Leading Yourself through Change: Assessing Your Strengths

I gave a keynote presentation to a group of leaders who are experiencing disruptive change. Their industry is facing new operating models, multiple technology advances, government regulation changes and new competitors. Nothing appears to be constant. My talk was on how to manage yourself and your team through constant change.

Many years ago, I realized that everyone goes through a personal transition when their company does – it's normal. Leaders must manage their own personal changes before they can effectively help their team members to manage theirs. If they fail to do so, leaders get lost in details around their personal transitions and forget to help their team members get through theirs. They fail to create an environment where people can take on new ways of working, and instead, create uncertainty and confusion that leads to poor performance. 

There are three main practices that leaders employ to manager their own change and prepare themselves to lead others: they assess their strengths; build their confidence and know how to manage the unknown. 

Knowing your strengths is a good starting point. Taking stock of what you do well enables you to lean on demonstrated abilities when things are uncertain. It enables you to focus on how best to contribute to a situation instead of randomly reacting to it.

Being clear on your strengths also helps you identify areas where you need support from others. Identifying these resources in advance allows you to make more fact-based decisions that consider broader perspectives on the business. 

Here are three ways to assess your strengths:

Identify roles you played in past changes
Past changes provide examples of how you support your organization and people as they transitioned to new ways of working. Did you lead a committee, break down silos between teams, recommend an approach or execute a plan flawlessly. These activities moved your organization closer to adopting the change and realizing its benefits.

Identifying a list of these abilities improves the likelihood you will repeat them during new changes. Capabilities that underlie these activities include priority setting, action orientation, focus, influence without power, communication, empathy and personal learning.

Read past performance reviews

Most people file performance reviews after they have been presented. They are a gold mine of data on what you do well and how you have lead change.

In aggregate, they reveal patterns of action and behaviour where you excelled in times of transition. Your Managers' comments provide multiple perspectives and examples of how you drove value.

Ask your network for feedback 

People you work or associate with see you in varied situations over time. They are unconscious cataloguers of how you operate. Ask people for two inputs: what you do well and what are your "watch-out" areas. Most people will give you balanced views. Ask for examples so you have context for their observations.

A leader I worked for asked her team for feedback after every major meeting and presentation. She listened intently, asked a couple of clarifying questions and adjusted her approach. She continually improved her excellent skills. 

These practices may look easy yet most leaders don't do them. When I am coaching leaders, I ask them about their strengths when leading change – most don't know. If they do reply with some capabilities, I ask them how they know – many don't. 

It's worth the effort to know your strengths. They will be your best support through constant change.

Phil