What Does it Mean to Champion Change?

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Making change happen has always been an important role for leaders, now more than ever. Much has been studied and written about managing change, and to a slightly lesser extent, leading change. And even given all that study and advice, most leaders and organizations aren’t very good at making change happen. Maybe it is because we need to champion change, not just manage and lead it.?

Before you think this is just wordplay, there is a difference between managing, leading, and championing change. The difference is in the focus of the effort, the way it is communicated, and how much we engage others in the change.

Managing Change

When we manage change, we focus on telling people about the change and having a solid implementation plan. Make a good plan, communicate the plan, and execute that plan. It sounds good – we need a plan, and we need to run, supervise, and organize it. All these pieces are important, but these aren’t the only pieces to the puzzle.?

Leading Change

Leading change is not just telling people about the change but selling it or persuading them to accept it. Change leaders are focused a bit beyond delivering the facts. They realize that they must influence people about the plan. They will arrange time for Q&A’s or create FAQ’s about the change. Leading change means not just focusing on the change itself, but recognizing the role of those who will be implementing that change. To lead change is to move, steer, or shepherd people toward the change. This is needed too, and it still isn’t enough.

Championing Change

Championing change is something else entirely. Here the focus moves from the change itself to the folks who will make the change happen. A champion of change is one who realizes their job is to help others see the change in a way that they choose it for themselves. Rather than talking to people about the change, they…

• Create conversation with people about the change.
• Talk about the why of the change – helping people find meaning and purpose.

Rather than thinking about making change happen, they support the purpose of the change, advocate for the change, believe in the change, and help people come to their own belief.

The focus of a change champion is less on the change and more about the purpose and the people. The goal is to nurture a commitment to the purpose of the change. Thus, the change itself becomes an obvious choice.

It’s All Three

Before you decide that I am right and that you should work on being (or creating) change champions, slow down. While we will be most successful if we champion the change to create choice and commitment, we still need to lead and manage it too.?

I am not suggesting we abandon what we know about communicating a change or throw out our change plans. I am suggesting we must go beyond the facts, even beyond influence, and engage people in the change. Let them talk about it. Let them share their concerns and even resistance. Give them a voice and a chance. You’ll get more effective change results when you trust them to share their thinking.?

Because when we champion change, we improve the chances of getting the change we seek.?

[A version of this article first appeared in our blog.

What Do You Think?

Share in the comments your answer to this question… How frequently – and successfully do you champion change?

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