"He Needs to Improve his Behaviour" - Reflections on Leadership, Learning, and Sustainable Change
Richard Hale BA (hons) MA DMgt FCIPD FRSA
Enabling Change Organisation Development & Leadership Development - Developing mission led leadership and culture in science, research, engineering, government sectors; talent & career pathways, action learning, change.
As a schoolboy I dreaded the arrival of my end-of-term report through the post. The envelope would hit the doormat and I found it hard to resist getting a first glance at my teachers' verdicts on me so that I might prepare my defence. A recurring theme was : ‘He needs to improve his behaviour and attitude if he is to achieve his potential’.
This would typically lead to a well-intentioned stern talk from my mother, urging me to do better in the coming term. Yet, reflecting on those years, I wonder whether these conversations ever led to change in my behaviour or attitudes.?
Fast forward to my career, where I was drawn towards the dynamics of learning in the organisational or business context. The perennial challenge in designing learning experiences is to facilitate lasting behaviour change. Training design has been built on the pillars of attempting to impart knowledge and skills, and creating the right attitudes in others.?
Conveying knowledge is relatively straightforward. Teaching a behavioural skill is more of a challenge but manageable through role-plays, simulations, and what I favour - "real plays".
Achieving change in attitudes and sustained behaviour change though, is the tough one. No-one seems to have a convincing or proven method for achieving it through training alone. Attitudes might be seen as a predisposition to respond and behave positively or negatively toward a certain idea, person, situation or stimulus. ?
The realisation hit in my first job, running a project aimed at rehabilitating ex-offenders and supporting their transition into employment. Despite the participants' intelligence and acquired skills, the risk of recidivism remained. The factors driving these individuals back to crime were complex, systemic and couldn’t be addressed through knowledge and skills? training alone.
As I immersed myself in the world of corporate leadership development I saw further evidence of the difficulty of facilitating long-term behaviour change. In training sessions, managers, leaders, and professionals could successfully practise new skills such as negotiation, persuasion, or conflict management. They’d leave the programme feeling positive and empowered, yet within a year, only 6% reported that they were still applying what they had learned. This was an alarmingly poor return on investment, especially considering that over 90% had claimed immediately upon completion that they had definitely changed their behaviour.
This discrepancy led me to investigate further, uncovering that sustainable behaviour change requires more than just training; it necessitates an understanding of the social and psychological dynamics at play. Participants would often return from training events to workplaces where social pressures and existing group norms stifled their new behaviours. Colleagues might dismiss their efforts, suggesting that they forget the training and "get back to reality." Faced with such resistance, individuals often revert to their old habits.
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A Dual Approach: Visible Behaviours and Internal Processes
This prompted me to re-evaluate my approach to learning design. I recognised that sustainable behaviour change could not be forced from the outside in - it needed to be cultivated from within. This led to the development of the Impact and Influence programme, based on the book, which integrated both behavioural and cognitive components.
I combined traditional behavioural skills training with cognitive techniques like affirmations and visualisation, borrowed from the world of sports psychology. This dual approach improved the sustainability of behaviour change.
The Ongoing Challenge of Behaviour Change
Today, as organisations work on the mysteries of establishing ways of working, creating their culture, encouraging speaking truth to power and improving leadership, establishing effective behaviour change remains one of the most elusive goals of organisational transformation.
In the coming weeks, I will delve deeper into various perspectives on behaviour change. I’ll explore recent insights from the science, research, and innovation sectors, sharing strategies that have proven effective in fostering lasting change. This will include consideration of methods drawn from the practice and theories of action learning, and action research.?
I will also draw from what we might learn from contexts beyond the single organisation; how efforts to create change in behaviour and attitudes are working across boundaries and at a societal level.? And what I have learnt from Shell Richards FRSA based on wargaming methods and disaster response strategies developed at pace during the COVID-19 pandemic where influencing attitudes and behaviours was of existential concern.?
As a 2nd grader 'stonehead' was the name one teacher gave me- she was very impatient andused stem methods and name-calling to try to change my attitude. She was in her 50s and didn't try to engage in positive ways for change. I responded to positive reinforcement. As a failing yet learning Christ follower today, His compassion shows me that's what's needed. I learned from what didn't work and what does to foster change. As an educator I worked with some kids who reflect my struggles in some way. Their homeroom teachers gave me heads up and I'm thankful to realize that solutions don't always emerge from advice, but by silence on my part.
HR Employee Relations Consultant and Executive Coach - Addressing people-related issues promptly and effectively for the achievement of individual and business goals
6 个月Look forward to your future musings on this subject. I agree, sustaining the change is such a challenge and may require multiple attempts. Understanding oneself and being truly open minded is vital.
Organisational agitator
6 个月I can vouch for your parent's concern! Your subsequent professional exploration into effecting change is hitting a peak just when the world needs it ??
Providing everyday, practical tools and techniques for leaders and teams to be more effective and more successful. I champion challenging, supportive leadership.
6 个月Thought provoking as ever, Richard. I’d say that we observe noticable attitude changes in the majority of the people we work with. And through having them practice new methods and behaviours on their own ‘real and live’ situations, then reporting on the experience to the group, we are confident of some behaviour change in the workplace. Perhaps this reflects your real play’ concept. I think it’s also relevant that we don’t see ourselves as trainers or what we do as ‘training’. Simply put, we are facilitating access to ideas, models and concepts that have been shown to help people be more successful. The opportunity to practice opens up reflection on the experience and ownership of the decision to change. Nonetheless, despite self declared benefits, we notice that the half life of any behaviour change is short for many people. The reasons you suggest resonate and I’d add that’Immunity to change’ is a thing! However, we also notice that desired new behaviours tend to stick far better for those people that challenge themselves to practice hard (deliberate practice). We support people to do that and see that it’s a game changer. Behaviour change isn’t easy. You have to want it. Want it bad enough to work at it.
Wellbeing enthusiast. Student MA People and Organisation Development
6 个月This line - social pressures and existing group norms stifle new behaviour - sums it up for me Richard Hale. In workplaces that are under pressure to do more with less people, we need to be creating spaces where folk can reflect and plan for their future of work not just send them to training and then chuck them back into the daily grind. I look forward to your coming insights on this topic.