Change or Chance" (Part 7) Enabling Action
You’ve identified the Change big opportunity and created a strategic vision that,
with excellent organisational-wide communications, is gaining traction amongst
your people.
You’ve created a sense of urgency.
You’ve built a guiding coalition (GC).
You’ve formed a strategic vision.
You’ve evolved a hybrid organisational structure with your hierarchy now running alongside a creative network (CN).
You’re recruiting your enthusiastic and creative Volunteer Army (VA).
What next?
If they or your organisation’s people repeatedly run up against obstacles that stifle momentum, enthusiasm and buy-in, you’ll overheat Survive and your Change initiative will fail.
It happens all the time.
Remember, Change initiatives do fail and most organisations who do fail won’t have even taken the preceding steps.
But ALL of these and those that follow are critical.
This is where your Change Leadership is vital.
Let’s refresh the difference between “Leadership” and “Management”.
Leadership is about creating a vision that your stakeholders will buy-in to.
It’s about creating purpose, direction, and momentum towards that purpose, by
aligning your stakeholders to make it happen.
Management is about process, consistency, measurement, and analysis.
They are mutually valuable and necessary.
So, Change Leadership needs to ensure that obstacles to the big opportunity are continually and consistently removed.
This can mean, for example, modifying processes and procedures that are not
consistent with the strategic vision and Change program’s objective.
It will be about finding new and variable methods of innovatively and authentically communicating the Change message to the entire organisation and its stakeholders.
This is a vital and continuous process that will gently sway the nay-sayers and add to the momentum of the Change.
There WILL be those who may actively and vocally resist the Change, even if they’re in the tiny minority.
They’ll need Leadership, interaction and even may be unswayed.
Remember, sustainable Change is the goal.
If you reach the end of your Change program and you’re still running systems or
procedures or even language and culture that are outdated, the tendency will be to revert, and the opportunity lost.
It’s about ensuring that the Leadership team doesn’t lose focus or enthusiasm for the Change.
They need to be out of their offices and speaking with the organisation’s people, wherever they’re found.
It’s about effective communications with all stakeholders and vocally supporting
and encouraging the CN/VA
So, removing barriers to enable action towards the Change goal is your Leadership imperative.
But all this will be for naught if the Change initiative is not generating wins.
Early and visible ones…
Barry Eustance CMgr MCMI
Kotter Change Leader Certified
Principal Consultant – The Sixsess Consultancy
Empowering Clients to Seize Opportunity from Change
https://sixsess.org
