Are you a Change Manager or Change Enabler?

Last week I (with a colleague) presented at the International Coach Federations

UK event: Inspiring Coaching - the next 20 years.

The title of our session was “Harnessing the Dynamics of the Future’ and in it we referenced a couple of reports PWC 5 Global Megatrends, and the CIPD Megatrends – The trends shaping work and working lives.

The purpose of the session was to raise awareness of the huge shifts taking place globally and then reflect on what that means for us as leaders, because we are ALL leaders.

So my invitation is for you to do the same and feel free to read the reports in full, but for now here are the key themes:

• Economic power shifts are taking place and the gap is widening
• Technological breakthroughs are occurring with greater speed and less costs
• Global resource shifts – oil and gas reserves are depleting
• Changing demographics, there is now greater diversity in the workplace, a better educated global population and more people moving to live in cities.

The pace of change is increasing and most organisations are not changing at the same pace!

As a leader how are you preparing yourself to work in a world that is becoming more agile, complex and ambiguous?

Are you thinking about creating an agile organisation with a flexible, responsive structure to the management and conduct of work?

 

One thing is for sure the future requires a different way of leading, one that enables others to be more agile and responsive rather than manage others.

Which are you?

If not sure of the distinctions, use this rather quick and dirty checklist to do a little self-assessment.

  

Change Managers

1. Initiate change work to the plan where almost everything is prescribed
2. Invite only those of a certain grade to the table to problem solve
3. Manage change through a project office
4. Communicate major changes through a managed timetable with carefully honed scripts
5. Bring back any deviations from the norm back in line
6. Manage based on past experience and what has proven to work
7. Work through the hierarchy 

Change Enablers

1. Create conversations that generate problem-solving activity
2. Look for internal activist who want to be involved and have the courage to challenge the status quo
3. Invite and encourage commitment by asking people to get involved in the how of things from the front line not top down
4. Discard the notion of the right way
5. Learn as you go
6. Experiment
7. Encourage creative thinking

These two lists are not meant to be definitive. They are presented to initiate some reflection on how you are leading change currently, and hopefully, consider how you may adapt to be more enabling. Leading by harnessing the energies of those around you.

Making real change is a challenge for most of us – just think of all New Year resolutions that lapse after a very short period of time.

What one thing can you do to ensure the changes you’re leading come to fruition?

"To design the future effectively, you must first let go of your past."  


Charles J. Givens

My Top 10 Favourite Quotes on Change

I decided to do something a little different this week and share with you my top 10 favourite quotes on change and why I think they are relevant.

I hope they have some meaning for you too!

'Challenges are what make life interesting, overcoming them is what makes them meaningful.’
Joshua J. Marine

All change, whether organisational or personal, involves a challenge of some degree. That challenge may be how you influence others, how you overcome resistance, how you do more with less….. The important thing to remember is what you learn in the process that makes you a better manager, leader, person. 

‘You gain strength, courage, and confidence with every experience in which you look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot.’

Eleanor Roosevelt

It is easy to back away from things you don’t know how to do, or that seem overwhelming, or that we haven’t done before. Any growth, and I see change as growth, requires you to face up to your own fears, often they aren’t as scary as you make them out to be. What you learn in the process always feeds your self-esteem and self-confidence – so go for it!

‘To get others to come into our ways of thinking, we must go over to theirs; and it is necessary to follow, in order to lead.'
William Hazlitt

So often, in change scenarios, there is a sense of ‘pushing people’ to do something new and different with a bit of a one size fits all method of communicating.

If only we put ourselves in an others shoes. If you can find a way to understand what is going on from the others perspective you can tailor your message in a way that makes them feel heard and understood. They are then less likely to resist and certainly more open and engaged.

You may not always be the best person to lead on something, it may be one of your subordinates, or a peer. We all have to follow at some point and you can always learn from this position.

‘Whatever the mind can conceive and believe the mind will achieve.’

Napoleon Hill

Be open-minded. You are more likely to see possibilities and find alternative solutions. When you begin to think it can’t be done, sure enough you’ll find it can’t!

'Do not wait; the time will never be 'just right.' Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.'

George Herbert

I have never been involved in a change programme where the time is just right, or you have all the resources you need. Starting any change from this place can seem a little scary and maybe daunting and I’m a firm believer in taking a step forward. The moment you start moving circumstances change and you can then adapt along the way.

