Leading Change (Before It Leads YOU!!!)

If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we aren't really living. 

—Gail Sheehy

 

I think we can all agree that change is hard. Well, guess what? Leading change is even harder! 

 

There are people in the world who see change as a new adventure and eagerly welcome it (and even actively seek it out). Most of us, though, regard change with some trepidation. We are creatures of habit, and anything that unsettles our existing practices and attitudes can be . . . well . . . scary!

 

Learning how to navigate change in one’s own life is a life lesson everyone has to work through eventually. But knowing how to help others navigate change is a rare skill. And when those “others” include employees, colleagues, and even entire organizations, leading change becomes a vital asset of an effective leader.

 

As a starting point, if you, the leader, aren’t on board from the get-go, the whole change process will be a lot more painful both for you and your people. Leading change doesn’t mean telling people what to do or how to feel. It means embracing the change yourself—and then actively guiding others through it while helping them, too, learn to embrace it. 

 

Don’t Just Get the Lay of the Land—Shape It

 

Change is not only likely, it's inevitable. 

—Barbara Sher

 

People have an insatiable desire to know what’s going on—and that impulse is doubly strong when jobs, careers, and livelihoods are at stake. In the absence of accurate communication from official sources, though, misunderstandings, hearsay, and outright falsehoods can take on lives of their own. 

 

It starts with mumblings in the break room and around the water cooler.

 

• “Did you hear about the reorg that’s coming up?”
• “One of my teammates thinks that we’re all going to be put on a totally new project next week.”
• “Someone in sales heard that 10 percent of the company is getting laid off.”
• “Why in the world is management doing that?!”

 

The best way to stave off rumors and panic is to stay ahead of them by communicating directly. Don’t want your staff’s imaginations to run wild with theories? Then you tell them—as soon as you’re able—the truth about what’s happening. 

 

Anticipate—and Address—Resistance

 

The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress. 

—Charles Kettering

 

Have you ever heard of the attitude bell curve? It’s a theory about the typical distribution of the attitudes an organization’s employees have about change.

 

• “Change Avoiders” make up 20 percent of employees. They will never accept change and will fight any efforts to get them on board with it.
• “Change Leaders” make up another 20 percent. They’re the ones who embrace and support change early in the process (and often wonder why it took so long to get to this point).
• “Status Quo” make up the remaining 60 percent. These middle-of-the-road types will go along with change once its worth (and safety) have been proven to them. 

 

In most situations, it’s the Avoiders who tend to make the most noise. But managers need to be careful not to give the Avoiders too much attention. “The squeaky wheel gets the grease” holds true in many situations (for example, when you’re self-advocating for your own career development), but it’s not something to follow when leading change. 

 

In a change scenario, those Avoiders’ attitudes aren’t likely to budge much. (You might get lucky and meet someone who eventually does a true 180-degree turnaround—but don’t count on that.) So don’t let them dominate the discussion and steal all the energy from the room. Save your breath on the Change Leaders, too: they’re already on board and don’t need convincing.

 

The people you need to focus on are those in the middle – those who prefer the Status Quo. They haven’t yet made up their minds about how they feel about the change, and as such, they’re still very open to persuasion. They’re also the largest group, and how they feel about the change could make or break its implementation.

 

Once you’ve identified the different groups, you can start to figure out what you need to do to overcome resistance and encourage people to explore the positive aspects of the change and eventually commit to it themselves. 

 

Explain the Why

 

Change is not an event, it's a process. 

—Cheryl James

 

In one memorable episode of The Odd Couple, the character Felix Unger writes the word assume on a blackboard and declares, “You should never assume, because when you assume you make an ass of you and me.” I’ve always found this line to be a piece of advice with helpful applications in many parts of my life, but I think I’ve gotten the most mileage from it in my time as a manager. In my years in management, I’ve seen far too many leaders make one crucial mistake: making assumptions about what people know or believe. This invariably results in communication problems that at best slow things down—and at worst derail everything completely. 

 

When you’re leading people through change, never assume that everybody automatically catches on to what’s happening, even if the reasons for change seem clear. Remember, what’s obvious to one person isn’t always obvious to another person. That’s not an issue of intelligence—it’s a matter of different perspectives, which are informed by a whole host of factors. 

 

Instead of assuming that everyone has the same understanding about the change, spell it out in detail. Explain why the change is happening, why you the manager care about it, and why your employees should care about it too. Taking the time to walk everyone through this background information mitigates the problems that are usually associated with making assumptions.

 

Provide a Finite Scope

 

Change is such hard work. 

—Billy Crystal

 

The why of a change can motivate people, but at some point they are going to start wondering, “When is this going to end?” Every change eventually stops being “the new thing” and becomes “the new status quo.” You’ll find that people are more likely to be engaged and committed to the change if you tell them up front what the end looks like than if you try to figure out the end point as you go along. Give them the map they need to navigate this terrain successfully.

 

Take Care of “Me” Issues

 

Each one of us can make a difference. Together we make change. 

—Barbara Mikulski

 

A lot of dialogue about organizational change employs group-oriented language, such as “This is going to be a team effort” and “We are in this together” and “This change will make the whole company better.” Team work definitely makes the dream work—but it’s hard to have good team work when individual team members aren’t feeling supported. Find out what each of your employees needs to move competently and confidently through the changes ahead—then make sure they have it.