WINTER 2022 / REAL-LEADERS.COM 23 LEADERSHIP 05 Create time and space Carve out time within your operational environment for people to engage with and adopt the new activities and behaviors. Few companies have the luxury of shutting down business while implementing a change. And the dayto-day activities that keep a business running almost always take priority over those required for change. Therefore, you need to create time and space for people to unlearn old actions and behaviors, learn new ways of working, and embed the latest activities and behaviors into their daily operations. 06Adopt a readinessmindset Many unwittingly adopt a resistance mindset — the belief that human beings naturally resist change. Leaders with a resistance mindset equate employee reactions to change with resistance and grow frustrated when employees question or balk at change. A readiness mindset interprets these reactions not as a sign of resistance but as a sign that people are not ready. It is characterized by the belief that people will move toward something new and different when they understand the need and feel prepared, capable, and supported. Adopting a readiness mindset allows you to engage with curiosity to seek feedback, prepare, and guide people through the change process. 04 Apply holistic systems thinking Every organizational change creates ripples or, as one client described it, a tsunami in your organization. Failure to recognize interconnections and treating each change initiative as an isolated event contributes to change fatigue. However, when you identify and plan based on these interconnections, you can leverage collateral change — achieving strategic or desired outcomes within existing rather than new initiatives or projects. It also reduces the risk of burnout and change fatigue. 07 Activate people Actively involve the people who will do the heavy lifting in the design and planning of the change. It always surprises me when leaders say they don’t have time to involve everyone in a change process. Involvement is not optional. To think otherwise would be like believing you could get fit by someone else working out! A 2017 McKinsey study found that only 3% of organizational change efforts were successful when managers and frontline employees were not involved. Active involvement does not mean everyone is involved in every decision. However, you can create structures to help you actively involve people at the right level and at the right time. n Dr. Dawn-Marie Turner teaches stories, techniques, and the science of taking your team from change-resistant to change-ready and from stressed-out to resilient. She is author of Launch, Lead, Live: The Executive's Guide to Preventing Resistance and Succeeding with Organizational Change. 03 Demonstrate curiosity, compassion, and commitment Be curious about what you see and hear, including having self-awareness of your reactions. Then practice self-compassion as you navigate your journey and help support others through the change. To be an effective change leader, you must commit to the whole journey. Achieving real change that sticks takes time. You need the energy and stamina to continue until the intended outcome has been achieved and the new activities have become routine.
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