Leading through Transition and Change
Change, like death and taxes, is inevitable. Eddie Vedder once sang “I changed by not changing.” Bob Dylan wrote about “The Times are a-Changin'” and Sam Cooke famously sang the anthem “A Change is Gonna Come.” Change will happen. Change is nothing more than a transition, and transitions come in all shapes and sizes.
Some are energized by change. Some are resistant to any change. Some are still reeling from a change that happened long ago. We can understand a few things here, which help us better to lead better through change: First, change is inevitable. Second, everyone has a different perspective on change.
When a leadership transition occurs; or when a leader is journeying an organization through change, the following are typical responses. The people who love change, welcome it. They are early adopters. Change agent leaders love these people. These people become the leader’s “core group” for supporting change. Sometimes they become the leaders’ “support group” through the change. Meanwhile, the leader is trying to convince people who are resistant to any change, that this change is a good thing. That THIS change will be different than before. Those who are resistant to any change, are probably good people. Supportive people even. But they have a tough time easing into the change themselves. The leader focuses on the first group, and then also tries to bring this second group along.
Then there is the last group; the ones who are still reeling from change years ago. This group causes the most trouble for the leader. The leader wants them to move forward with the organization. This group wants to move forward with the organization, but still, there is friction. It takes longer for this group to come around. They may have been frustrated with past decisions. They may have been at the organization longer than the current leader, and thus feel they have more skin in the game than the leader does. This group might feel more of a “right” to the decision-making process. Inevitably, this group and the leader clash. They say the leader is moving too fast. The leader is not thinking this through. The leader has tunnel vision. And that’s just some of the nicer things this group might say. The leader says this group is “stuck in the past,” are selfish, and worse “OLD.”
Without proper communication and intervention, a splinter will likely happen. Either the leader will leave and the group will stay, the leader will stay and some from the group will leave. And what happens if they don’t split? This is worse yet, the plan does not go through and both the leader and the group stay. . . and birth resentment.
Situations, like the one described here, are all too common when organizations are working through change. This is especially normal when organizations are going through a change in leadership. This conversation could be about change. It could be about transition. But really, it is a conversation about trust and perspective.
Oftentimes, leaders are told they should not make a major change within their first six months of leadership. They are supposed to make one minor aesthetic change to show everyone someone new is in charge. But for the most part, they are the biggest change to the organization. So why six months? Because by then, hopefully, they have built enough relational equity to be able to move forward. In other words, trust has been established. The truth is if you have the trust of the people you can go as far and as fast as you want to go. But that might take six weeks or six years.
“The truth is if you have the trust of the people you can go as far and as fast as you want to go. ”
It also helps to know the perspective of the people in your organization and their orientation to time. For this, visualize a vehicle driving down the road. The leader is the driver of the vehicle and they are responsible for the music selection, for the temperature, for getting everyone to the destination, and for a safe arrival. Let’s say you, the leader, are driving a full third-row SUV or Swagger-Wagon. Better yet, this is an early 80’s station wagon with a rear-facing third row, complete with wood paneling and optional seat belts. Being an ancient vehicle it only has an AM/FM radio that constantly has to be tuned. No entertainment system to distract the passengers. So, in this vehicle people are looking out the front windshield with you, people are looking out the side windows at the scenery, and people are staring out the back windshield. You already know where we are going with this imagery.
The people are not bad. Their seats are not bad. Their perspective is not bad. But it is limited. Now the driver is mainly looking through the front windshield, but that is not their only responsibility. It is up to the driver to be aware of the surroundings, the dashboard, the speed, the potential hazards, as well as making sure everyone in the vehicle is still on board with them. This requires awareness, communication, seeing problems before they arise. It requires heightened senses. Also, it is incredibly exhausting. According to United World Transportation, on average, a driver will make 160 decisions/mile. 160 DECISIONS PER MILE! At some point, it is common to stop thinking about the people in the back or to be less kind to the passengers. We can get so caught up in just “getting there,” that by the time we get there, no one wants to be there with us!
So what do we do? First, knowing and understanding these perspectives is a great start. Also knowing the leader is responsible for all the perspectives helps in understanding who is accountable, who is an active passenger, and who is driving. There are some great strategies and tactics to utilize. One example is below. However, what is important is to focus on the principles not just the strategy. And the principles are:
Have clarity on where you (the leader) wants to go before you talk to others.
Gather ALL of your people together and let them ask any questions, together. BEFORE you explain the change. This establishes trust. You may think the trust is there, and it may be there. But trust has to be established first.
Remind everyone of the mission of the organization. Ask them to think of ways the mission can be accomplished
Bring everyone back together and let those ideas be explained.
Take the ideas back and distill them with your board or leadership team. Most likely this will line up with what you originally wanted to do. If so, great! If not, maybe you need to tweak your original idea, or you have realized some other things have come up altogether that needs to be addressed. In any case, SUCCESS!
Then hold one more meeting to tell the team the direction the organization is going and have them sign on to it. Let them know what they need to do and what you will be doing. This is clarifying expectations, and establishing a baseline that can be referenced.