'One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.'

Abraham Maslow

Change brings transitions that will often require you to let go of things that no longer work. This may be people, processes, parts of your business, or systems. You have to ‘let go’ of those things that no longer serve you to provide space for the new to emerge.  

It is easy to hold on to the things we know, they provide us with a sense of comfort.Moving forward into the unknown can evoke fear and resistance, take comfort from this as it's a sign you are heading in the right direction. 

'Nothing is terminal. Everything is transitional. What looks like the end of the road will turn out to be a bend.'

Robert Schuller

You may think you have arrived at the end of your change programme, systems implementation or new product development but there is always work to be done. You will be able to slow down for a little while and catch your breath. Then consider the fine-tuning you identified, or additional improvements and adaptations required to meet customer needs. Change is constant.

'The biggest problem with communication is 
the illusion that it has been accomplished'

George Bernard Shaw 

You can never communicate enough. Communicate, communicate, communicate!! To groups, one to one, face to face, in writing, via the internet etc.

'If one desires a change, one must be that change before that change can take place.'

Gita Bellin

As a leader you have to be prepared to model what you are asking others to do and be congruent about it.

'To design the future effectively, you must first let go of your past.'  


Charles J. Givens

We can often limit ourselves with our thinking, relying on past experiences and beliefs we have. This can actually be a block to creating the ideal solution and you could inadvertently recreate existing problems. Sometimes you need to get out of your own way and be creative to see what could be possible.  

I hope some of these have resonated with you and it would be great to hear any of your own stories or favourite quotes around change, so please share.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Ending your Day on a Positive Note

How do you end your day at work?

Do you rush out of the office to ensure you catch the train knowing there are still things to do and you’ll do them once you get home, feeling stressed?

Do you finish your task and then prepare for the next day carrying forward the things you didn’t get done today?

Do you finish what you are doing and then switch off to now focus on what needs to be done at home?

Or

Do you spend a few moments reviewing your day recognising what has been achieved and feeling good about it?

A lot has been written about positive emotions and how they enhance cognitive, affective, and physical resilience and broaden our repertoire of thoughts and behaviours.

Hundreds of studies have reported associations between positive emotion and tangible outcomes such as higher wages, customer satisfaction, and creativity, big picture thinking, physical health, quick cardiovascular recovery and work engagement.

So what can you do to begin to think in a more positive way?

As human beings we are all very good a identifying what is wrong, what hasn’t been done, what is unfinished, so you have to make a conscious effort to look at the positive and recognise it.

An end of day practice

To help you create a new habit, and to end the day on a positive note, here are some things you can do to establish an end of day practice:

1. Write down 3 things that went well about the day. This has been shown to increase happiness.
2. Write down everything that you have achieved today. We are all very good at thinking about all the things that didn’t get done rather than pat ourselves on the back for all the things that did get done.
3. Where did you perform at your best today? We often take these for granted and overlook them and yet they are the things that make our reputation – our brand.
4. If you are angry with someone and you feel the need to counterproductively chastise him or her – STOP! Identify things the employee has done to inspire you, that you are grateful for. Take a more balanced approach of the individual and then decide on the best course of action.
5. What did you really enjoy doing today? Savouring life’s pleasures both subtle and spectacular can enhance wellbeing.

You may choose to do all of these or just one and if every day is a step to far start with doing this at the end of the week and make it a regular practice.

Cultivate a ratio of positivity that will generate success.

“Don’t let people; places and things determine your moods. Take charge of how you feel each and every day.”

Michael Barbarulo

Are you Setting Yourself up for Success?

How would you describe your typical day at work?

You spend most of the day doing things you don’t really enjoy, going through the motions because that’s your job.

OR

You spend your day doing the things you love, being highly productive and feeling satisfied with your achievements?

If you answered yes to the second question than there is no need to read any further. You are probably setting goals based on your strengths and talents and building your personal and professional life on your assets. Congratulations!

You’ve learned to recognise and develop your talents and find roles that best suit you finding ways to apply them when necessary.

If you answered yes to the first question then here are some tips on turning this around so that you can enjoy the work you do even more by playing to your strengths.

What are your signature strengths?

The first step to making this happen is to identify your strengths.

