Change Management

In this article, we want to share with you what we perceive you need to be doing—or doing differently, or to stop doing altogether—to get the return on investment you need from the change efforts you sponsor or lead. This is a candid portrayal based on our observations of our senior executive clients over the past four decades. The picture we paint here is further fortified by what we consistently hear from other seasoned consultants and project managers, both external experts and internal professionals, about the successes and challenges they face in getting their senior leaders to do what is required for change to succeed.

A common assumption among leaders and managers is that their success is dependent on having the right answers at the right time and providing clear direction to their people amidst the clamor of day-to-day operations. This may have been historically true when the pace and complexity of change were moderate, but is far less so in times of large scale, high-pressured transformational change.

In this article we will outline six key actions that you can take to stay on top of the “bucking bronco” of change and continue to provide guidance and stability. We will demonstrate how these actions provide sound leadership in times of uncertainty, as well as debunk the faulty assumption that you, as the leader, should be all-knowing.

One of the toughest change efforts we supported was made more difficult because the CEO was not willing to change himself in the very ways he was demanding that his organization change. The company was transforming its strategy, operations, business processes, and culture.

This article explores the key change leadership issue of “modeling,” and provides insights for how you can get your leaders to model the changes they are asking of your organization.

Given the assumption that change is continuous, and your intention is to strengthen your organization's ongoing capacity to lead large-scale change, this Info Sheet lists the different factors to consider in order for you to learn from your change process and establish best practices.

Your chances of succeeding in your current organizational change efforts are directly affected by your people's level of readiness and capacity to change. This Info Sheet provides a comprehensive list of dynamics that influence both readiness and capacity. Many leaders never address these topics in preparation for a major change effort. Some resist delving into such matters. However, inquiring into these subjects will likely surface information that, although it may be uncomfortable for the leaders to acknowledge, is key to aligning their change strategy with the true condition of the organization. At the very least, raising these topics will start many conversations among leaders and employees that would never otherwise have occurred, all in the name of building awareness for leading conscious transformation.

In this article, we will outline a seven-step process that will enable your organization to actually implement a common approach to change and maximize your return on this key investment. The benefits your organization will realize by developing a common change methodology are significant.

Obtaining commitment from your leaders and employees is absolutely essential to the success of your change effort. A key to achieving commitment is understanding its different levels, and how to nurture people from one level to the next.

The diagram on this Info Sheet represents the six very distinct and different levels of commitment that exist in people.

Obtaining commitment from your leaders and employees is absolutely essential to the success of your change effort. A key to achieving commitment is understanding its different levels, and how to nurture people from one level to the next.

The diagram on this Info Sheet represents the six very distinct and different levels of commitment that exist in people.

Creating an effective stakeholder engagement strategy is an extremely important aspect of your overall change strategy. This Info Sheet will help you think through the key aspects of stakeholder engagement in preparation for designing your engagement strategy.

Decision-making can be a powerful tool for modeling a new culture, and for catalyzing tremendous employee commitment to your organization's change effort…if it is done effectively. In this article, we will reveal the keys to effective decision-making, identify why decision-making has such widespread impact on the success of transformational change initiatives, and provide tips and a simple yet effective decision-making tool to increase the positive impact of your decision-making.