Ashish Kothari

Learn the skill of driving deep change. Here is a structured approach that can help 1) Explain the why – It’s important to understand the motivation behind change. 2) Teach the how – If you want people to embrace change, you must teach them how to implement it. You have to allow them to experiment and create an environment where it’s okay to fail because nobody gets it right the first time. 3) Create incentives – Do not forget the incentives to motivate change. You need to clearly articulate and measure them because unless we recognize, reward, and celebrate the change makers, the eye-rollers or resistors will win. 4) Be the change and model it – As a leader, you play a huge role in embodying change.

An additional element to consider is how you can become a great mentee. Couple of tips that will help 1) be proactive and prepared: take initiative to get to know your mentor, what matters to them and be prepared to engage with curiosity and mindset of learning 2) instead of asking or thinking what the mentor can do for you, think what you can do for them. Some of the best learnings and teaching happen in context of working together on projects. May be it’s a topic that the mentor is researching, or a client they are looking to develop, pitch in to help. 3) your mentor is more than just a role. They are a human too. Get to know the whole person - be curious about their life journey. And don’t be afraid to share your story too.

I have been in the field of culture change transformations for over two decades and one of the best places to learn is the Positive Organization scholarship center at Michigan Ross. The works of Prof Kim Cameron, Jane Dutton, Bob Quinn, Monica Worline, Amy Young is truly illuminating. You can get formally trained in their approaches through an executive Education course or read their book. One of the best books to start your journey with is Deep change

Building an environment of deep trust and psychological safety is a key foundation element for the team to operate at its fullest collective potential

Building an environment of deep trust and psychological safety is a key foundation element for the team to operate at its fullest collective potential

In your experience, creating a through line from vision to strategy to implementation by connecting the behavioral changes expected is critical. This also helps employees clearly understand the “Why’” behind the culture change initiative. Even better if you are able to involve the front line in shaping the strategy and coming up the culture change imperatives, as they are already bought in.