Leadership Skills Necessary to Support Change

Over and over people bemoan, “Things are changing faster than ever.” Changes in what we do, how we do it, and who we do it with can leave employees out of breath and overwhelmed. Because employees often feel caught in the middle of all of these changes, leadership needs to know what employees are experiencing and what to do to assist them. All will benefit when guided respectfully through the predictable reactions to the various stages of change. The reactions may include conditions such as debilitating stress, poor morale, attitudes of non-commitment, and reactionary impulses, just to name a few.

The ineffective “olden days” when top leadership mandated, “Jump!”, and all employees responded with, “How high?” are gone. Companies nowadays have to change their focus quickly to excel through these more complex times. From the mass production models of the industrial revolution to today’s technology-based, high-speed information systems to the rapid-fire future issues of our global economy that are just around the corner, it behooves all of us to find a systematic way to grow ourselves and our people. The secret is to take the time to realign, rebuild, and recharge our departments and divisions, as well as to empower and revitalize those seemingly tired, angry employees to go forward, step up, and successfully meet the challenges that come with any change. Experiencing any major change process, like a merger, for example, is similar to experiencing a surgery. Like with surgery, every decision that is made before, during, or closely after the experience will likely do one of two things: move you closer to your vision (in the case of a merger, your vision would likely be to increase your market share as a result of the merger) or spiral your condition downward quickly. Spiraling downward quickly after a merger because you let things get out of hand could rapidly cost your company precious time, money, customers, and staff resources. You especially want to make wise, careful choices at these times.

Let me show you today how you can increase your market share by implementing these three crucial elements:

1. Leading, managing, and coaching employees through the ten stages of change; understanding the behaviors that individuals and groups go through during a major change process and the management techniques necessary for meeting your objectives.
2. Leading and managing people through feedback.
3. Creating buy-in; giving your people a voice so they will develop the intrinsic ownership of the vision which will be necessary for a successful merger.

Achieving a Positive Change Climate

Charles Darwin theorized that the fate of a species was determined by how “fit” it was. Interpreting Darwin’s statement, one might think that only the strongest or the fastest species would survive. But, this would not be an accurate interpretation of his theory of the fittest (especially when it comes to the defining the most “fit” in the business world).

Actually, it was neither speed nor strength that Darwin was referring to when he spoke of fitness. Rather, it was the adaptability of a species that would determine its fate. Similarly, evidence indicates that, just like in the animal kingdom, the survival of the fittest in the business world comes first to those who are able to change quickly and effectively in spite of tumultuous times in which cultural, environmental, and interpersonal changes are fast, fierce, and at times furious.

Organizational Change

To successfully navigate through change, it is essential that leaders, managers, and all employees gain an appreciation of one another’s challenges and needs. This vital first step will unify them as a team.

Second, they all need to identify and clarify for themselves and each other how they can help themselves and their organizations achieve a more positive change climate. These steps may seem minor, but because they help people mentally shift their existing paradigms, these subtle steps and this thoughtful upfront attention to detail will make the difference in a successful merger or change effort.

Third, it is necessary to discover specific ideas (and belief systems) generated by all your members regarding change. Organizations often fail to recognize that outstanding ideas for improvement already exist in their own backyard. Perhaps skipping this step is a common mistake because it is easier said than done to facilitate meetings wherein staff members feel safe and encouraged to honestly share-out. It is in the essence of these meetings that participants learn how to discover their own and each other’s strengths, as well as create and recognize the best solutions for their unique situations.

Whether it’s called a strategic plan for larger organizations or a plan of attack for smaller mom-and-pop businesses, the foundational elements are the same.

Having a clear plan on where your business is going and how to successfully and consistently achieve goals, so that all of your employees, managers and leadership fully understand their respective duties on how to get there, is paramount.

The most pivotal aspect of this entire process rests on the ability of leadership to implement the strategic plan so that actions, statements, and behaviors result in improved conditions at all levels within your organization. When this takes place, your internal and external customers will benefit greatly and your competitors will try to emulate, resulting in your leading and your competitors following.

In my experience working with national and international companies, approximately 95 percent of them have strategic plans, but only 3 percent to 7 percent implement them consistently and effectively.

