How to Coach Leaders to Ace Their Change Roles

An organization's culture can be defined as the leadership behaviour that determines how things get done. People emulate their leaders' behaviours regardless of how the organization chooses to describe its culture on its website or its walls; what leaders do defines culture. 

The leader's role is to set a destination, marshal resources to get there and lead the way, confident that it will achieve greater performance. Any new destination requires making changes in how work gets done. By modeling new behaviours, a leader demonstrates that others can do the same; if he or she can do it, so can everyone. 

One of the biggest challenges of change is when leaders don't demonstrate the new behaviours that are required to make a change successful. Either they keep doing old behaviours or do not take on the new ones.

An IBM study reported that 92 percent of survey participants cited top management sponsorship as the most important factor in successful change programs. Another study by Oxford University recorded that 33 percent of change programs fail because management behaviour does not support the change. 

I remember one leader who said at a town hall meeting that cost cutting was essential for the organization's future. After he got off the stage, someone overheard him crowing about the new furniture he had ordered for his newly-expanded office. Expense reduction was slow and painful. Another leader shared a video that caught him not demonstrating new behaviours. He asked everyone for their help in building his skills. After he got off the stage, he was embraced by many people who eagerly offered their support. His country ranked number two in the world for success with that change.

Often, leaders are unclear of the sponsorship roles they are required to play. Also, they don't realize that what they do and say is being scrutinized by those around them. Coaching leaders on how to demonstrate new ways of working and providing candid feedback on their ability to do so is essential for changes to be supported and stick.

Here are some tips on how to coach leaders on their change roles.

• Help leaders understand that everything they do and say related to the change impacts people's perceptions of it
• Review leadership roles in person, either one on one or with the full leadership team
• Create a one-page leader role summary. It can be reviewed in coaching sessions to acknowledge aligned behaviours and pinpoint gaps
• Discuss how the new behaviours manifest themselves in real-life situations
• Book weekly meetings with each leader for the duration of the change 
• Track his or her behaviours and point out when they are and are not appropriate
• Provide feedback immediately after a leader has presented at an employee meeting

Preparing leaders before a change will help them demonstrate what they need from their employees. Awareness, skill building, feedback and coaching throughout the change will build them into the role-models needed for change and greater performance.

Phil 

How to Engage the Whole Person in Change

How many people do you know who are completely focused on their work and never get distracted by things going on in the rest of their life? Not many? Me either.

People bring their whole selves to work as they do to other parts of their life. They are a collection of their many roles (partner, friend, coach, volunteer, etc.) and accountabilities that go with them. 

Evidence of people juggling their lives at work is easy to see – shopping online at their desk; leaving a meeting when their phone rings, saying, "I have to get this," not answering a question that is asked of them, lost in thought, etc. It's normal.

A leader's role is to create an environment in which people will be successful. In times of change, they must give their teams the mindsets, clarity on changing roles, knowledge, skills, behaviours and confidence to take on new ways of working. 

The best environment accommodates the needs of the whole person. I realized this many years ago when I was managing a business transformation. It was critical that the project sponsor meet with representatives from each function before an announcement at the end of the week. The only time available on her calendar was 7:00 am on Thursday morning. This was before widespread conference calling so everyone had to be in the office for the meeting. 

The meeting was a disaster. People were so absorbed in the inconveniences caused by the meeting time (with some commuting for over an hour) that they couldn't focus on the objectives. I could see it on their faces: How could you do this to me?

It didn't matter that people understood there were no options or that our apologies were sincere or that a breakfast was served; a part of their whole life was screwed up by me. After the project, we reviewed lessons learned.  Most recommendations were high-level changes to project scope and governance. One was "Never schedule a 7:00 am in-person meeting again". People bring their whole selves to work.

Here are ways I have learned to engage the whole person when managing change:

• Acknowledge that people have lives outside of work – if not, people get distracted by making the point: "Don't they realize that we have lives outside of work?" 
• Ask people to set their own team guidelines for managing the change – people realize that work needs to get done and that trade-offs need to be made. One person said, "I have no problem working after my kids go to bed, but I need to pick them up from school." 
• Encourage people to share their personal needs by sharing your own – a leader sets the tone of a team and his or her behaviour creates permission for similar actions. Leaving work at 5:00 pm every Wednesday for an appointment is fair when your boss does the same on Thursdays.
• Avoid holiday "blackout" times – This is a planning decision made at the beginning of a change project. People will be distracted by talking about the vacation they didn't have when they wanted to take it.
• Develop a "one team" culture where people cover for each other – the unexpected happens and building a team that is willing and capable of filling in for others will smooth out these interruptions.
• Regularly check in on people to see how they are doing – other things are changing in people's lives and knowing about them will help you quickly make accommodations and minimize surprises.
• When someone is going through a challenging time, ask them to define the accommodations they need to manage their accountabilities – people know best what they need, just like a team that creates its own guidelines for working together.

People's lives are as multifaceted as the organizations they work for. Building flexibility into how change is managed makes room for people to accommodate their whole lives as they take on new ways or working. This leads to less distraction and better implementation, which is best for the business and the people who have roles in it.

Phil

3 Types of Change Leader: Engaged; Staged; and Disengaged

It's no surprise that leaders play an important role in the success of change initiatives. In fact, they play the most important role. Most research cite lack of visible and active executive sponsorship as the primary source of change failure. 

I have observed that leaders approach their change sponsor roles in three ways: engaged; staged; and disengaged.

Engaged leader are active participants in defining their roles. They:
- View change initiatives as business projects critical to current and future success
-  Are engaged in planning and briefing meetings
- Ask questions to gain clarity on their role and test the quality of thinking and rigour behind transition plans
- Get excited by the roles they will play
- Edit their communication
- Say things like "we have to get this right" and "what do you need from me"?

Staged leaders are attentive participants in defining their roles. They:
- View change initiatives as necessary, but not always a priority
- Are good listeners in briefing meetings
- Ask questions to gain clarity on tasks
- Accepts the roles they are given
- Review their communication and make minor adjustments
- Say things like, "just tell me what to do and I will do it" 

Disengaged leaders are passive participants in defining their roles. They: 
- View change initiatives as necessary, but not priorities
- Are efficient in briefing meetings
- Ask questions to understand commitments and may negotiate lesser roles than the one proposed
- Are resigned of the roles they will play
- Say things like, "other commitments may change my availability" and "we also have a business to run"

When I first meet executives, I watch for clues on what type of change leader they want to be. It is an early indication of how successful the change will be. Engaged leaders usually do well because their skills are fully leveraged and high level of commitment is known by all. They are invested and will do what it takes to ensure success.

Staged leaders are often successful too. As long as they stick to the script and their behaviours reinforce key messages, they usually do well.  If not, trust in them evaporates and employees retaliate by not supporting the change.

Disengaged leaders rarely lead change well. Their focus is on other things and people know it. Since people's actions follow those of their leader, they also focus on other things. Project teams have difficulty gaining momentum and execution suffers. Eventually the project fails to deliver benefits or it is shelved.

A change manager's role is to build the skill, behaviour and confidence of leaders so they are at their best during times of change. One way to do so is by shaping how they perceive their sponsor role. Increasing their level of engagement is a good start.

Phil