As leaders, it’s one of our many responsibilities to manage change and mitigate any negative impact change may have to our teams. According to Michael Useem, professor and the director of the Center of Leadership and Change Management at the Wharton School, his students unanimously describes the most effective change leaders with their “…exceptional capacity to articulate a plan and lay out a way of achieving it.”
A clear communicator. Check. Thinking big picture. Check. But is that enough? Is being clear and visionary in your communication enough to mitigate the stress of change in an organization? The common theme for many leaders (including myself) is to compare the old state with the new state— “how much good life is going to be after the change.” This is simply wrong and ineffective.
Ryan Hawk, author and podcaster on leadership, discussed this exceptionally in his book, “Welcome To Management.” He discussed that the chances of an effective implementation and transition of a change is slim, if the leader is unable to gain the confidence of the team members. Lack of confidence is a usual result of uncertainty. Therefore, a leader who can provide certainty is the most effective leader in pushing forth change in an organization. Ryan referenced a Harvard Business Review research on change management which clearly states how counterintuitive it is when leaders emphasize what is good about the new environment, compared to the current state.
A better approach for change leaders is to focus on continuity. What will not change. As the article states, “how what is central to ‘who we are’ as an organization will be preserved.” Yes, changes will happen, but what makes the team great, what makes working at this organization worthwhile, and what the organization is all about, will remain.
Two years ago, we transferred our youngest son, AJ, to the same school as his older brother. Outside of the practical reason and benefits of this move, those didn’t really matter to him. When we scheduled a visit to the school prior to the start of class, he was not bombarded with the “new” things this school has to offer. Instead, the teacher had him play in the different areas which were familiar to him. He started playing with the different materials, and started warming up with his new classroom. Then, on the way back to the car, my wife and I had him play at the school playground for a bit. AJ loved to play at his previous school’s playground. His shoes, socks, pockets, and his entire body would be covered in sand at the end of the day. AJ was elated to see that in his new school, he could also enjoy a trip to the playground.
For AJ and for all the other fully-grown AJs in our organization, transitioning to a change would go much more smoothly when we focus on continuity. As organizational leaders, let’s keep this in mind. Let’s not immediately jump into the benefits of the change—comparing the old state to the new state. Let’s remind our teams what defines us and what makes us great. Let’s use that mindset to tackle change for effectively.
Crowdsourcing FTW
Can you share some changes you were able to manage successfully by focusing on continuity? It could be work-related or, like in my story, personal. Perhaps you can share a time change didn’t go over well because the messaging wasn’t focused around continuity. Looking forward to hear from you!