how to survive it and help others survive it.

So with this realization in mind, I stuck my walking stick behind the turtle`s shell, popped him out, washed him off in the stream, and set him on the grass. My role in the turtle`s life was as a change enabler; I helped it survive a catastrophic event which had impacted him through no fault of his own.

I believe that we should look for opportunities to be change enablers with subordinates, peers, and other organizational members. Help others by teaching them what you know and learning from them. Help them put events in perspective when stress is building. Help them by communicating the whys behind organizational initiatives. Effective leaders are those who take on the responsibility of enabling all employees to survive the change of today`s organizational life.