For example, I had one president share with me that his organization had just finished a yearlong, mid-six-figure, strategic plan creation project. However, when I asked him what he intended to do with it, he replied with a deer-in-the-headlights expression, “I don’t know.” Many of the problems surrounding implementation don’t stem from lack of trying, but rather from lack of understanding. Company leadership either believes the creation of the plan is enough and implementation will automatically take care of itself, or they confuse general strategic plan knowledge with the processing of the plan.

In other situations, I have found they have gathered inaccurate information or no information at all, which they base their strategic plan on. Successful strategic plan implementation requires that your leadership team have skills, knowledge and experience, which creates competency when faced with follow-through.

To test your and your leadership team’s competency in relation to strategy implementation is to assess their understanding and skills in this area. To improve upon performance, you must consistently measure it. These questions will help you and your team discover what needs refinement.

I suggest you use a 0-5 Lickert Scale, where zero means “some of the managers” and five means “all the managers.”

1. Your managers understand the strategic plan and are able to successfully set department goals in support of the strategy?
2. Your managers lead meetings in which strategic issues are discussed in relation to operations?
3. Your managers, if asked, could provide a priority list of issues directly related to strategy implementation for which they are responsible?
4. Your managers set their subordinates’ goals and objectives according to the strategic goals that relate to their operations?
5. Your managers evaluate, reward, and promote their people with strategic goals in mind? How did you and your management team do? If you scored mostly 4′s and 5′s then you are probably doing well despite the economy. If you scored in the mid range of 2′s and 3′s then you are doing OK but now you know who and what needs to be improved upon. If you got blank stares or scored 0′s and 1′s then you and your leadership team would be wise to take your noses off the grind stone and put some time and energy into your destination and how you intend to get there.

Working hard is needed, but working smart is required and nothing is more important to business success than working toward a specific destination and making sure you and your team have the fundamental skills, knowledge and competency to create and implement a useful strategic plan.

Overview

In order for any business to end the year successfully, it must have begun the year properly by establishing achievable goals at the micro and macro levels. Setting a clear course toward those goals includes gathering accurate formative and summative measures of success and maintaining the flexibility to anticipate and adapt to the unknown. A leader who is clear on the direction of the organization will more easily maneuver around possible bumps in the road ahead.

Given there are a multitude of factors influencing organizational success, not the least of which include developing human capital, usefulness of procedures and policies, growing market share, and coping with the inevitable unknowns, how can a business effectively set broad goals, chart its course, and act accordingly?

The simple answer to that question is in effective strategic planning and purposeful implementation. However, like anything this important, a simplistic answer does not adequately express the depth and breadth of the task at hand. To complete a thoughtful strategic plan, as well as implement this plan successfully, takes time and effort. The basics of writing and implementing a successful strategic plan are as follows:

Clarifying Your Core Values

Prior to writing a strategic plan, an organization needs to ascertain and communicate its guiding beliefs. Core values precede strategy because they represent what the organization believes in. They clarify its purpose; why it exists.

Ask the Following:

• What do we value and believe about our organization, our responsibilities, our people, and our work?
• Why are we here doing what we do?

Creating Your Organizational Vision

Next, through representative leadership, the organization must have a vision. The vision establishes what the organization will be, do, know, and look like in the future. In this phase, it is wise to be bold. Use consensusbuilding communication techniques, such as wall charts or document sharing applications to mutually develop where your organization will be by the end of the coming years.

Ask the Following:

• Where do we want to be in one to two years? (Be VERY specific.)

Scaffolding Your Strategic Plan

Now that there is mutual agreement on your direction toward a clear destination, it is time to formulate the means to get there. Once the picture of the future has been created, it is best to work backward to determine what has to be changed today in order to reach tomorrow.

The strategic plan itself will be in the form of a living document that will likely evolve throughout the year as new information unfolds, but overall its focus will remain the same if the strategies were founded on accurate baseline information. Developing specific incremental steps to get to your future destination should include clear measures of success along the way. Further considerations should include environmental factors, physical plants and facilities, competition, potential threats and opportunities, and any other existing parameters or limitations.

Ask the Following:

• Given our long-term vision, what factors will influence our success?

