Change Is Not a Four Letter Word!
An excerpt from my book, The Firefly Effect (Wiley)
There is a story that I occasionally tell to leadership teams about an executive who took his best performer out on the mountaintop and said to him, Do you see that mansion in the distance? Do you see the four-car garage . . . the swimming pool . . . the tennis courts? Well, if you work very, very hard, one day that will all be . . . mine!
The response to this story is usually laughter at first, and then the flash of recognition—Thats what weve been doing, isnt it? I have met so many executives in my work who try to sell their vision to employees. The approach that you should be taking, however, is attempting to inspire them to care as much about this picture of success as you do and vividly seeing how they can directly contribute to the results of the team, department, and company.
My passion is helping leaders to instill a creative, collaborative culture on their teams—one where everyone is actively engaged in driving the objectives of the business. Change must take place for any new strategic direction to be fully executed. If this vision for the future remains solely your own and not that of your teammates, then it cannot possibly be fully accomplished. As Peter Senge so simply stated it: People dont resist change. They resist being changed!
What if you were to treat the very talented people working for you as volunteers who have options about where they choose to donate their time? Because in good times—and even in bad times—your best employees do. They have the best resumes, the best track record of success, and the best network. They need to be re-engaged and inspired weekly (perhaps even daily), and this is especially true in a time of change. They need to believe that senior leadership has the right vision for the future - and they need to know what is expected of them to be successful and to support the change.
One of the most profound ways that you can impact the success of a critical change initiative is by crafting and communicating a compelling case for transformation. For more on this important topic, I encourage you to read my Top 3 Tips for Effective Change Communications.
