Be the Change

SUMMARY

Even when the word ‘CHANGE’ is spoken it can have an effect on people's brain and bodily functions.

Change to some people is a bad thing. Even any mention of things going outside the current status quo gets them in a position where they feel uneasy, disengage, and their productivity goes down.

You've seen it, and in fact, it could even be something that happens to you.

Change is inevitable. It's not something that you’re able to control. However, it is something (as a leader) that you can mitigate and lessen the effect on your team by doing some simple things.

This week, I want to help you to be able to lead people well in these times of change by helping you to be the change.

TRANSCRIPT

If there's something that is definitely a constant in our life, it's change. And the speed of change is not letting up so, as a leader, you need to be able to take people through that change and help them to be as unscathed as possible.

The way people look at change can determine whether or not taking them through it will be successful.

So, stick with me because this week, I want to continue this conversation and help you to be able to lead people well in these times of change.

Hi, this is Grant Herbert, VUCA Leadership and Sustainable Performance Coach, and today I want to continue our conversation on the ten competencies of relationship management, a part of social intelligence, by helping you to be the change.

Even when the word ‘CHANGE’ is spoken it can have an effect on people's brain and bodily functions.

Change to some people is a bad thing. Even any mention of things going outside the current status quo gets them in a position where they feel uneasy, disengage, and their productivity goes down.

You've seen it, and in fact, it could even be something that happens to you.

Change is inevitable. It's not something that you’re able to control. However, it is something (as a leader) that you can mitigate and lessen the effect on your team by doing some simple things.

Language is important, and the word change is something that can be a trigger for some.

What I like to do is shift the word. Instead of using the word change, what I might do is say:

“Let's tweak this a little bit.”

“Let's adjust things.”

“Let's go down this way for a while and see where it leads us."

It may sound like linguistic semantics, but it's so powerful because if the word change has a particular connotation and a hold on some people so using a different word will see a different result.

What can you, as a leader, do to be the change?

Last week, we talked about inspirational leadership and the fact that people will do more of what you do than what you say. So, being the change, rather than just telling them what to change, will have a much different effect on the success of what you're trying to do.

What I want to do is give you some things this week that you can consider and implement so that you can be a leader who is going to be able to help others go through change — a leader who is going to be a catalyst of change and instead of working with change that's forced upon you, you're going to anticipate change and get the results that you need even in this volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world that we're operating in right now.

So, how do you do this?

The first thing is to make sure that the change doesn't start with a list of tasks.

It doesn't start with the ‘what’.

As a leader, change must start with an understanding of the ‘why’.

"Why is this change important?” is one part of it.

Then, if you look at it on a deeper level, the question would be:

“Why is the change a good thing?”

You need to first determine why change is a good thing for yourself — and convince yourself of that — and then be able to communicate that to the individuals within your team.

The critical thing you need to do, as a leader, is create the climate that you need so that the change can take place. This is all about a sense of urgency and building a coalition of people wanting to get involved. It's about casting a vision of where you’re going and making sure that everybody is involved in that vision so that they are looking through their lens of what it is that they want to achieve rather than just that one single lens of what you want them to do or what the organisation needs from the change.

So, create an atmosphere where people are excited about the change, where it's not a matter of dragging them kicking and screaming; they are involved. You've got the right people in the right positions within the change. You've got advocates who are working with you and who are speaking highly about the change. All these things will mean that when you actually get into the logistics and the processes of the change, it's going to go a lot more smoothly, and you're going to get results faster.

The next thing to do is to engage and empower.

We talked about the “why” being really important and engaging every person that's involved in the change in why this change is going to help them.

What's in it for them?

Getting them to a position where you've inspired them to be motivated to make the change. Empowering them with everything that they need. The first thing they need to do is have an understanding.

So, communicate with them so that you can get that buy-in.

Answer their questions, alleviate their fears, and shift their mindsets so that they are ready to be who they need to be to go through the change.

Empower them for action, get started quickly and celebrate quick wins. Give them things they can do that will get a result. So, rather than just looking in a dichotomy of “this is where we are” and “this is where we want to go”, it's a matter of going: “This is where we're going today” and then celebrating those wins.

When people get success, even though it's small, they can see that they can take the next step. So, in this environment that you've created for the change, make sure that everyone is empowered to be who they need to be and to do the things that they need to do so that they can take the next step and the next one, and eventually you get to where it is that you need to go.

The third thing is to implement your strategy and then sustain it. This is all about consolidating the successes — those small wins.

It's about communicating why those wins are important.

It's about looking at the things that you did differently to get those small wins so that you can continue to do those same things. It's making sure that you anchor that change — where people see this as something that you do from now on, not something that you did.

You also need to make sure that the environment continues beyond the “ticking of the box” of “we made the change”. Doing this is important because change is not a destination; it is a journey. So, you need to continue to be who you were on the way to the change to continue doing what you were doing so that change is sustainable over the long term.

Another change may be around the corner, and you can employ what you have learnt from this whole process of going through this last change to continue into whatever change is ahead of you.

Leading change is all about inspiring and empowering yourself. It is also getting your mindset right on who you need to be to make the change. Then, allowing that to be communicated out to others, giving them what they need to make the change. Doing so will alleviate their fears and create an environment where everyone is working together towards this new common goal.

Change is not going to stop. In fact, things are going to change even before this goes to air (or before this will be published). However, what isn't going to change are those foundational psychological understandings that we have of the human being:

How they look at things.

How they make things that have happened around them mean certain things.

So, the change itself is just the “what”. The whole “why” and the “how” are around helping people remove the roadblocks, see themselves as already having changed, and then take away that fear of the word change.

Well, that's it from me for another week. Join me again next week as we continue to go through these ten competencies of relationship management by helping you understand how you can build stronger bonds.

I'll see you then.