Bringing in an outsider to join your organization can inject a fresh perspective in your work.  This could take the form of a lateral hire for a key position, a new CEO, a new board member, or perhaps a leadership coach.  Sometimes just a conversation with someone from outside your industry will suffice.

How do you know when it is time to look outside your organization for help?  Does your work seem routine and inspired?  Have you run out of ideas?  Have you hit a plateau?  Are you tired of hearing the same thing from the people around you?

Often leaders just want to know that other people in similar positions are having the same set of experiences.  It’s comforting.  An outsider can also serve to push you out of a comfort zone and challenge your team with new ideas.  Not all organizations are ready for this.  Overcoming organizational friction and breaking established structures can serve to push a group of people just enough to create new momentum.

As people are inclined to protect their own position within an organization rather than entertain ideas that can help carry it forward, an outsider can help cut through “this is the way things are” and help change the conversation to “this is what we could become.”

[Photo: Close-up of a board on a fence.]