Transformational Change and Exemplary Results

Is authentic and continuous engagement of all impacted stakeholders necessary to deliver exemplary transformational change??

This was the Socratic question presented to participants of our last Servant Leader workshop, with 177 attendees. Interestingly but not surprisingly, nearly 100 % of the participants responded yes to this question. In the Socratic learning style, the question to answer then became how do we achieve authentic and continuous engagement??

The goal of this blog is to share our experience.?

According to the commonly available literature on why people engage is based on the types of engagement and reward systems:?

• Mechanical Engagement - If the tasks at hand are fairly routine and can be completed relatively easily, then the Carrot and Stick rewards system works reasonably well.?
• Cognitive Engagement - if the tasks at hand require some skill, thinking or reflecting, then the carrot and stick reward system does not impact the engagement. This type of engagement is driven by other factors, such as:?

1. - Autonomy - flexibility to choose what one shares without consequences
2. - Purpose - the purpose of the change is clear and aligns with one's expectations
3. - Skills - skills the participants could acquire will help in careers both within and beyond the organization.

Since our engagement goals for people are to share their Lived Experiences within and beyond the context of the transformational change that clearly requires cognitive skills. This type of engagement presents a considerable challenge for many organizations that aspire to drive transformational change to not only meet their traditional business goals but tame post-pandemic challenges.?

WhiteSparrow Labs, a not-for-profit organization, has developed two capabilities for organizations to tackle this challenge:

• Cloud-based platform to engage people, build momentum, and keep engagement alive. Use the learning to develop agile roadmaps and change plans.?
• Education and mentoring program to help create a servant leader mindset among participants.?

If you are part of a Transformational Change program in your organization or community, check us out at - WhiteSparrow.io. Together, we can help build the kind of organizations where we work proudly and communities where we live safely.?