Implementing the Plan and Assessing Progress Toward Goals

Ask the Following:

• How will our leadership, management, and/or supervisory staffs make meaning of this plan in its entirety? (This is a macro point of view.)
• How will each individual and department on a micro level respond to this plan?
• What human capital and talents will be required to meet these strategic goals?
• Who will review the procedures, systems, policies, environments and resources that must be changed in order to best support our people to achieve these goals and objectives?

Aligning Individual and Department Objectives with Organizational Goals

Organizational goals and outcomes are useless if the people within the organization do not fully support and “own” them. This may seem obvious, but in our role as professional consultants and objective observers we often hear leaders say one thing and go in one direction only to witness the employees saying something else and going in an entirely different direction.

Ask the Following:

• What concrete evidence do we have that our people, processes, procedures and programs are aligned with our vision and our strategic plan?
• How often and in what ways do we need to revisit the vision and strategic plan in order to ensure successful commitment to its goals at all levels?

Strategic Plan Implementation

Most organizations we consult with have well-written strategic plans housed in fancy binders, but often these plans are not utilized because the leadership and the line staff don’t know how, or aren’t motivated to implement the plan.This happens for any number of reasons. But, regardless of why, if an organization doesn’t intend to refer to the strategic plan regularly, ensure its effective implementation, follow its recommendations or at least hire a consulting firm to help to make its goals a reality within the organization, then it would be wiser not to even start the process in the first place.

If your strategic plan is just sitting on a shelf gathering dust, or your individual or departmental goals are not aligned with the organizational vision, it might be because of these reasons:

• The organization’s goals and objectives are too vague.
• No one feels “ownership” of this document or process.
• Leadership and management don’t regularly communicate and revisit the vision or demonstrate the value of the strategic plan.
  • NOTE: This “de-valuing” may be due to the mistaken belief that strategic planning is only an executive-level function.
• The strategic plan’s components aren’t directly related to or aligned with individual performance expectations and objectives.
• Individual and departmental goals are not aligned with organizational vision and goals because communication or trust issues exist within the organization.
• There is little or no reinforcement and monitoring of progress toward macro or micro goals because these features are not clearly delineated within the plan.

Becoming a Wise and Innovative Leader

Unfortunately, many leaders don’t recognize obstacles until after the fact. But, make no mistake about it: It’s the CEO’s job, the business owner’s job, and the department manager’s job to not only chart the course, but also anticipate challenges. In highly competitive markets this is not only good business, it is crucial to survival. And those leaders who have the experience and wisdom to be innovative and proactive will find success beyond their reactionary peers. Through thoughtful strategic planning and implementation, your organization can make it to the next level.

Overview

Technology is no substitute for effective communication, trust and leadership development:

• Super software will not always cure your organizational ills!
• Digital systems will not always trim the fat off your budget!
• Strategic plan software will never help you implement your cool new plan!

I have to admit that I am just as intrigued by fun trends as the next person, but I also have an obligation to speak the truth in front of seductive technologies and their impressive draws: There simply is no substitute for rolling up your sleeves and getting to know the needs of your people and customers. Yes. Trendy software can be pretty darn cool. Yes, improved software programs can be very helpful and may even save you plenty under the right conditions. But no tool will work if you do not have successful communication, trust and professional development as the foundation for your organization.

One way to develop successful communication with your people is to recognize what stage they are in as a group. Most people have heard of Bruce Tuckman’s the four stages of group development: Forming, Storming, Norming and Perfuming.  click here to link to it: http://www.internalbusinesssolutions.com/?s=forming%2C+storming%2C+norming+and+performing&submit

It’s truly sad and very costly that 95% of leaders don’t truly understand how to leverage this knowledge to help themselves and their companies mature and grow through these very normal stages. As we all know, each new passing day in business, departments and organizations go through predictable stages. Having an awareness of these stages will help individuals and leaders recognize and accept these natural phases. You and your people will likely feel a heightened level of safety and security in knowing where you are on your journey and what you need to do to get to the next stage successfully. Often people and organizations get stuck in one of these stages and assume wrongly that “this is just the way it is.” I am here to assure you that nothing could be further from the truth. In this case, knowledge is power and the knowledge of social dynamics is imperative in growing a successful corporation.