Strength is something that you exercise frequently and with ease. You may not even recognise it as a strength because it is so easy.

There are a couple of ways to do this one way is to ask people for feedback: 

• What are you the go to person for?
• What adjectives would people use to describe you?
• If I were to ask someone who worked for you to describe you, what would they say?

Another is to take some simple on line questionnaires:

•  Values in Action (VIA)
•  StrengthsFinder           

You can use either of these approaches or a combination – the choice is yours. Whichever you choose I would recommend that you take some time to really get to know what they are and how you currently display them.

Then… ask yourself:

How can you apply your strengths more to achieve your outcomes?

How can you build a bridge using each of your signature strengths to develop your road map to get you where you want to?

This is not about ignoring weaknesses or development areas that warrant attention it’s just that the intention is not to dwell there.

Then…apply a strategy for one week:

Day one = Identify one of your strengths and notice where is this strength in action.

Day two = Brainstorm new ideas, novel approaches to applying this strength. How can you apply this to make the most of a situation?

Day three to five = Put this into practice and review your results.

Then…Review how things have gone and adapt as necessary making sure you play to your strengths.

Top performers have very specific goal setting habits. They know their capabilities and set goals slightly above their current levels, whereas low achievers are unaware of their ability levels and often set goals that are unrealistically ambitious.

Knowledge of your strengths can be used to re-craft jobs, negotiate development challenges, construct teams on the basis of complimentary strengths and build better relationships with colleagues and superiors.

So what is your next step in being seen and acknowledged as the talented individual that you are?

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle."

Steve Jobs

When Not Influencing is the Right Influencing Style to Adopt

Have you ever been in a situation where you are trying to influence a peer or a group and nothing seems to be working? You have applied all the techniques you know from persuasion, to listening, painting a picture of the new way to assertiveness and still you seem to be making no difference.

This may be for a number of reasons. The other person is distracted, the timing isn’t right, there may be a degree of tension in them as well as you…

It’s at times like these the most effective thing to do is disengage in some way, to temporarily withdraw.

Disengaging can help you maintain focus and prevent you from being distracted by side issues. You can conserve energy for the more important issues.

Here are some of the tactics you could employ:

Postpone

• Use this tactic when you are not prepared and need time, for example, delay a meeting.
• Do not insist others meet with you if they are not ready or under stress.
• Give yourself permission to change your mind about an appointment, a decision, delay the action to think it over.
• Take as much time as you need – particularly useful if someone is trying to pressure you. 

Facilitate

This is particularly helpful if there are several people involved. 

• Try to mediate confrontations that you are not part of – be the cool one.
• When things are not going well in a meeting step back from the situation and try or change it with interventions such as “we seem to have trouble making progress. It seems we have stopped listening to each other.”

Change the subject

• In meetings where caustic comments are made or there are obvious signs of irritation, use humour or another diversion to lessen the tension or emotion. Emphasise areas of agreement.
• When energy starts to decrease or people are becoming frustrated return to an earlier point or start another line of discussion that you think will be more helpful.
• When someone becomes more familiar than you’d like keep topics focussed on business.  

Take a break

• When you feel you are being overloaded tell the other person you need a few moments alone.
• In a meeting where there are indications of fatigue or stress, or the conversation is going around in circles suggest a break.

Disengaging as an influencing technique can only work when it’s a deliberate tactic and should not be confused with avoiding where you would:

• Minimise or dismiss a difference in opinion
• Change your own position
• Withdraw to avoid conflict or confrontation
• Side step the issue suggesting bureaucratic procedures or
• Defer to others to avoid the issue

Model the behaviour you want others to use and practice:

• If you have a tendency to make sarcastic comments or get involved in arguments, employ some self-restraint
• If you get overly involved and lose efficiency, step back and give yourself room to think
• If you have a tendency to meet everyone else’s need and not your own try to obtain a balance, postpone and take more breaks

"Distance has the same effect on the mind as on the eye."

Samuel Johnson

The Good the Bad and the Ugly of Seeking Feedback

Over the years, working with hundreds of leaders in business, I have found that people are hungry for feedback and yet most people don’t ask for it.  When they do they are often not clear and ask questions like:

• How did I do?
• Can you give me some feedback?
• What can I do differently?

In this blog I have provided some tips on what you can do to get great feedback – the good, and what to avoid – the bad and the ugly….

