3 Things To Remember When Leading Change

Leading change implies that there is much more to it & that it relates more to the people in the company than the activities. If the people don't change, the company won't either. One time business leaders have the right outlook on what it takes to lead change, there is still plenty of work to be done, but the result is more likely to be the they need. Here are three things that plenty of businesses overlook as they work to build a business that adapts to the needs of tomorrow.

A lot of the work that I do with businesses revolves around helping them manage change. If a business designs to be successful for longer than a month or, change will be necessary at some point. of the first things I do is help them cease thinking about managing change & start thinking about leading it. Managing sounds like it is sending out a memo, changing a few processes & finishing some tasks. A business can do all of that well & fail miserably at making any change happen.




1. Modify is personal, not professional

They regularly think about modify as something that is mechanical or methodical because the modify they are leading happens to be in an organization. The truth is that for modify to be successful, lots of if not all of the people in your organization must modify their own individual behaviors. That is not simple, but it can be completed with the right focus on culture, coaching and the individual goals of the staff. Yet they won't go anywhere near those things if they think they can put a brand spanking new process in place and have people do something different tomorrow than they did today. The moment they think that is feasible, we have already failed at leading modify.


2. Modify takes time; set your expectations accordingly

Most businesses experience a burst of momentum as they start to implement alter. Everyone gets excited about a new direction & new opportunities, at the top of the company. Then, when the hard stuff hits, like alter resistance, leaders get frustrated & resort to strong-arm tactics. They say things like "this train is leaving whether you are on it or not". Then they wonder why they actually slow the alter than speed it up. Set your expectations so that there is reasonable time to communicate, coach, & support. It is true that violence is the quickest way to alter behavior, but it is not sustainable. You will receive a brief shift in behavior & call it a win. Yet, soon following that, everyone will return to yesterday's behaviors & then resist alter even more.


3. Leaders must go first

I was one time working with a leader recently who said, " I knew the change would be hard for others but I didn't know that it would be this hard for me". He was articulating the challenge lots of leaders face. In case you expect others to change their behavior but you are not willing to change yours first, don't count on much change happening. When they refuse to change how they operate when leading & supporting a change they have asked others to engage in, they give them permission not to change their actions either. Changing how they work is of the largest ways they actually cause change. If they don't go first, there is nothing to follow.

Randy Hall is the founder & principal of 4th Gear Consulting. They is passionate about developing brilliant leaders & prospering, principled organizations. They believes that nothing will have greater impact on our economy, our communities, our lives & our kids' lives.

Most companies do a great job of crafting the communications, putting the posters up, sending out the memos & issuing the instructions. What they forget is that change is a way more individual job & they must engage our people in ways that help them lead the change, . pointing to a new location won't necessarily make people require to go there, even in case you do sign the paycheck. They may wish that were different but they are better off learning how to lead change the right way, than hoping human behavior suddenly becomes a simple equation. The lovely news is that most organizations, including your competitors, are dreadful at leading change. Learn how to do it well & you have a competitive advantage second to none.

For over a decade Randy has worked for & with organizations to help them recognize more of their potential. His most recent roles in the corporate world were Senior Vice President of Learning & Leadership Development at Bank of The united states & Global Director of Learning & Development at Pfizer. Prior to moving in to leadership development, they spent several years in sales & led his own high performing teams.