Unrelenting Change and What to Do About It

All rights reserved PeopleFirm LLC 2016
well, it may take a little
coaching on transformational
change leadership.
UNRELENTING CHANGE
AND WHAT TO DO
ABOUT IT.
Upscaling the organization for the VUCA*
world: change capability for leaders.
*VUCA: Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous

change is not an event.

change is constant.
In today’s “do-it-now” world,
it’s happening all the time.

So why don’t we realize it
really sucks when it
happens at work?
but… that can be a
good thing.

why? Because thriving
(not to mention surviving)
requires change.

cultural evolution = change.
you put in a new paternity policy = change.
you’re flattening your structure = change.
you launch a new product = change
you move into a new campus = change
you are expanding into new markets = change
you’re updating your performance management = change.
you acquire a company = change
your sales unexpectedly grew exponentially because kim
kardashian tweeted about your product = change
your new strategy = change.
you have a new progressive CEO = change
a new competitor emerges in your marketplace = change
your workforce is changing = change
You implemented a new people policy = change
You are increasing your cyber security = change
See what
we mean?

This means that we
all need to be
ready, willing,
and able to embrace
unrelenting change.

but are our leaders ready
for all this?

well, it may take a
little coaching on
transformational
change
leadership.

1) make the commitment.
Being a good leader in a change-rich environment means a lot more than sending out an
email or two. Leaders need to invest the time to become proficient at change
leadership, which means building their own knowledge so that they are ready, willing, and
able to lead through change.
Shameless Plug: Wondering how to help your leaders become great change leaders? Well,
wouldn’t you know it, we offer leadership change training. Think of if it as Leading Through
Change 101.
They’ll need to learn about the
essentials of human behavior, and
how to work solid change
management principles into their
everyday activities such as how
they lead meetings, set new
initiatives, and respond to
situations.

2) Communicate a compelling
destination (and outline a realistic journey).
There is nothing that will equip your people to handle the stresses of constant
change better than believing whole-heartedly in the “why” of what you do.
Tip: When talking about the journey to your destination, resist the urge to
whitewash things. People will respond to an honest and transparent assessment
much better than they will to a fairytale.
A good leader will share that truth
in a way that compels belief. And
they’ll also give their peeps a
realistic path for how to achieve
those goals. This means sharing
the actual behaviors and actions
needed to get there.

3) Engage your people in the
solution.
Leaders often assign problem solving to a few
“experts”. But to better meet a world of
transformational change, instead get the impacted
people involved in building the solution. Something
changing? Look to your people to figure out how
to make it a success. Got an issue? Let your people
figure out how to address it.
Why? Their involvement makes them feel the process
is more fair, and they’ll be more inclined to advocate
for the change. They’re also more likely to come
up with a solution that will be adopted by their
peers.
Tip: Involving your people in the solution doesn’t mean giving them full autonomy to
make every decision. People are looking for a voice in the process, but not necessarily
the keys to the castle.

4) Manage resistance and build
resilience.
As a leader, remember that everyone processes change in different ways. Some – your
highly resilient people – will thrive on the challenge. Others… well, not so much. Think of a
game of chutes and ladders: some people will climb all the ladders, others will consistently
slip into the pit of despair. Heck, you might be one of the slide-slippers yourself.
Tip: want more information on developing your own resilience? Check out our article on
the subject and our list of resilience practices. www.peoplefirm.com/changeresilience.
The good news is that you can teach
yourself to be more resilient to
change, and you can help your people
build resilience as well. Try taking a
stressed team for a walk, or build
resilience practices (like identifying daily
intentions) into meetings and team
culture.

5) Learn, celebrate, & evolve.
Finally, think back to the previous four steps, think about how to celebrate the good, and
how to evolve the stuff you need to get better at. Where do you need to shore up
capability? Did you have some leaders that tuned out? Do you need a better change toolkit?
By consciously paying attention to what worked and didn’t, you’ll add another layer of
change capability each time you go around the loop.
Tip: celebrate both successes and failures, since they
both grow you as an organization.
With transformational change
you may very well be working
through multiple cycles at one
time, each at different stages.
Just try to keep each cycle
progressing upward, and you’ll
be OK.

Got it? Let’s review.
1) Ours is a world of unrelenting change.
2) That can be a good thing, since change is necessary to survive and thrive.
3) This means we should be practicing change management with everything
we do.
4) Our leaders may need a little coaching to:
Make their commitment
Define the path for their people
Engage their team in each solution
Support the journey (manage resistance & build resilience)
Keep the momentum going
Your people will thank you.

your people = your success.
PeopleFirm is a consulting firm dedicated to achieving the
ultimate win-win: inspired people driving inspired performance.
We focus on effective tools, measurable outcomes, real results,
and getting your people out of their seats and engaged in your
company’s growth.
www.peoplefirm.com
thanks for reading.
THANKS FOR READING.
PeopleFirm is a consulting firm dedicated to achieving that ultimate win-
win: inspired people driving inspiring performance. We focus on effective
tools, measurable outcomes, real results, and getting your people out
of their seats and engaged in your company’s growth.
www.peoplefirm.com

Unrelenting Change and What to Do About It

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