Group Development Examples

Laying out the four stages of group development, the model is well-known and highly effective in helping groups and their leaders understand what to look for and then what to do to increase a group’s communication, trust and leadership effectiveness through stages of change. If your organization is facing change brought on by the introduction of a new idea, a new program or a trend, we recommend you give this model some thought. Consider sharing this information with your people to open up a dialogue and begin to build trust. All groups, regardless of their history and regardless of their level of knowledge or skills, will go through or remain stuck in these stages. As you read through these, locate where you are and decide if you want to create effective change. Then take steps toward improving your team, department or organization.

Keep in mind when you are tempted to drop a dime on any number of quick fixes: Business models may appear to be what you need. Even computer programs may seem like the “safe” bet. But they may seem safe because you are caught in the fantasy or illusion that if you buy the new “widget” then you’ll become the success.

The Tools are Only as Good as the User

Models, diagrams, computer programs, technologies and trends are just tools. That’s all they are. Tools. In the hands of the right people, they will enhance a good thing. But, on their own, they will not help us change our behaviors. Further, they alone will not help us improve our communication. They alone will not build trust or buy-in. They won’t do our work. They will only postpone the inevitable. Make no mistake about this. Businesses succeed or fail through their people. The better your people communicate with each other and your internal and external customers, the better off your business will be. If you understand this then utilize the models, the best technologies, and the motivational programs, but always with the caveat to see them for what they are: just tools to help your people grow and develop your organization and themselves.

My experience with successful organizations has led me to focus on the dynamic tension between leaders’ ownership of the strategies for change and their key stakeholders’ acceptance and buy-in of the plan. (Key stakeholders here are those who are crucial to the successful implementation of the desired change.) Often, there is a dynamic gap between these two entities that must be bridged successfully if the desired change is to proceed effectively.

The process I recommend can be used with internal and/or external stakeholders, as well as for regular feedback on many topics from strategic planning to mergers and change management.

In reality there are eight parallel process steps necessary to bridge the gap between those who lead change and those who implement it. Any mis-step or short cut will inevitably lead to breakdowns later in the process and require extensive duplication of work and a slowing of the project. Briefly, I will describe how vitally important real-time meetings held with leadership and key stakeholders prove to be an integral step in this process. For a more in-depth explanation on this process and how we may partner on your implementation project, please contact Kelly@InternalBusinessSolutions.com

The purpose of real-time meetings is twofold:

1. to share information and provide feedback to the core leadership team in order to troubleshoot and improve the plans, and
2. to gain understanding, acceptance (i.e., buy-in), and commitment to the overall direction and implementation of the plan.

One important factor to remember is: people support what they help create. Thus, it is crucial to involve key stakeholders early on in the planning and change process. If this crucial step is omitted or briefly touched on, long term organizational outcomes will pay the price. Poor stakeholder motivation or ambivalence later on is an expensive problem to fix. It is much more effective to alter a plan before it is put into place, rather than try to turn back time and re-work a process mid-stream.

Successful leaders plan ahead for their organizations strategic and human change needs. Even though change is inevitable, in order to be efficient and effective, managing successful change takes preparation and planning. Simply put: investing in and creating buy-in and ownership at all levels pays off.

Whether I call it a strategic plan for larger organizations or a plan of attack for smaller mom and pop businesses, the foundational elements are the same. Having a clear plan on where your business is going and how to successfully and consistently achieve goals, so that all of your employees, managers and leadership fully understand their respective duties on how to get there, is paramount. The most pivotal aspect of this entire process rests on the ability of leadership and every employee under them to implement the strategic plan so that actions, statements, and behaviors result in improved conditions at all levels within your organization. When this takes place, your internal and external customers will benefit greatly and your competitors will try to emulate; resulting in your leading and your competitors following.

