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In today’s climate, successfully adapting to change is essential. This blog post explores the 3 C’s of change leadership identified to effectively lead through change.
Leading change successfully has become a mandatory skill for leaders as they continue to operate in an environment of constant change.2020 provided unprecedented levels of change in almost every business, industry and sector – but many were forced to lead by trial and error. 2021 will bring a requirement for organisations to upskill all leaders to effectively and sustainably manage change.
When leaders fail to demonstrate change leadership, it comes at a cost to the organisation and employees become confused, disconnected and stray from the core business objectives. According to research conducted by McKinsey - most change initiatives fail due to employee resistance and a lack of management support so it integral to ‘mange change – before change manages you’.
Adopting a ‘change leadership’ mentality
There are many reasons why leaders resist change. Some leaders are fearful of the unknown and others simply don’t want to invest time and resources into something that is not a core business priority. An effective change leader must have a transformational mindset and an appetite to communicate the need for change up, down and across the organisation.
Change must always be in line with the organisation’s strategic goals and a personal preference for change is irrelevant. Gaining support and momentum in change is not easy - so it is important the change leader adopts a mindset that enables them to lead a team through the challenges by communicating the goals and strategies and influencing key stakeholders.
The 3 C’s of Change Leadership
Research has identified that there are 3 skills that leaders need to demonstrate effective change leadership:
1. Communicate
Many leaders jump feet first into change, without taking a breath to focus on the ‘what’ before the ‘how’. Leaders who react to a requirement to change as opposed to investing the time to plan, engage and communicate find that they leave their teams behind. Communication is the vital ingredient in successful change management. Takingthe time to communicate the ‘what’ and the ‘why’provides team members the opportunity to understand that there is a business reason for the change, andenables them to ‘buy into’ the change.
2. Collaborate
To be an effective change leader, it is important to engage and collaborate with your team. Creating authentic leadership is about demonstrating transparency and trust – and there is no better time to do this than where there is an important change in the business. Leaders are encouraged to communicate early and often with their direct reports and all key stakeholders.
When the information about the change flows freely, employees aren’t left in the dark and therefore less likely to rebel against the change or develop conspiracy theories about the intentions of the leadership group. Regular and open communication becomes the foundation on which successful change platforms are built and invites stakeholders on the change journey as passengers – not prisoners.
3. Commit
There is nothing worse than a leader trying to ‘sell’ a change process that they are not on board with. A leader’s job is to create the plan, engage with the team, communicate and project manage the implementation of the change. Employees quickly become suspicious when they see behaviours and actions from leaders that are not in line with the desired change. If they see their leader having doubts or not supporting the change process – then why should they get on board?
Implementing change successfully is difficult, and sometimes leaders need to step outside of their comfort zone and personal beliefs to understand and connect to the ‘why’ behind the change. Leaders who fail to commit to change – will also fail to bring their team along for the ride and will encounter great resistance and disengagement.
Be the change that you need to see
Change starts with leaders. It is imperative that they take the time to understand the ‘why’ behind the change and how it feeds into the strategic objectives of the business. Leaders must focus on their own positive mindset and role model the behaviours that they expect team members to demonstrate. When leaders can effectively communicate, collaborate and commit – they are well positioned to successfully implement change by carefully navigating change fatigue, apathy and derailers.
Further information
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