Have you ever led a change process? Let’s face it, change is difficult. Organizations have been destroyed by it and some leaders have been fired because a change they recommended didn’t go well. Friendships have been severed and colleagues estranged all due to change. How many times have you led change, only to have people quit because they couldn’t see the process through to the end? Maybe you are leading people who are doing the opposite; instead of leaving, they stay but try to slow down or sabotage the change because they just don’t agree with the new direction. Then let’s not forget the board members whose only interaction with the organization is to come for a quarterly meeting, and respond to a presentation, it took staff three weeks to build, only to say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” If those scenarios are not enough mental strain, you must then battle through your own reservations about transformational organizational change.
Some of my fondest professional memories were created while working through periods of transformational change. I have been a part of a corporate buyout and merger, been a part of several CEO transitions, and led the growth and transformation for a church. These various experiences were stressful but were also fertile soil for personal and professional growth. Here are seven thoughts to help you survive the storms of change.
Champion Change
Before change can be accepted by others, it must be championed by the organization’s leaders. It is virtually impossible for leaders who lack confidence or speak in fear, to gain support for transformational changes. Most people are afraid of change, so leaders need to courageously declare the plan for progress. I learned this lesson during a corporate buyout when the senior vice president of the company masterfully laid out our plan for keeping our division open. He did more than calm our fears, he communicated a bold vision for growth and expansion. That moment taught me that change can either happen to me or be used by me. My emotional DNA changed because of his leadership. Now I see change as an opportunity to create a new story of triumph.
Consider Others First
As you lead change, please don’t forget to check in with your team to determine how they are handling the changes. While I am a person who is energized by change, I’m more conscious of the fact that most people become stressed and afraid. It’s important to consider how your staff, volunteers and stakeholders will respond to change. Be patient with them as they express their emotions in helpful and sometimes unhelpful ways. You may even share a copy of “Who Moved My Cheese” with them and spend a few minutes during meetings talking about the characters’ responses to change. Then ask them, which character they identify with the most.
Coach Those Who are Struggling with Change
During your check-ins with your team, it may be clear that some aren’t handling the changes as well as others. Change can be stressful, so as a leader you should be very aware of those who are struggling with the change. Check for changes in attitude, absenteeism, increased errors, a lack of interest. These may be signs that someone is struggling with change. Please don’t immediately assume the person is subordinate, or just being difficult. A lesson I had to learn the hard way, is that opposition to change isn’t the same as opposition to my leadership. Some people are afraid of the unknown. I make it a point to check in with folks in different ways to understand their perspective and provide clarification on the plan and goals. It’s also a great idea to provide information on where you are in the change process. Think of it like riding on the highway; there are markers to identify where you are on the journey and how much farther you have to go in the drive. Admittedly, some team members can be like a five-year-old riding in the backseat who asks every five minutes, “Are we there yet.” And as every good parent knows, you answer the question as lovingly as possible the first ten times, then point their attention to something else, hoping it will occupy them long enough for you to make progress. If you see someone who is too impatient, give him an important task that requires him to focus on something which he can control. Doing this might reduce his anxiety, and spare you a headache.
Continuously Examine Yourself
Leading change can be stressful. As a leader you are so focused on moving things forward, holding things together, answering questions, and countering criticisms, that you may be drained emotionally and mentally. Be certain to understand your own emotions while navigating the change process. Review your plans often, keeping a clear focus on the desired outcome. The second-guessing of allies and attacks of adversaries can make you doubt whether the change is the right thing. Please remember the start and end of a journey are always easiest; it’s the middle part that is the longest and most difficult. The middle part is that space you get to where you are too far into change to turn back and too far away to see the end. Keep pushing to the finish line to overcome all the questions, criticisms, and emotional strain of leading change.
