My Journey in Leading Collaborative Change: Maybe it’s time to CHANGE the models.

Why hasn’t sales been professionalized until now? It’s a fair question. If you wanted to pursue a certificate, degree, or even earn a doctorate, you could do so in HR, Finance, Accounting, Marketing, IT, etc. – it’s available. Fewer than 50 universities in North America offer a degree program that involves sales. And if they do, it’s a Marketing degree that you might earn. For the first time, sales as a profession, is being professionalized and scrutinized from an academic perspective that leads a student to earn an MSc Leading Sales Transformation in professional practice from Consalia and Middlesex University of London.

The masters program includes global sales research performed by many outside sales researchers and is led by Dr. Phillip Squire, CEO of Consalia Ltd. Current and prior cohort members include business and sales executive leaders from global corporations such as SAP, SKF, Toshiba, Royal Mail, Association of Professional Sales, Mott MacDonald, Sony Mobile, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., and more. Sales is now on a journey of professionalization and accreditation.

As I am now well into my 6th module of the masters and working my way towards the final main project for module 7 with Middlesex University; my role as a sales leader is to transform the way our people sell by utilizing and embedding psychology and science into our sales identity. I must embed the positive sales mindsets that customers want and expect from our sales teams and then the right tools to include coaching, listening, guiding, and transforming the way we approach our sales team. To do so requires change…. collaborative change and my ability to lead sales members through the change process.

Module 4 is all about Leading Collaborative Change and it is here were I have learned about the myriad of change management models to assist, support and guide us through leading sales transformation.  However, I found myself grasping trying to understand and connect the change models and adapt them to the workplace environment that I’m living and supporting. Whether it be the Kubler-Ross change model or Sara curve as it’s been morphed into over the years, or Kotter’s 8 step model or Positive Change Cycle, I could not relate them to change that was occurring in today’s modern workplace.

Because of that inability to relate these models to everyday changes, I reflected back on what is the root behavior when a major workplace change occurs? It could be fear. Now in my past from my Navy days, fear was not something to show. Stand up and be a man. Be strong they said.  To me, that was just ridiculous. The human body was built with mechanisms to act when you are scared.  Sweating, rapid heartbeats, goosebumps, and hair raising on the arms or neck. Therefore, I deduced that one should embrace fear…. fear of change = SCARED.  What does SCARED mean? And that’s when a new model for understanding what could be happening during a change process came to me. SCARED. Surprise, Champion/Conflicted, Actions, Receptive/Rejective, Explore, and Decision/In-Decision……but it cannot be linear just like that. The SARA curve or the Kubler-Ross change curve was mis-interpreted, in my opinion, to be linear as well. Therefore, a model should be fluid and have a positive, neutral, and negative side as people’s feelings / moods are not linear. They fluctuate and sometimes go back and forth.

Once you understand where you are in the SCARED model, the next logical question is So What? What can you do about it? And that’s when another part of the model came to be. Start to create your Strategy, Options. Then stop and ask if you have a Way Forward? If yes, ask yourself do you have Hope or know How you are going to move forward? If yes, then execute the necessary Actions and Take ownership. A major change has been introduced. People might follow a process of being SCARED - SO WHAT can they do?

Since October of 2019 when I developed the SCARED – SO WHAT model, I’ve been sharing it with sales members in their own situations of change from across the EMEA markets. So far, regardless if you speak Russian, Spanish, French or Afrikaans – people from all areas have been able to understand the SCARED- SO WHAT model. I’ve been able to coach them as to where they may be in the change process via SCARED, and then guide them to come up with their own SO WHAT.  The response has been incredibly positive. In a recent survey with a group of employees, 100% of them stated that they could self-diagnose where they are in the change process using SCARED. Likewise, those same employees said that the SO WHAT model was the first they had utilized that actually helped them navigate their own way through a change process.

Change is personal. Change is relative and individual. Not every change model is appropriate for every situation. As leaders we must be responsible to understand if we want to lead our teams through a change process – we cannot dictate the terms or stages they might go through but we can guide them. As several employees stated to me, the SARA curve wasn’t designed for work place change. It says one must be Shocked, then get Angry and Resist before they Accept. That’s simply not true and not the way it was intended nor designed. So why are we forcing models on our employees that may not be relevant? Kubler-Ross developed her research based on death and dying. Brilliant research that has real world relevancy. But should that be imposed on our employees by today’s change management process? I think there may be a different approach.

Below is the framework of the SCARED-SO WHAT? model. It’s not a definite science and is born out of the need for something new in a modern workforce environment. And to be honest, I made it because I needed to understand the basis of fear – and what people may be going through in a major work place change process. My philosophy is to embrace that possible fear, coach the employees through the SCARED process, and help them develop their own SO WHAT to complete the transformation.

As I am continuing my research, I’d like to share this with you and invite your consultative feedback. Maybe it can be of use and help to you in leading your own change transformation. As I’ve stated previously, there’s no one size fits all. But I do hope you might find value in sharing.

Thank you!

From my research in the Master's program at Consalia Ltd. / Middlesex University - Module 4: MSc Leading Sales Transformation. Creation Date: October 1, 2019

My proposed model to share with people in the work environment in understanding the change process is in two parts: 

 Part One: SCARED – Understanding the feelings that occur during the change process. 

