Change is Hard: Change Leadership

Today  Why organizations need to change  Why change is so hard  Emotions during change  Problems with emotional contagion  How we can lead change more effectively through communication, inclusion and coaching

60 to 90% of all Change Events Fail

THE “BRUTAL FACTS”: The world is changing! It’s not going to stop! It will change faster!  Faster and rapid technology  Changing economies and dynamics  Globalization and competition  Cultural changes  4 generations in work place

Biology: Change is Pain  Change lights up the prefrontal cortex, which is fast and agile.  Change sends an “error” message

" When we take an idea that's a new idea, it changes chemically what goes on in the brain." —Charles Jacobs

WILLIAM BRIDGES: Managing Transitions EndNeutralBegin Ending Neutral Zone Beginning

CHANGES: What People Perceive They Might Lose During Organizational Change  Positive Outlook  Security and Competence  Control and Identity  Territory  Trust  Belonging or Relationships  Leadership Support and Justice

BIGGEST MISTAKES CHANGE AGENTS MAKE  Thought only about project management process  Leaders hang onto the old  Forgot about the people and perceived losses  Didn’t include stakeholders in the process  Poisoned staff or stakeholders with their own negativity  Leaders sabotaged the change  Didn’t have courageous conversations with stakeholders

EMOTIONAL CONTAGION: It’s Real  Emotions are “infectious”  Leaders play an important role in their ability to influence the spread of certain types of emotions over others  Evidence shows: while all emotions can be contagious, “negative” emotions have greater power to influence. What’s your mood during change?

Focused Leader Program: Using Neuroscience  How and why change is hard at a biological level.  How to turn overwhelming threats into manageable threats.  How to help others see the future in the face of change and potential threat.  How to regulate their own and other’s emotions effectively.  How to have tough conversations in a brain friendly way.

Change Strategy Toolbox  Visioning  Role “Fitting”  Communicating  Motivating, Recognizing and Celebrating  Change Coaching Method: STAMP  Facilitating Inclusion  Building Effective Teams  Training  Project Plan, Milestones, Accountability and Metrics  Diagnosing and Evaluating  Being Positive and Caring for Thyself

If you tell them what to do, they should just do it! Right? Rock and Schwartz state:  Traditional command-and-control style of management does not lead to permanent changes in behavior.  Ordering people to change– and telling them how to do it– fires the prefrontal cortex’s hair trigger connection to the amygdala.  The more you try to convince people that you’re right and they're wrong, the more they push back. The brain will try to defend itself from threats.

Communicating  Communicate earlier rather than later  Ensure communication happens at all levels  Communicate through every modality, i.e. visually, auditory, written, etc.  Invite employees and stakeholderes from all levels to share communication about the change  Launch kick-offs to communicate change

Facilitating Inclusion  Find opportunities to include stakeholders in planning, implementing and monitoring change at every opportunity  Include employees and stakeholders in the development of change management and project management plans  Ask employees and stakeholders their help in sharing the change vision or message during all hands meetings, team meetings or other communication venues

Courageous Conversations and Coaching

Support Each Other with “Loss” conversations- but, don’t stop there  Ask your colleagues, stakeholders and others how they feel about the change  Ask them what they think they might “lose”  Give them space to talk and express worries  But, don’t let that go on forever  And, don’t let triangulation happen

Make it a rule- we all can complain but we also have to identify solutions, hope and opportunity  What good might come from this change?  How can I support you?  What could you or we do to solve the challenge you identified?  Listen, but reassure that the “sky is falling” scenario probably won’t happen  Make sure you balance listening to negativity with finding solutions  Be careful the “other” doesn’t spread their negativity to you

PITFALLS OF LEADERS DURING CHANGE  Express their negative feelings or attitudes about change  Blame others or departments  Don’t have coaching skills to help people have insights  Micromanage all aspects of the event  Use the “stick”  Don’t see their role to teach and train “influencers”  Don’t trust their stakeholders or employees with information

Cyndi Schaeffer  County.gov