If leadership is an art, then following is an art too.
I was reminded of this recently when I wanted our team to do something different with our corporate newsletter to kick off the new year. Embracing a thematic model featuring the top 10 things to watch in the high-tech industry for 2007, I let the team know during the editorial meeting that our process had changed. We were leaving behind our status quo discuss-and-collaborate-then-write-about-hot-topics format. The purpose? To allow our team to come together, coordinate the high-powered thinking we’re known for, and move in a clear direction together. The objective? Focused thinking that creates more value.
The result was surprising. I thought I had agreement and that we’d vetted and assigned the 10 topics. The finished articles proved me wrong. The team failed to understand the signs of change. I’d failed to make the signs definite enough.
Is there any executive out there who doesn’t wish he could do a download direct to his associates’ brains to bypass confusion? I’m not the only one who’s walked into a meeting with a clear objective, thought I’d communicated it well, then wound up mystified when no one seemed to hear what I said.
How did Churchill command an entire nation through years of life or death situations? How did Ghandi, with outwardly so little, compel the people of India to rally for independence? People seem to be able to galvanize themselves when faced with big issues, yet often in business when it comes to change, we experience pushback, a “soft” refusal, or out-and-out misunderstanding. Why is that?
The Satir Change Model
Psychologist Virginia Satir theorized in her Satir Change Model that the adoption of change was actually a five-step process. Skip any of them and you’ve got a problem. Management consultant Steven M. Smith describes the step this way:
1) Late status quo. The group is comfortable, with concepts and expectations intact. An interruptor, also known as change, is introduced that threatens the status quo.
2) Resistance. Faced with a threat to the familiar situation, group members resist. Denial occurs.
3) Chaos. The old way is broken. The group enters the unknown.
4) Integration. A transforming idea leads the group to understand how the change can benefit them. New relationships are formed, and the social system that was shattered in the prior stage is reconstructed.
5. New status quo. Having absorbed the change, the group stabilizes at a higher level than in the prior status quo and moves forward.
I’ve come to see several ways of leading a group through change that will help anyone encountering this situation. Here are several best practices to get your team to follow you:
Tell the group the what and the why. Communicate early and often–especially if the change is upsetting an established norm. Spell out the desired results clearly. Make sure you explain the goals. Be certain that the team understands them. Use lots of examples. Remember that some people assimilate information by listening, others by discussing, still others by writing, and people who are kinesthetic need to be moving around to help things jell in their minds. Discuss a percentage, give a dollar figure, tie it to a client, make it memorable by associating the result with something. Remember, the item must be desirable to the group. Always set the team up for success when you’re initiating change. Focus on the new benefit and what success looks like. Make it meaningful and relevant to the team. The more the change deals with an assumption, the more difficult it will be to implement.
Ask lots of open-ended questions. Get people talking. Interaction erases fear–and there can be a lot of fear around change. Ask things like “What questions do you have?” or “What will it take to create alignment between X and Y?” That’ll cause team members to discuss the matter with you even if they don’t care. Relate the current change to past change they’ve gone through that was successful. For example, “This is just like the Smith engagement we did three months ago” or “The launch we did of the WheeWidget had elements of this kind of change, and it was one of our most profitable projects.” Without a dialogue, most people won’t understand. Communicating is never one-way.
Create a reason to care. Explain the benefits but then create an emotional reason for people to connect to the change. Let people know that something fun/joyous/motivating will result. Remember that no one does anything entirely from a rational place. To change their behavior, people have to get some benefit. In the situation regarding our corporate newsletter, I’d originally focused on the benefits for the business, not on the benefits for them. Now I’m working on helping the team see that they benefit directly when the business is successful.
Create engagement. Newton got it: An object at rest tends to stay at rest, and an object in motion tends to stay in motion. I hate to say it, but sometimes people don’t really go out of their way to make things connect. Most people, even my great team, don’t realize that they make the initiator do all the heavy lifting before they respond with following. But if I challenge them to build a piece of it or to “do some research” or simply dump it on their desk and delegate it to them, then all of a sudden they have a reason to engage. When I leave more on my table and less on theirs, I’ve created less engagement. In fact, when I do that I’m taking work away from them. Be generous, and urge your team to do more, think bigger, and take the risks that lead to growth. Help your team make opportunities to initiate, then reward them for it. Welcome their involvement; it’s what you hired them for.
Tell them to follow. Consensus management doesn’t work. I think we sometimes give people too much room to “advise.” It’s important to make it clear that you’re leading and it’s time for them to follow. Be decisive. Businesses are not democracies, where everyone votes. There is a time for brainstorming, of course. But high-functioning companies are more like benevolent dictatorships. You listen, you consider, and then ultimately you decide and lead.
Nilofer Merchant is CEO of Rubicon Consulting, a strategic marketing firm based in Los Gatos, CA.
Network