The Good

The only way to improve and be a better leader is to receive great feedback and then put into practice what is appropriate for you to be the leader that you want to be.

Start by getting really clear what it is you want feedback on. When you know this make a very clear request in positive, concrete, action language and ask for what you actually want e.g.

” I have a request for you.” (This usually grabs people’s attention and they will stop and listen).

"I have written this presentation and I’d like you to critique it in the following way:

Does it meet the needs of the target audience?" (Be sure to tell them who the target audience is)

"What do you think the key messages are?

What if anything can I do to make it clearer in the two areas above.”

This is just one example of what a request for feedback might be and how to be clear about what you want. 

If you are working at improving the way you influence stakeholders be really clear about what it is you want feedback on; is it your voice tone, volume, the way you sit and stand, the language you use etc.

Always be prepared to ask for what the other person would suggest to make it even better ensuring you get specific actions that will help you.

Remember too you don’t always need to take it on board.

The Bad

Here are some common mistakes people make;

1. Asking in a vague and abstract way using ambiguous phrasing. The clearer you are about what you want the more likely you are to get it. 
2. Approaching the person they want feedback from in a sheepish way, making little eye contact and speaking quietly.
3. Skirting around the issue by talking generically about what you are working on and saying you would like feedback and not being clear that you want feedback from this person.
4. Being too direct so that your request comes across as a demand!

The Ugly

Here are some indicators to let you know you need some help in how you go about seeking feedback:

• You don’t actually know what you want, therefore don’t know what to ask for.
• You ask the wrong person for feedback. This may be someone who is not experienced enough on the topic you or simply not very good at giving feedback.
• You ask for what you don’t want e.g. I don’t want feedback on the content but anything else would be useful….
• You just don’t ask making the assumption no news is good news… 

If this criteria applies to you ensure you get support from someone who is really good at asking for feedback, or get a good coach.

What I do know is that people rarely say no when you take the time to seek their input. They may not be able to offer you anything right there and then, but they will generally comply if you enter into a conversation with them.

Be the leader in your life and always ask for what you want – it brings greater clarity to everyone around you.

“Making requests in clear, positive, concrete action language reveals what we really want.”

Marshall B. Rosenberg

The biggest problem with feedback and how you can fix it

When was the last time you received good quality feedback?

When was the last time gave good quality feedback to a member of your team, a peer or your boss?

As a professional coach giving feedback is an essential part of my work and from working with 100’s of clients over the years one thing I have learned is that people long for feedback. This is feedback of any nature – what they are good at and how they can improve.

So if people really want feedback how come they don’t get it?

It’s simple.

• Many people don’t know how to ask for feedback.
• Many people don’t know how to give good quality feedback.

All too often I hear generic feedback like, that was really good, you did a great job with …., I really liked the way you did …, this isn’t quite right, do this instead, I don’t think that went well….. This doesn’t help anyone know exactly what it is they did well or what hey need to improve.

 

Get Specific

If you are self aware you often know what you could do differently, and there are times when you don’t. What helps in these circumstances is getting really specific feedback. The more senior you go the more essential this is as it’s often fine-tuning that is required

The two guys who climbed El Capitan in Yosemite Park are a great example of this.

These guys are at the top of their game attempting a 3000 foot free climb. One of them, Kevin Jorgeson, struggled with one of the most difficult parts of the climb and attempted it 11 times over a 7-day period. 11 TIMES!! Each time he reflected on what he was doing and tried again, ripping his hands in the process. It was only when we saw footage from the cameraman (a form of feedback) that he noticed his feet were the problem not his hands. By simply adjusting his foot placement slightly he could make the next part of the climb. When he made this adjustment – he made it and then progressed to the top.

This is how specific we need to get when giving feedback.

What exactly is it your team member or colleague needs to do to be even better at their job? Do they need to change their language, change their tone, take some deep breaths when someone disagrees with them, think more specifically about their audience or their message, stand more confidently by lifting their head and standing balanced, make eye contact…

So next time you are about to give someone some feedback either spontaneously or during appraisal – what exactly is it that will help them?

Make sure they are in the right place mentally to receive it, and tell them that you have some feedback for them. If they are not ready for it they won’t hear it.

Make it count!

"All employees have an innate desire to contribute to something bigger than themselves.”

Jag Randhawa,