How do we know when it’s time for a change? How do we actually get going? Whether it’s in life or in work, approaching change is challenging.
Right now I am helping to revitalize a non-profit club in my neighborhood, and I’ve noticed a lot of similarities in the process that I have used to make improvements in my own life.
First off, making a change usually requires prompting from an outsider. It’s easy to become so accustomed to a certain way of doing things, that we forget other ways even exist. Sometimes it takes a little nudge from someone with a different perspective. At work it may be a consultant or a client, and in our lives it might be a friend or family member. (For me, it was my dentist… seriously. I’ll tell you another time.)
In our personal lives, if we are alerted to a problem and we decide that it’s worth solving then we can get started; but if we discover a problem in our organization we may first need to convince others that its worth fixing. In 1996 Dr. John Kotter introduced a framework for change management in his book Leading Change. In his model the first step is to “Establish a sense of urgency”. In fact, he found this step so vital that he went on to write an entire book dedicated to just this topic, aptly title, A Sense of Urgency. In it Dr. Kotter suggests at least 75 percent of a company’s management needs to be on board in order to make a successful change.
So how do we get others to buy in? We need to allow some time to collectively reflect on the situation. I think it’s important for people to recognize the need themselves. Unless you’ve found something that no one else has noticed yet, charts and spreadsheets are probably not going to help much. It’s likely that everyone already knows the status of sales/profits/turnover, whatever it is… The challenge is convincing them to look at it a different way.
This is where it’s time to get real. It’s time to take an honest look at what the future holds if we keep going in this direction. What value are we gaining from our current approach? What value could be gained from making a change?
Give people a chance to brainstorm. Give people ownership in the change. Not everyone can be involved at every level, but in the beginning the more people there are talking about making a change, the better.
In a disparate group I like to use a different approach: talk to people individually. The business analyst in me wants to make sure I see what each person’s experience looks like. What are their needs? What are their goals? People are much more accountable when they know that you are sincerely invested in helping them succeed.
After “interviewing” people individually I am look for common threads. What is it that we all need or want? How can we support each other to make improvements?
Once people start to recognize the common problems and understand the need to change it’s time to build the foundation. The foundation will be made up of key players who are dedicated to making a change. These aren’t just top executives or managers, these are leaders.
Leaders are the people who work with passion and inspire others with positive energy. Daniel Goleman, a renowned expert on emotional intelligence, describes two critical traits that leaders possess: empathy and social skills. He defines social skills as “friendliness with a purpose: moving people in the direction you desire” (What Makes a Leader, HBR). Leaders are the adept networkers and motivators that are needed to connect key stakeholders and persuade people to move in the right direction.
We also need leaders in our personal lives when we are working to make a change. We need to reach out to the people who can support us in the right way and cheer us on. We need to rely on people who can respond with compassion and people who will connect us to others who can enhance our transformation.
Next in the process is to put your vision into words.