In my experience, however, working with National and International companies, approximately 95% of them have strategic plans, but only 3 to 7 % implement them consistently and effectively; most of these beautifully made documents start collecting dust after a mere 4-6 weeks after their launch. For example, and this represents the majority, not the minority; I had one President share with me that his organization had just completed a yearlong, mid-six-figure, strategic plan creation project; and it was a work of art housed in a leather bound embossed casing. However, when I asked him what he intended to do with it, he replied with a deer-in-the-headlights expression, “I don’t know.” Many of the problems surrounding implementation don’t stem from lack of trying, but rather from lack of understanding. Company leadership either believes the creation of the plan is enough and implementation will automatically take care of itself, or they confuse general strategic plan knowledge with the processing of the plan. In other situations, I have found they have gathered inaccurate information or no information at all, which they base their strategic plan on. Successful strategic plan implementation requires that your leadership team have skills, knowledge and experience, which creates competency when faced with follow-through.

A plan will not and cannot do anything but suggest a way to go; its a map. It does not promote ACTION. People promote action but usually don’t know what actual steps they need to take next because it requires them to do and be different than who and what they were 5 days before and leadership doesn’t know how to help model new behaviors. There are a lot of steps and stages that must be taken and met for a strageic plan can do you and your organization any good. The first step in this process is to determine if everyone on the leadership team and then within the organization knows about the plan, understands the plan and then knows what steps THEY must take to help implement the plan. This quick and easy assessment will help you determine how well the plan is understood.

Leadership Team Competency

These questions will help you and your team discover if you are ready to implement your strategic plan or if you must slow down and make sure everyone knows what the objectives are and their place in helping the company achieve those objectives. So many times I witness leadership going in one direction only to turn around and watch the rest of the company heading off in an entirely different direction–strange but, unfortunately very true.

Now for the assessment:  For ease of wording I use the term “leaders.” I suggest you mentally use all people of authority in your organization including executives, supervisors, directors, managers, assistant managers and so forth. I suggest you use a 0-5 Lickert Scale, where zero means “none of the leaders” and five means “all the leaders.”

1. Your leaders understand the strategic plan and are able to successfully set department goals in support of the strategy?
2. Your leaders lead meetings in which strategic issues are discussed in relation to operations?
3. Your leaders, if asked, could provide a priority list of issues directly related to strategy implementation for which they are responsible?
4. Your leaders set their subordinates’ goals and objectives according to the strategic goals that relate to their operations?
5. Your leaders evaluate, reward, and promote their people with strategic goals in mind?

Working Hard vs Working Smart

Working hard is needed, but working smart is required and nothing is more important to business success than working toward a specific destination and making sure you and your team have the fundamental skills, knowledge and competency to create and implement a useful strategic plan. For additional information on any or all of this material, please contact Kelly@InternalBusinessSolutions.com so we can schedule an appointment for you and i to speak about how to improve you and your company.

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Strategic plans don’t go from plan to action on their own as most people think–or rather, hope. A strategic plan is a simple document or road map. People must be learn new behaviors and take actions not previously committed to implement a successful strategic plan. Much like people must take roads not previously traveled to arrive at a new destination.

In the same way that the strategic plan has discrete features (core values, vision, mission, action plans, accountabilities, etc.) a plan’s implementation has distinct and necessary features.

Communicating Conscious or unconscious, every organization is in a state of constant change. Programs and departments are constantly defending themselves, trying to gain market share, seeking to improve internal and external customer service practices, utilizing its dynamic and diverse people, refining its processes or striving to otherwise grow its strengths. In the implementation phase of strategic planning, the organization will be facing any number of changes and challenges; however, because we will have a common destination and common purpose as well as clearly defined checkpoints along the way, we will be better suited to talk to each other about our needs and successes.

People do better with change and challenges if they have a sense of what’s coming and what they need to do to prepare. (help them take the proverbial blind folds off and show them the beauty of the destination you have in  mind). When leaders engage in intentional, positive and proactive communication practices, their people will have a much greater sense of security and commitment. In essence, tell them in clearly defined language about the destination and then remind them how much you need their input and commitment while on this journey together.

Getting Buy-In Getting buy-in or commitment means just that: getting people to invest themselves into this idea, process, program or procedure. Luckily, most people will agree to buy-in when they can see how their individual investment will deliver a sound return. Simply put; how will this directly and positively impact them, their department, their family and well-being of the company they rely on for their economic survival? So when leaders empower their people with the ways and means to influence their work, those people will more readily buy-in to better plans. Empowered employees will support and nurture a plan and its implementation whereas powerless employees will just stand by and watch as if the plan and implementation do not apply to them. To get buy- in, leaders will need to provide visible, tangible and meaningful rewards and recognition for positive actions that lead to successful outcomes. If leaders have chosen and grown the right people (and created rewards and penalties that motivate their people accordingly) then the people themselves will seek out the opportunities to buy-in on the implementation of each variable of the  strategic plan.

