Change Is Hard. Leading Change Is Harder.

Welcome back to Curiouser, our monthly newsletter with insights about leadership. This month's edition is about change.

Do you recall ever saying to yourself (or to those you were stuck with in lockdown), “I can’t wait ‘til this pandemic is over and things go back to normal”? I certainly do.

A few years on and things have not returned to normal. Waiting for us on the other side of the pandemic was rampant global inflation, two wars, and a looming US election that has many on edge. Then there’s artificial intelligence (AI) threatening to disrupt—in both good ways and bad—the way we work and live.

Change Is a Constant

It’s trite but true: change is a constant in this world. And it feels like we’re going through quite a lot of it at the moment.

Change experts have a term for this onslaught of transformational change: VUCA. A framework introduced by the US military at the end of the Cold War, VUCA stands for Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous. It captures well the current state of change most of us are experiencing.

Knowing that VUCA is the new normal and that nonstop change is on the horizon, leaders we work with often ask a fair question: if change is endless, why bother doing anything about it?

Surviving v Thriving

I often counter this cynicism with a simple proposition: if you want your team to survive the change ahead, do nothing and hope for the best. Depending on the change, they might be fine.

If you want your team to thrive through change, then you, as a leader, have work to do.

Leading AI Transformation

Leading others through transformational change is as much about changing hearts as it is educating minds. Getting people to embrace change requires equipping them with not just the skills to work differently, but also the desire to work differently.

While there are many tactics that can help a transformation succeed, in our research and professional experience, three best practices have the greatest impact. With AI on the minds of many, we thought it would be helpful to discuss these best practices with an AI transformation in mind.

1. Articulate the “Why” for AI. Motivate your team to get AI-ready by making a persuasive case for adopting new technology.
2. Shrink the Change. Lighten the admin load for your managers and lower barriers to change by addressing policies, processes, and systems that could be obstacles.
3. Upskill Your Team. Provide training on the right skills and encourage your team to be curious and learn.

1. Articulate the "Why" for AI

How people feel about a proposed change often shapes how they think about it.

In order to motivate people, explain the purpose of the change—the “why.” Rather than sharing it as an afterthought or aside, lead with why the change is happening.

I recently worked with a leader who was eager to start the AI transformation with her team, but wasn’t sure she’d discovered a compelling “why.” After an off-site with her team, which left her with a mountain of follow-up tasks, she realized her “why”: AI will take many of those low value tasks off her plate so she can focus on more valuable—and more enjoyable—work. That’s a message she thinks her team will be excited to hear.

As you explore a compelling “why” for your team, consider the following:

• Make It Relevant. Keep your audience in mind as you think about how AI can improve their daily work (e.g. greater productivity, reduced errors, simplified tasks, time to do more interesting work).
• Be Inspiring. You don’t have to be a naturally gifted communicator to inspire others. Share a personal story that illustrates why you’re genuinely excited about the promise of AI.
• Start With “Why”. Make the case for change right out the gate. It’s important to tap into people’s emotions by articulating the “why” early if you want your message to land.

2. Shrink the Change

According to a Gartner study, the average manager has 51% more responsibilities than they can effectively manage. And 59% of managers report spending a significant amount of time on “work to do work.”

As AI transformation activities start to kick-off, remember that most employees are doing more work than ever before. Emphasizing AI’s potential to lighten administrative workloads will make the change feel less daunting.

Here are a few more ideas to make the change easier for your team:

• Remove Obstacles. As a leader, you’re better positioned to address policies, processes, and system issues that could be barriers to change. By proactively removing these obstacles, particularly ethical and security concerns, you’ll make it easier for your team to adopt new AI-driven ways of working.
• Identify What’s Changing (and What’s Not). Using the Stop/Start/Continue framework, work with your team to identify new tasks AI might introduce (Start), tasks that could be outsourced to AI tools (Stop), and tasks they’ll continue to do, even if augmented by AI (Continue). By reassuring your team that much of what they do isn’t changing, you’ll make the change more tangible, and hopefully more manageable.
• Share and Celebrate Progress. As we like to say, “small wins get big celebrations.” It’s important to acknowledge and reward your team’s transformation efforts. Celebrate successes, no matter how small, so the team sees and feels the progress they’re making.

3. Upskill Your Team

While most of us don’t need to become AI experts, the transformation ahead still presents a skill gap for many of us. Providing your team with the skills they need to be successful in the new era of AI is crucial to helping them feel confident and thrive.

Much of the AI training available focuses on building a deep understanding of AI. At Leadership & Co., we’ve taken a different approach.

We realize that most organizations will interact with AI technology primarily through products and services they buy from 3rd party vendors. We also know that leaders will be more effective in driving AI transformation if they understand AI’s capabilities in the context of their industry, organization, and business function.

We’ve developed the following offerings to help organizations get AI-ready at all levels:

• BUILDING AN AI-READY ORGANIZATION: This 1-day workshop, facilitated by AI strategist, Markus Bernhardt, helps executives and senior leaders craft an AI strategic direction and start preparing for an AI-ready workforce.
• BECOMING AN AI-READY LEADER: This 1-day workshop helps mid-level leaders build a digital vocabulary, learn about AI’s capabilities, and explore how AI will change the way they work and lead.
• UNDERSTANDING AND EMBRACING AI: This 90-minute webinar helps professionals at all levels build a practical understanding of the basics of AI, explore best practice use cases, and learn insights about trending tools and resources.

Your 30-Day Challenge

Over the next 30 days, try doing at least one thing to get your team ready for the AI transformation ahead. Here are a few ideas:

• Brainstorm a compelling “why for AI” and practice sharing it with a trusted colleague.
• Facilitate a Stop/Start/Continue discussion with your team to get them thinking about which parts of their work are most likely to change with AI.
• Celebrate a win on your team, however small. It could be a team member using ChatGPT for the first time or someone discovering a new generative AI tool that the team finds useful.

Stay curious!

- Leadership & Co.

Like what you read?

• Register to join us for our Getting Yourself (And Your Team) AI-Ready webinar on December 14. Gain insights about how to prepare for the AI transformation through an engaging discussion and Q&A with Dr Markus Bernhardt .
• Bring these best practices to your leaders through our flagship Core Leadership Program or as a standalone Leading in Change Workshop.
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