Leading change

- [Instructor] Major change is often said to be impossible unless the head of the organization is an active supporter. This is a quote by John Kotter. One of the great leaders in the world of leading change. One thing Kotter always talks about is creating a sense of urgency. This is necessary to drive change as urgency sends the message that the change is extraordinarily important. And without it, the company will surely fail. In the case of culture change, once you've done your survey, you have to respond immediately to the results. implement some low hanging fruit and get your strategic plan together quickly. Then execute on the plan's action items quickly. Communicate often that the change must happen and it must happen now. And then act with urgency too. Kotter also advises leaders to enlist a volunteer army as he calls it. To help with the change. In other words, you can't lead change without followers. So you have to constantly inspire people to enlist voluntarily in the change you want to make. Constantly ask people how they will be a part of this change rather than a resistor. Ask people to commit to actions that will help move the change along or step out of the way if they won't commit. In fact, part of leading change is removing barriers to the end goal. I hate to say it, but some people may not be on board with your culture change. They may enjoy the social power a negative culture has brought them. Or perhaps they are just too caught up in the old way of doing things so they can't see the light that you're trying to bring. If people aren't moving in the right direction, they are a barrier to your end goal. Other barriers might include processes or organizational structures. They can prevent people from trying new things in line with the new culture, or perhaps a manager doesn't understand how to reward and celebrate the new vision, or maybe HR processes aren't in line with the new culture. You may even have people who disagree that change is needed. In any event, these barriers must be identified and removed. You can identify them by listening closely to your employees. You must also communicate often about everything in order to successfully lead change. Change is impossible without constant communication about it. And use all existing communication channels available to broadcast the vision, the action items in place to achieve it, whether they've been successful or not, and what's next. And while communication may come in the form of your emails and newsletter announcements, even more importantly, it comes in your actions. You must show people that you are exemplifying the new core values and doing everything in your power to ensure the change is successful. Follow these tips, in addition to all of the others I've provided in this course, and you're on your way to successful change.