Inspiring Interdependence Leaders who know their people will be able to spread personal and institutional passion as well as inspire higher levels of thinking and professionalism. Through this process of inspiring others, leaders will help their people implement a strategic plan each step of the way. Through knowing what intrinsically motivates their people, leaders will be able to guide people to recognize and share in the value of micro and macro accountabilities (those day-to-day measures along with the long-term results.) It is through this interdependence of accountabilities that employees themselves will sustain individual and departmental optimism and direction for the long haul required for a successful implementation.

Giving and Receiving Meaningful Feedback Defined also as a “feedback loop,” this feature allows leadership and line staff to inform practice in timely and meaningful ways. As each person and department moves through the day-to-day realities toward micro and macro goals and objectives this feedback loop continuously looks at human behaviors and qualitative measures that inform positive change toward specific goals and objectives. Because timeliness matters, leaders and managers need to implement changes in real time based on feedback. Equally as important, leaders and managers need to communicate those changes back to their people to show how employee feedback has successfully informed positive adjustments. Feedback loops should be internal: top-down, bottom-up and lateral, as well as external: outside (customer driven).

Leaders Acting as Exemplary Role Models What employees see, employees will do. In every sense, for internal as well as external communications and actions, perception is reality. Without fail, people will believe what they see over what they read or hear. Leaders who model high standards of conduct especially in times of difficulty, such as when an organization is facing challenges or changes in the status-quo, are leaders who will have people who are committed to integrity and character. Leaders who create a culture that rewards and supports good judgment at all levels will have more success implementing their strategic plans. (On the flip side, leaders or managers are not acting as strategic role models if they “pass the buck” or otherwise model less than professional behaviors or values including supporting silo-type responses to challenges like, “That’s not my problem. Our department is doing fine. ” Or other “CYA-cover your assets” attitudes.) Exemplary role models are those leaders, managers and individuals whose actions and statements are consistently focused on the successful implementation of the organizational strategic plan.

Offering and Supporting Strategic Professional Development Perhaps most important to the successful implementation of any strategic plan is an organization’s commitment to regular and specific individual and organizational development. This piece is huge because it is in its people that an organization will find its success. Growing people strategically will allow an organization to exceed its goals. Leaders need to ask themselves how much time and money the organization spends to maintain equipment and buildings?

How much is spent on copy paper, utilities and even sick leave? Are you spending more on maintaining your building and equipment or your people? If you are, then you need to seriously look at your most precious asset–your people! Invest in them consistently but wisely. (I don’t care how it is framed or sold; bowling, trust-fall mats, rope-climbing and other frivolous outings are entertainment, not sustainable and enriching team development). If the goal is to take the organization to the next level, a carefully planned and implemented professional development program and budget should be one of the organization’s highest priorities and successful implementation of a strategic plan requires good people who are skilled, knowledgeable and willing to grow.

So, where does your organization want to be one year from now? What behaviors, actions, beliefs, statements, systems, procedures and people would make up your organization in 12-24 months? The answer to that question is your vision. Now, thinking backward incrementally toward the present day, at each step and time along the way, what behaviors, skills, actions, etc., need to be in place at that stage?

These are your benchmark goals. As you backtrack to the present you will see that there are many steps along the way that require additional and highly-specific objectives. In order to succeed, your people need to be made aware of these big picture mile-stones as well as many details. Perhaps you can imagine it as if you are giving your people a road map with key stops highlighted along the way. Make it possible for each person to see how their part supports the whole journey. If you want to arrive at your destination on time and in good condition, your strategic plan will need to include quality assurances (you want to have a safe and sane trip), systems and procedures that take into consideration of variables known (vehicle choice, drivers’ skills, etc.) and unknown (weather and road conditions). Then, it’s time to hit the road and start your journey. This is the implementation; the process of actually moving your organization and your people across time and space to new destinations. If the strategic plan is the “what and why,” then the implementation is the “who, how and when.”