Change
Do You Need Change Management? Or Change Leadership?
(Hint: It may be both!) As a forward-facing, make-it-better leader, throughout my career, I found myself in places of
(Hint: It may be both!) As a forward-facing, make-it-better leader, throughout my career, I found myself in places of
Make no doubt about it, as change management emerged in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, it was a big step forward. The fact that someone, somewhere in the organization was helping employees through a structured methodology that included awareness, communication, and training began to address the compelling realization that people were most often the “make or break” factor in the success or failure of any change effort.
Yet change management, to me, conveys the ideas of doing something “to” people rather than “with” people. What if the mind-shift changed a bit? From change management to change engagement?
We all fall prey to the path of least resistance – doing what is easy and expedient over what is in our long term best interest. We are hungry and pop into a convenience store, where we are overwhelmed by poor choices. Do we seek out the isolated piece of fruit hidden among the chips, candy and donuts? I don’t know about you, but peanut M&M’s win out every time for me.
Understanding the human proclivity to take the path of least resistance can help us design ways that “pull” people into the desired behaviors more easily. That’s why this simple mantra can make a big difference in any change initiative…
Late last year I was able to check off a bucket list item of mine: to do a TED talk. I spoke about the need to shift our worldview from one of striving for stability to one of dealing effectively with continual change, in a talk entitled, “Is Stability What We Should Strive For?”
At the end, I describe some of the characteristics of emerging organizations that are thriving (rather than thrashing) in our global, networked, connected, hyper-fast, technologically driven world. It is an interesting list – and I wonder how your organization stacks up to it.
There are bucket-loads of reasons we are faced with more ambiguity than ever before. Here is a short list:
Add to that the more mundane causes of ambiguity, such as lack of clear direction from the top, changing priorities, and difficult and complex situations – and your natural tendency may be to do one of these things:
I hate to break it to you – but all four approaches are doomed. Which leaves us in a bit of a conundrum: we need to DO something, but WHAT? The EAA process (my term – named after the vocal sounds I tend to make when challenged with ambiguity) may help you sort things out.
Well, I’ve done it. I always had dreams of writing a book – and today I’m thrilled to announce that it is available on Amazon. It’s taken longer than one would have ever dreamed, been through more edits than I could have imagined and more changes than Indiana weather in spring! But it is here.
So what is it?
I had to chuckle when I heard the news story about the legislators who, with good intentions, prohibited the sale of kegs of beer in their college town and, as a result, made the problem they were trying to solve even worse. This is a story of unintended consequences, a peril each of us faces as we implement changes in the organizations we lead.
At no time is communication more important than when a change is occurring. Today’s post, by Myra Cocca, will help you tailor it to the needs of your audience.
In Leadership is an Art, Max DePree tells us that “buying books is easy; owning them is not.” He goes on to explain that, “Good readers take possession of what they are learning by underlining and commenting and questioning. In this manner they ‘finish’ what they read.” He ends his introduction by saying: “You can read this book quickly; but I hope you cannot finish it quickly. It will be worth a lot more to you if you finish it, if you have truly made it your own book.”
DePree also shares that leadership is NOT learned by reading, alone – and I fully concur. But I also know that leaders who are thoughtful and open themselves to new ideas WHILE they get their hands dirty leading, grow into better and better leaders. My mantra is that LEADERS READ.
My list of top ten comes with a disclaimer – these are NOT for learning to manage or supervise. They are in my area of specialty: transformational leadership.
We are all in throes of massive change – and the reality is that the pace and magnitude of change we are facing is only going to amplify. So having a basic grasp of how change works in organizations is important for us all. Warning: This list will not be for the faint of heart, so I’ll rate it on digestibility. Some will be suitable for all levels, and others for those who like to take a deep dive. And I am always looking for more here – so I’ll look forward to the books you recommend on this topic.
Fill out the form to receive the Evergreen Leadership newsletter and be notified about new blogs.