Do You Know the Root of the Problem?

By Marianne Renner, Leadership Coach, Author, Keynote Speaker

After wrapping up a speaking engagement in Vermont recently, I went for a hike through the Green Mountain National Forest.

I came across a fallen tree that had been completely uprooted.

The root base was at least 6 feet high!

I wondered about the other trees whose roots are still beneath the surface. How much bigger do they actually grow?

That got me thinking about us humans.

We also have roots hiding beneath the surface.

We see a leader in the workplace who micromanages. Or we see employees who resist new ideas.

But we don’t see the root cause of that behavior. And trust me, there’s always a root cause.

If we don’t find the root, we don’t change the behavior.

We spend a lot of time talking about how to create accountability. We have countless meetings about how to improve performance.

But if we don’t address the root cause, we can’t really change anything.

Don’t.
If you’re a leader trying to get a different behavior from your team, stop trying to make them behave differently.

Do.
Instead, hold a one-on-one conversation to find out why the behavior exists in the first place.

There’s always a root beneath the surface.

When you get to the root, you create change that lasts.