Communicate Consistently
Communicate consistently to help ease doubts, provide updates and reassure stakeholders on the organization’s progress. The frequency and form of communication can be determined for specific situations and subgroups. Provide daily, weekly, monthly, updates or all three. Use email, video, face-to-face team meetings, printed newsletters, or memorandums, everything. There are some who believe being very tight-lipped about change is best, and in some instances this is appropriate. But when you are leading a non-profit organization, silence is not golden, in fact, it can be costly. Be sure to craft messaging with honest assessments and only share very detailed information in video or in face-to-face meetings with Q&A Sessions. Sharing detailed information in those ways allows people to see your facial expressions, hear inflections in the voice, and emphasis on keywords. Static text lacks those things mentioned, and can sometimes be harder for people to grasp the key points.
Calculate Various Measures and Outcomes
Change leaders understand the importance of having measures and outcomes to determine success. Emotions always run high when people are experiencing change. For your organization to move forward successfully, it’s critical for you to establish a clear way to measure the outcomes of change. All sports teams keep score to determine how well they are doing in the game, and leagues track wins and losses for rankings. I once heard about a football coach who was fired after three consecutive losing seasons. When the local newspaper interviewed him about his dismissal, the coach was shocked by his firing. He said, “I didn’t know wins and losses were on the table for this season. I thought it was another rebuilding year.” Well, the athletic director was keeping score and his performance didn’t measure up to the standard. You’ve got to keep score, or else you won’t know how well or poorly you are doing.
Celebrate the Change
One of the important phases of the change management process is the celebration. Organizational leaders often place a lot of emphasis on the development, announcement, and implementation of the change, that they forget to celebrate the outcomes. I recommend starting with the end in mind. Here is a crazy suggestion, encourage your team to keep a journal, electronic or written, during the change. Announce the start and end date for change implementation. Then at the ending celebration, ask some of them to share their candid thoughts during the process. There may be a wealth of instruction as your staff, volunteers, and stakeholders look back at their thoughts. I’ve often laughed at myself when thinking back to how anxious I was at certain periods of change.
Mark Twain said, “The decisions we make today will be the stories we tell twenty years from now.” I hope you will have some legendary stories to share in the future.
Please contact me directly, if you would like help to lead your nonprofit through change, or any other organizational support and training. You may reach me at [email protected]
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Leading Change By John P. Kotter |
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Leading Change Without Losing It: Five Strategies That Can Revolutionize How You Lead Change When Facing Opposition By Carey Nieuwhof Leaders try to bring about change. And change almost always elicits opposition. So how do leaders navigate change, and the opposition to it, without giving up their dream for what could and should be? Carey Nieuwhof, pastor of Connexus Church near Toronto, examines five strategies that can help church leaders manage change:
Insightful and practical, Leading Change Without Losing It offers hope and encouragement for leaders, no matter where they serve in the church. |
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Practical Stuff for Pastors: Leading Change
Ever tried to replace the organ with a keyboard? Change the service time by thirty minutes? Introduce a new ministry? Retire an old one? Pastors learn quickly that change often meets resistance in church. Even small changes can be hard to make when church members are familiar with the usual way of doing things. But change is necessary as new visions arise and communities evolve. Leading Change provides guidance for how to lead a church through both big and small changes, including:
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Leading Change from Within: A Road Map to Help Middle Managers Affect Lasting Change By Brian Strobel |
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Learning Change: Congregational Transformation Fueled by Personal Renewal By Jim Herrington In a groundbreaking seven-year experience, Jim Herrington and Trisha Taylor led a cluster of churches in a process of personal and congregational transformation that is producing hope and health. Built on a sound understanding of learning organization theory, adaptive leadership, family systems theory, and recent discoveries in the neurosciences, Herrington and Taylor developed and refined a highly fruitful model of church renewal. This model begins with personal renewal in which congregations learn how to become learning communities and ends with church-wide transformation. Learning Change is the pastor and congregational leaders’ field guide to leading change. Each chapter provides training and information, an aspect of the learning change model, stories of real-life experiences in churches, and questions and suggestions for taking this information into a congregational context. |
