There is a clear, unequivocal answer for the various economic crises we’ve seen unfold over the last few months. It cannot be simpler: either raise taxes or cut services. I’m not an economist, but my vote for long-term sustainability is “cut services.” Either way, in order to avoid a situation similar to Greece, we’re going to have to pull together as a nation. As communities. As companies. Within your company.

We can come out of this. We need leaders. The type of leader who, like Winston Churchill offering his nation “blood, toil, tears and sweat,” can speak the hard truths and have people collectively embrace what in the moment must seem to be the lesser of two very bad evils.

As my partner George Loyer is fond of saying, “people don’t resist change; they just resist how change is sometimes implemented.”  In this week’s Learning4Performance newsletter, we’re starting a seven-part series on Employee Engagement, with the simple goal to answer the question “how does a leader involve his or her people so that they willingly step up and do what he or she needs them to do?”

Even though the worst of the economic downturn may be past, the challenges with which we are left — to work harder, do more with less, to innovate at an ever increasing rate – call for teamwork between line and management like never before. And that requires leadership. We’ll be sharing some tips and strategies to help you as a leader be more successful in stepping up.

The principles that we are sharing owe a large debt to the seminal research of Vic Vroom and Phillip Yetton from the University of Pittsburgh in the late 60s and early 70s (the great ideas, that is, those that explain what actually works, aren’t necessarily contained in books on the latest NYT best seller list). Leadership & Decision Making is a dry read, but a powerful one.  We cover those principles in detail in our workshop Mastering Involvement. Sign up for an upcoming public workshop here.

Let’s step up. It’s time.