Leadership Transitions: The Watkins Collection (4 Items)

The Realignment Challenge 169

person’s departure sent a very important message to the rest of the

organization.

Changing Attitudes and Behaviors

Research on human motivation has shown that the relationship

between people’s attitudes and their behaviors is complex and

bidirectional.

1

Changes in attitudes do lead to persistent changes

in behavior—but the reverse also is true, and often the effect is

greater. That is, if you can get people to act differently, it will

lead them to think differently. Research suggests that people are

uncomfortable when there’s a mismatch between their actions

and their beliefs, so they inevitably correct for it, aligning what

they think with what they do. Therefore, it’s critical for new lead-

ers in realignment situations to ...