Leading Change

REASONS FOR NON-PERFORMANCE 1.They don't get it -- They don't understand what's important and why 2.They don't care -- Or care enough to make a difference 3.They don't know how -- They don't have the skills or strategies needed to make a difference Those skills are 90% change management – how to move the hearts and minds of a group to a new set of assumptions and goals Reasons for Non-Performance

Basic Premise The amount of significant, often traumatic, change in organizations has grown tremendously over the past two decades (www = 1991) Powerful macroeconomic forces are at work here, and these forces will grow even stronger A significant amount of the waste and anguish associated with change is avoidable

Two Things Rotarians Don’t Like 1. The current situation 2. CHANGE

Errors in Leading Change 1.Allowing Too Much Complacency (Rotary’s #1 Enemy) 2.Failing to Create a Sufficiently Powerful Guiding Coalition 3.Underestimating the Power of Vision (or the vacuum if one is lacking) 4.Undercommunicating the Vision by a Factor of 10 (or 100 or even 1,000) 5.Permitting Obstacles to Block the New Vision (including elder naysayers) 6.Failing to Create Short-Term Wins

8 Errors in Leading Change 5.Permitting Obstacles to Block the New Vision (including elder naysayers) 6.Failing to Create Short-Term Wins 7.Declaring Victory Too Soon 8.Neglecting to Anchor Changes Firmly in the Organizational Culture

Error #1 - Allowing Too Much Complacency 1.Insufficient sense of urgency 2.Lack of visible crises 3.Low expectations 4.Acceptance of mediocrity

Error #1 - Allowing Too Much Complacency Your Sweet Spot

Error #2 - Failing to Create a Sufficiently Powerful Guiding Coalition 1.Not including influential “thought leaders” from the membership 2.Getting hijacked by group dynamics vs. conversations with individuals

Error #3 - Underestimating the Power of Vision 1.Plans, programs, procedures and campaigns in lieu of Vision 2.A Vision that takes more than 5 minutes to describe 3.A Vision that isn’t sufficiently compelling to excite and inspire the membership

Error #4 - Undercommunicating the Vision by a Factor of 10 (or 100 or 1000) 1.Making only a few announcements or sending out only a few s Surprised when people don’t seem to understand 2.President making speeches – Board silent Not enough reinforcement 3.Visible members’ behavior is counter to the Vision

Error #5 - Permitting Obstacles to Block the New Vision 1.Lack of organizational support (an effective membership committee) 2.Lack of recognition systems 3.Lip service (or worse) from influential members 4.Elder naysayers

Error #6 - Failing to Plan for & Create Short-Term Wins 1.Don’t plan for achievable short-term results 2.Doesn’t boost the credibility of the change initiative 3.Fail to establish intermediate goals 4.Ignore those who achieve the objectives 5.Fail to reward those involved

Error #7 - Declaring Victory Too Soon 1.Confusing short-term wins with victory – initiators go overboard 2.Resisters breathe a sigh of relief 3.Failure to maintain the sense of urgency 4.Failure to have follow-on projects planned and ready

Error #8 - Neglecting to Anchor Changes Firmly in the Culture 1.Failing to show people how changes have improved performance – make the connections for them 2.Making succession decisions that don’t support the new culture

6-Stage Process for Change 1.Establishing a sense of urgency 2.Creating the guiding coalition 3.Developing a Vision and Strategy 4.Communicating the change Vision 5.Empowering (expecting) a broad base of members to take action 6.Generating short-term wins

8-Stage Process for Change 5.Empowering (expecting) a broad base of members to take action 6.Generating short-term wins 7.Consolidating gains and producing even more change 8.Institutionalizing new attitudes in the culture

Antidotes Classic ErrorSolution Allowing Too Much Complacency (Rotary’s #1 Enemy) Establish a Sense of Urgency (Eliminate "Happy Talk", Create a Crisis) Failing to Create a Sufficiently Powerful Guiding Coalition Create a Powerful Guiding Coalition (a small group of thought leaders) Underestimating the Power of Vision (or the vacuum if one is lacking) Create a Vision (Characteristics of an effective Vision) Undercommunicating the Vision by a Factor of 10 (or 100 or even 1,000) Communicate the Vision (Key Elements of effective communication) (Situation, Problem, Implication, Need) Permitting Obstacles to Block the New Vision (including elder naysayers) Empower others to act on the Vision (Confront those who undercut the Vision) Failing to Create Short-Term WinsCelebrate Short-Term Wins (Congratulate achievers, build momentum) Antidotes for Change Failures

Workshop Breakout Exercises