Whether it’s changes at the leadership level, team or organizational restructuring, going back to the office or shifting priorities, most leaders are managing significant transitions right now.
Change management has shifted from a simplistic, top-down, “create a vision, change the structure, roll out the new program, and get buy-in” approach to more emergent and empowered approaches. But leading big, complex change is still a struggle because it requires high involvement from your people.
Here’s how to get it:
1. Be empathetic: People have a natural resistance to change – even good change. When you start from a place of empathy, you may find those people who are most resistant to organizational change have great pride
and love for their work. Some may feel psychological ownership of the object of change, especially if it has been in place for a long time.
Curiosity is an empathetic leadership superpower. Take the time to meet with your people, ask open-ended questions, listen to their responses, and show them you genuinely care about what they think and feel. Try this: Say, “I’m curious what you think about this change.” And, if appropriate, ask “How are you feeling about it?” “What do you think we’re not thinking about?” “What could we be missing to make it successful?”
2. Express appreciation: Expressing your sincere gratitude for your people and their work and acknowledging their strengths and contributions prevents members of your team from feeling like this change points to a deficit in their work to-date. But recognition doesn’t just feel good – it also creates engagement and buy-in.
Gallup & Workhuman research shows that when employees strongly agree recognition is an important part of their organization’s culture, they are 3.7 times as likely to be engaged and about half as likely to experience frequent burnout than those who do not. And employees who receive great recognition are 20 times as likely to be engaged as employees who receive poor recognition. The trick around recognition is that you’ve got to be authentic. If you can’t off the top of your head come up with something to acknowledge, don’t. Tell the truth! When you can acknowledge something try this: First, look at the people who are really contributing. Acknowledge them privately in a meeting, email or text about what they did, why it was important and how it made you feel. If you want to acknowledge the entire team, talk about the good work that the team has done and transition it into why you think the team will be successful in the future.
3. Be transparent: When emotions are running high, people need to feel like they are in safe hands with you as their leader. Providing clarity is paramount. Even if people don’t like your message, if they understand what it is, why it’s needed, and have it delivered in a frank, transparent, proactive, and empathetic way, they are more likely to get on board. Then make sure your actions align with your words because people will believe actions over words every time.
Be open and honest with your team while avoiding gossip and personal information. Try this: Think about what you know for sure and focus on it. Say, “What we know for sure is …” Talk about the current situation, then transition into what the picture is for the future. Stick to sharing information that best supports the future decision-making of your employees.
