Old Habits Die Hard, When Leadership Behavior Doesn’t Match Leadership Intent  

Old Habits Die Hard, When Leadership Behavior Doesn’t Match Leadership Intent  

A tale as old as time, a company launches a new initiative.  There’s energy, excitement, a townhall meeting and possibly a slide deck.  If you’re lucky there’s training and structure to follow.  

The message is clear and concise; “This time we’re serious, this our focus for Twenty Twenty-Name your Year!”  Yet six months later, the organization quietly drifts back to old habits, the confetti is swept away and the strobe lights boxed up for the next big launch. 

Why do we keep going around this same change management mountain? 

It is rarely because people are resistant, or the strategy was flawed.  It’s almost never because the tools didn’t work.  Change stalls when leadership behavior doesn’t change!   

The Credibility Gap

When leaders say things like: “Continuous Improvement is a priority,” or “We need problem-solving at every level,” or “We want front line ownership,” but the leaders’ calendars, questions, and follow-up remain the same as pre-initiative days, people notice!

As leaders we must remember, people don’t follow announcements, they follow signals.  The strongest signal in any organization is what we as leaders consistently pay attention to.  

• If production numbers get more attention than improvement work
• If firefighting gets more recognition than root cause analysis
• If urgency overrides reflection every time 

The signal they are receiving is this; “Nothing has changed, old habits still rule the day!”

Why this happens

Most leaders genuinely want change, but we underestimate one critical truth: 

You cannot layer a new initiative on top of old leadership routines and expect different results.  Insert Albert Eintein quote here!  

As leaders, there are areas we must align and adjust: 

• What we review. In a changed environment, our focus will be different. 
• What we ask about.  If our new focus is instilling a culture of continuous improvement, only asking about production numbers will do nothing to change or advance the culture. 
• What we reward. Rewards help drive behaviors, however is what we are rewarding driving the behavior we are looking for? 
• How we spend our time.  Culture change requires that a leader spend time building habits that will support the desired change in the organization.  

Failure to make adjustments in these areas will result in the organization defaulting back to what it knows.  The culture does not revert because people are unwilling, but because the system hasn’t changed.  

The Hard Question for Change Leaders in any Organization

If your improvement effort is losing momentum, ask yourself: 

1. Have leadership behaviors changed or just the messaging? 

Sustainable change doesn’t start with tools; it starts when leadership habits reflect stated priorities. Until the alignment exists, old habits won’t just linger, they’ll win. 

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