Becoming an Effective Change Leader

I came across an article discussing Becoming an Effective Change Leader. Here are a few snippets that you might find interesting.

Strategic change doesn’t happen on its own. Effective change leaders guide the process from start to finish. Here are the 3 key competencies that are part of leading the process:

Initiate.?After understanding the need for change, effective change leaders begin by making the case for the change they seek. This can include evaluating the business context, understanding the purpose of the change, developing a clear vision and desired outcome, and identifying a common goal. Unsuccessful leaders say they didn’t focus on these tasks enough to reach a common understanding of the goal. Learn more about the common?challenges faced when organisations are implementing change .

Strategise.?Successful leaders developed a strategy and a clear action plan, including priorities, timelines, tasks, structures, behaviors, and resources. They identified what would change, but also what would stay the same. Leaders who weren’t successful said they failed to listen enough to questions and concerns, and failed to define success from the beginning.

Execute.?Translating strategy into execution is one of the most important things leaders can do. In our study, successful change leaders focused on getting key people into key positions (or removing them, in some cases). They also broke big projects down into small wins to get early victories and build momentum. And they developed metrics and monitoring systems to measure progress. Unsuccessful change leaders sometimes began micromanaging, got mired in implementation details, and failed to consider the bigger picture.

Remember that, as organisations evolve over time,?stability?and?change?must coexist — which is not a?problem to solve, but rather a polarity to manage . To help your organisation achieve its full potential, acknowledge both poles simultaneously.

Leading?People?Through Change

While formal change processes might be well understood, too many leaders neglect the all-important?human side of change equation .

The most effective change leaders devoted considerable effort to engaging everyone involved in the change and remembering that people need time to adapt to change — no matter how fast-moving the change initiative.

Support.?Successful change projects were characterised by leaders removing barriers to employee success. These include personal barriers, such as wounded egos and a sense of loss, as well as professional barriers, such as the time and resources necessary to carry out a change plan. Leaders of unsuccessful change focused exclusively on results, so employees didn’t get the support they needed for the change.

Sway.?Influence is about gaining not only compliance, but also the commitment necessary to drive change. It is also about mapping out the critical change agents and defining what “buy-in” looks like from each stakeholder that will lead to a successful outcome. Effective change leaders identified key stakeholders — including board members, C-suite executives, clients, and others — and communicated their vision of successful change to them. Unsuccessful leaders told us they were more likely to avoid certain stakeholders rather than try to influence them.

Learn.?Finally, successful change leaders never assumed they had all the answers. They asked lots of questions and gathered formal and informal feedback. The input and feedback allowed them to make continual adjustments during the change. In the case of unsuccessful changes, leaders didn’t ask as many questions or gather accurate information, which left them without the knowledge they needed to make appropriate adjustments along the way.

Build More Effective Change Leaders at Your Organisation

Today’s leaders need the ability to address complex challenges and?lead through change and disruption in new and innovative ways. Build the skills needed by partnering with us to craft a customised learning journey for your organisation using?our research-backed topic modules .

That’s why?successful change leadership also requires resilience.?Resilience helps people handle change’s inherent pressure, uncertainty, and setbacks. Leaders need to build their own reserves in support of their mental and physical health, and can guide others to face change in healthy and sustainable ways by learning and sharing?practices to strengthen leadership resilience .

Want to know more? Head on over to the full article here for more ideas and perspective. Afterwards, why not drop me an email to share your thoughts at [email protected]; or call me on 0467 749 378.

Thanks,

Robert