Best Practices_ Managing People_ Secrets to Leading for New Managers - Barry Silverstein [29]
SOURCE: “Leading Transition” by William Bridges and Susan Mitchell, Leader to Leader (Spring 2000).
By immediately focusing on accepting the inevitability of change, leaders turn this negative energy into positive energy. They address their employees’ apprehension by showing them the tangible benefits that can come from change. They encourage questions and answer them honestly but positively.
Dos & Dont’s
WHEN LEADING CHANGE
In talking about change with employees, anticipate initial resistance. Realize, however, that the way in which you introduce and handle change can have a major impact on employees’ response to it. Bear these guidelines in mind:
Do accustom your staff to the idea that change is inevitable.
Do work on creating and communicating a new vision.
Don’t try to implement change without a plan that includes both short-and long-term goals.
Do stay positive and enthusiastic to encourage others to adopt a positive attitude toward change.
Do communicate the benefits of the change to your employees.
Don’t give the false impression that change will come easily.
Do create mid-change milestones to help people feel their efforts are yielding success.
Don’t assume everyone will understand the need for change as you do.
Do enlist a group of individuals to be change supporters.
Do work on gaining everyone’s acceptance. Negative attitudes can sway even those who support the change.
Do remain honest, open, and compassionate, especially if change may have painful consequences.
Don’t forget that change is a continual process that needs to be reinforced over time.
Do assure employees that their efforts matter. They will accept change more easily.
Leaders detail a plan for change and ask people for their help in implementing it. They do not give the false impression that change will be easy. They convey the sense that it will be a challenge everyone will meet and surmount by working together.
CASE FILE
LEADING CHANGE AT HP
After Mark Hurd joined Hewlett Packard as CEO, he carefully studied the organization before restructuring it and cutting 10 percent of the workforce four months later.
More important, Hurd fundamentally changed the massive computer company by streamlining management and reducing HP’s business complexity.
Six months later, Hewlett Packard saw a 30 percent increase in profit and a 6 percent increase in revenue, sure signs that Hurd’s leadership during change paid had off.
SOURCE: “H-P Net Jumps Amid a Shift in Strategic Focus” by Christopher Lawton, Wall Street Journal (May 17, 2006).
Leaders also know that change is a continual process. In these changing times, change must be the new status quo. The Japanese have a philosophy they call “kaizen”—continual improvement. The understanding that change is necessary to better oneself is one of the reasons the Japanese have achieved such success.
Leaders Change Attitudes
For people to accept change, their attitudes must be flexible, starting at the group level. Coworkers who have a negative attitude may sway those who are positive or at least neutral about change.
Leaders’ enthusiasm must be so powerful that it is contagious. Leaders need to make everyone part of the “change team,” feeling empowered and in control and believing that their efforts are essential to a successful outcome.
When Change Has Painful Consequences
Sometimes change involves restructuring, downsizing, or other difficult courses of action whose price seems to outweigh any conceivable benefit. In the face of such doubt and anxiety, you need to be honest, open, and compassionate. Make everyone feel they are part of the solution, not part of the problem.
The BIG Picture
GETTING COMFORTABLE WITH RISK
Most change leaders are not averse to risk. Change brings with it organizational bumps, the potential to lose good people, and uncertainty about the future.
However, the rewards associated with change often outweigh the risks. Change leaders create a strong, clear vision,