Yes, it’s a new year…2022! When we think of “New Years,” the next word many of us think about is “resolutions.” One might ask, “What do I want to do this year to make things better for myself and others?” Setting new year’s resolutions can be motivating, inspiring, and hopeful.
Underneath the positivity, there can also be uncertainty and trepidation. Another word that lurks in the background is “changes.” Now if we’re old enough, we remember that REO Speedwagon told us to “roll with the changes,” and David Bowie urged us to “turn and face the strange changes.” But we don’t know what these changes will be, nor how they’ll impact us. Still, we “ring in” the new year, as it gives us the opportunity to celebrate the gifts from the previous year, say goodbye to the hardships, and look forward to creating a positive future.
As leaders return to work this January, they are looking into their crystal balls for 2022. They’re working to create plans/goals that will optimize the experience and outcome of their customers, companies, teams, employees, selves, and families. They sense that they “must navigate unparalleled change, unprecedented complexity, and radical uncertainty” as described by change management guru Daryl Connor. They feel “they’re going to have to ‘up their games’ to make more decisions with less information and a shorter shelf-life.”
I see consistent examples of this in my executive coaching practice. At the beginning of each meeting, clients share significant changes that have happened within their companies, senior leadership, roles, and teams since our last connection just one week to month before. Daryl Connor cautions that because “leaders aren’t going to be able to lessen the degree of external change, complexity, or uncertainty, they are going to have to increase their ability to manage internal uncertainty,” and this resonates with my observations. I have witnessed that as strategies, players, and tactics constantly shift on organizational game boards, successful leaders cope by increasing their own ability to manage change. They first accurately understand the organizational change, assess the professional and personal impact, examine how they’re reacting to it, and determine/develop the needed leadership and change management perspectives and skills to successfully help themselves and others thrive through change:
1. Accurately Understand the Organizational Change
When creating or reorienting to organizational change, leaders first need to accurately understand it by asking themselves and other leaders at least some of the following questions, and discussing them until they obtain consistent agreed-upon answers:
• What is the purpose (why) of this change? What is the benefit?
• What is the purpose (why) of this change? What is the benefit?
• What does the desired end state look like for our customers and company?
• What needs to be different to make this change happen? What needs to stay the same?
• What are the top priorities in the change?
• When will this change be implemented?
2. Assess the Professional and Personal Impact
Leaders then need to fully understand their role in implementing the change, and how it will realistically impact their professional and personal lives. For example:
• How will the change affect my department leadership, organizational structure, goals, processes, etc.?
• How will the change affect my department leadership, organizational structure, goals, processes, etc.?
• What is my role in implementing this change? What are my responsibilities? What does success look like as defined by superiors (board members, senior leaders)?
• What is changing in my role? What is staying the same?
• What is changing for my team? What is staying the same?
• How does this impact me professionally? Personally?
3. Examine One’s Reaction to Change
Change is not easy for human beings. We have a reaction to and threshold for it, and the degree, scope, complexity, and speed of change seems to be increasing exponentially. Leaders are human too. In order to help employees accept and adapt to change, leaders first need to understand how they are reacting to the change, and work to increase their own change agility. David Rock’s S.C.A.R.F Model (Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, and Fairness) provides a helpful framework for leaders to examine which of their essential human needs are being threatened by the change (triggering a negative reaction), and which are being rewarded (creating a positive reaction). Some helpful questions to ask oneself are…
• What do I think and feel about these changes – positive and negative?
• What do I think and feel about these changes – positive and negative?
• Which S.C.A.R.F. Model components – Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, and Fairness – are being threatened by this change? Rewarded?
• How am I reacting as a result of these threats and rewards?
• What are the negative and positive results of these reactions for myself and others?
4. Determine/Develop Leadership and Change Management Perspectives/Skills
Leaders then need to take stock of their own change management mind/skillsets. After honestly acknowledging their own triggers and resistance to change, they will increase their change agility if they commit to…
• Adopting a growth (versus control) mindset where they commit to continuously increasing their understanding of and skill in leading change.
• Identifying leadership/change management strengths to leverage and skills to develop (for example, strategic thinking and planning, managing ambiguity and complexity, organizational savvy, creating and communicating a compelling vision, building effective teams, promoting engagement, communicating effectively (inquiry and advocacy), and ensuring progress and accountability).
• Creating a comprehensive leadership/change management development plan that includes success measures, foundational learning, on-the-job practices activities, and support in the form of coaching/mentoring.
Once leaders do the above, it is important for them to keep their eye on how they and their teams are dealing and moving forward with the changes. Leaders will benefit from…
• Continuing to acknowledge and communicate what’s difficult about the change while emphasizing the benefits and opportunities for organizational and personal growth.
• Continuing to acknowledge and communicate what’s difficult about the change while emphasizing the benefits and opportunities for organizational and personal growth.
• Being transparent about the need for self and all to further develop change agility/skills.
• Helping staff explore and improve their own change management attitudes and skills levels by completing steps 1 through 4 above.
• Putting feedback loops and support systems in place to help leaders/employees regularly discuss and monitor their own and others’ progress toward developing change agility/skills and accomplishing organizational change initiatives.
• Pointing out and rewarding change process successes.
• Discussing and learning from misses; adjusting and creating new routines and processes to support the change.
By starting with themselves, practicing the above, and committing to the ongoing process of becoming more agile and skilled in dealing with and leading change, leaders will continually increase their own (and their team’s) ability to “turn and face,” “roll with,” and successfully lead whatever “strange” and positive changes are in store for 2022 and beyond.
