Leading Change

Market conditions change.

Regulations change. Funding changes. Technology changes. People retire. People join the team. As leaders, we need to help our people deal with changes. We need to lead them from where we are now to where we want to be.

Start by figuring out what the vision and/or goals are. People get confidence from a leader who can say: “This is what I want us to do, and this is why it will be better than what we are doing now.” The alternative: “I dunno—let’s just try some stuff and see if any of it works.” does not inspire the same confidence.

Build buy-in. What does each person need to get on-board with a new idea? Remember that, for most people, they are held back by some type of fear—fear of losing the status quo, fear they will not be any good at doing things the new way, fear that it will make them do a lot more work, fear that other people will be hurt or unhappy with the new way, etc. Realistically address these perceptions.

(image source: https://tithebarnpress.com/2017/02/25/change-is-inevitable-deal-with-it-luke-12/)