A641.4.3.RB - Tipping Points of Emotional Intelligence

In my own experience reaching a tipping point comes most often as a last result or effort available before some sense of failure is inevitable for the organization that continues on without implementing change. In researching more context around tipping point I found that leaders effectively implementing the philosophy do not need extra resources to reach the tipping point, but instead that they concentrate resources where the need and the potential payoffs are greatest (Kim & Mauborgne, 2003).

Tipping point leadership also includes a 4 step process that can be implemented which hones in on reorientation and strategy (Kim & Mauborgne, 2003). The 4 elements include cognitive, resource, motivational and political hurdles (Kim & Mauborgne, 2003). A tipping point that I have experienced in my own work included a company wide transformation initiative that was initiated about a year and a half ago. My company is split up into two sides based off of the products we are selling, insurance and retirement, specifically the sector of the company that I work for was reporting a consistent downward swing in sales. This trend had arrived at the tipping point, where if we continued with this downward trend we would be out of business. This is the tipping point that caused the company wide movement to launch this transformation initiative. With this transformation initiative all employees were empowered to submit their own ideas on how to strengthen the business, if your idea was picked up as a feasible idea with potential promising results then you would actually lead the project team for that effort, and everyone was to be involved in a project if their skills and knowledge were needed.

Working in marketing I was pulled into a number of these projects as a subject matter expert on communicating the changes that were caused by the transformation initiative out externally. Every project I was on felt extremely fast paced with stressful deliverables as this one the main priority of the organization, and it was to be treated like it. There were hundreds of transformation projects with very limited resources to be shared among those projects which was another challenge, though this seems to be quite the norm for tipping point situations. Personally this effort was stressful as I had to put my other work aside to support these efforts, but the stress was met with a sense of accomplishment and pride as I was supporting the long term health of the organization, and frankly the alternative was glum. These efforts are now ongoing as we have seen great success, I am happy to report that our company is stronger now then it was when transformation was initiated, and now the transformation and tipping point mentality truly has become a standard practice.

Looking back at my experience I would not have changed the way I handled it, I raised my hand for a vast number of projects, and was rewarded with the knowledge of supporting my organization in the long run by doing so. Also by being one of the individuals that was so involved in the transformation projects I was exposed to a strong network of cross functional individuals that I now have a rapport with.  

Reference

Kim, W. C., & Mauborgne, R. (2003). Tipping point leadership. Harvard business review, (s 4), 37-47.