 As a pre-requisite one must understand the situation they are in at that moment. If you are in a situation of bereavement, the SARA Curve model may be of significant relevance to understand what is happening to a person’s mental / behavioral state.  If you are in a situation where the change is anticipated, then perhaps Connor’s Positive Change Cycle can inform where people who resist the change may be in their mental / behavioral state.  Both may be applicable in any situation. 

However, in the work place, I’m not finding these models relative and supporting to the actions / behaviors that I experience when change is implemented at work. Therefore, I’ve created my own models to put into every day work life speaking terms that I think people can understand. 

I’m expanding on the principles of SARA and Connor but including the real-life options that occur when once comes to being receptive or rejective as they move on towards a decision point or remain SCARED with indecision. In this model I share the feelings that drive the behavioral acceptance or resistance to the change that is occurring. The goal is to break out of the cycle – preferably after Decision making and not to get stuck inside the circle with In-decision. 

Surprise: People are surprised or could be caught off guard when change occurs. The SARA Curve begins with shocked. In a bereavement situation, I agree this applies. But in a work place situation, in my experience, I think it’s more along the lines of being surprised. But as we get further into the model it can turn immediately into fear. That fear of change is normal and is known as Metathesophobia. 

 Conflict: The next phase that one may transition into is conflict or the act of being conflicted. This is also ambiguity and people may get lost in learning about the change happening to them or with them. 

OR 

Champion: The person experiencing the change may transition directly into being a champion. If this is the case, then they may move onto Action and immediately into Receptive / favorable decision point to be onboard with the change.  

Action: It is here that an action might possibly happen. This can be in the form of asking for more information to better comprehend the change; or a physical action that can either excite or drive further fear into the persons behavior. 

The next step in the module is also a behavior that can be driven by fear in a positive or negative fashion.  The person experiencing the change my go one of two ways: 

Receptive: If the person has embraced the change, the next step is that of being receptive. From here they will move onto the next thought process. The SARA Curve also suggests this is the process. But it does not account for another very real possibility of the person rejecting the change all together. 

OR 

Rejective: If the person going through change does not accept the change, they can then reject it all together.  This can then lead to avoidance of the change process or full on retreat from the change and the environment they are currently in.  

 Explore: Depending on which direction they have chosen to behave in a receptive or rejective manner – they will begin to explore options, opportunities, and possibilities that might suit the change or suit them personally to exit the change being imposed upon them. 

 Decision: Once options are explored then the next step can be a decision. However, if they have moved into a rejective state, indecision can also occur. This could put them back at the beginning or secondary phases of the SCARED model and can also keep them inside the model until they find a way forward. They could further rethink their actions and perhaps come to either the same rejective path or switch to a receptive pathway. It’s all about how they succumb to their fear of the change. If they are receptive and have options to move forward the decision point can be to embrace the change and move onward out of the SCARED model. The goal for this change management model is for a person to move favorably through it to a positive decision point and then break out of the change cycle. Once they’ve achieved this mentally, they can move onto the next model to help execute the change. 

Over time the model can fluctuate. It's not linear. Feelings / moods can fluctuate up and down. People can move back and forth between or skip sections all together.

 Part Two: SO, WHAT – a model to help the person going through the change process to discover a process to move onward. This can be used regardless of which way you decide to be either receptive of the change or reject it all together. Either way, you will be analyzing your way forward. The goal is to break out of the cycle – preferably after Taking Ownership. 

NOTE: There is also a power point template for you to document down your SO WHAT plan.  This is a tool to help you impact your change. 

 Strategy & Options: Being to think about what your strategy can be and start to annotate your strategic plan points. What would you do to implement the change? And if you’ve rejected it, what would your options and strategy be then? What tools are needed? What people need to be involved? What support do you need? What is your communication plan? What are your timelines? 

Way Forward: Now that you have a strategy and several options to either implement or reject the change – you need to then think about your way forward. Are your plans solid and actionable?  Who will be your reviewers / approvers? Do you have the positive momentum to action out your change process? 

 Hope / How:  This is a stopping point for a status check. If your plans are actionable then you have hope. If not, then you need to go back and re-strategize and re-calculate your options. If you do have hope of moving forward, then ask yourself If you know how you are going to do it? 

 Actions: Now that you see a hopeful outcome and you know how you are going to action on the change you can then begin to outline the actions you will take to move forward. 

 Take Ownership: Taking ownership is the last step. You’ve navigated your way through the fear of change and you’re no longer SCARED.  HOWEVER: You must keep in mind that each person you bring into the journey at different touch points may be entering into the SCARED model differently.  You’ll need to ensure that everyone reaches the same outcome by breaking out of the SCARED model with a favorable decision point. You don’t want detractors on your change implementation team. Help may be needed at different points along the way.  

Now you must take the necessary actions you’ve prepared to ensure that your strategy is fully executed. Make a timeline to ensure that your actions are fully executed and keep you on time to implement your change. 

The SO WHAT template:

Thank you for reading with me today. If you have any constructive comments, thoughts, recommendations or suggestions that may support this new model theory, please feel free to comment and let me know.

Wishing you all the best.

Grant Van Ulbrich

For more information on the MSc Leading Sales Transformation with Consalia Ltd and Middlesex University, please visit www.consalia.com.