Patti and Ken Leith: Building Nimble Change Managers 

Editor’s note: This guest commentary was written by Patti and Ken Leith, the founders of Bentonville-based EDGES, Inc. and Fort Collins, Colorado-based (e)Gauge, Inc. You can review more of their work at www.e-gauge.com.

Pilots will tell you that flying a plane is a constant correction of errors.  It requires intentional focus and willingness to immediately adapt to constantly-changing conditions.   As members of organizations building a solid future, change is an inevitable part of making future goals a reality.  Thus, we all need to build skills that allow us to pilot our future.  

When dealing with change, the first and foremost skill everyone needs is flexibility. 

Flexibility includes being able to think in the midst of action and responding to unexpected circumstances.  Unfortunately, this rarely comes naturally for anyone.  We are creatures of habit.  Experience builds who we are and how we respond.  The good news is, most of us have experiences that forced us to adapt, and we have learned from those experiences.  The willingness to tap into our own abilities to adjust when needed is critical to our success in building anything.  This requires self-control, awareness and responsiveness.  

Another skill necessary for leading change is communication.  This sounds simple, but has many aspects.  Leaders must have a plan for communication that addresses all needs of everyone involved.  The following is a good template for planning communication.  

• People who have knowledge to shape the solution should have input during the development.  Involve them directly.  
• People who need to oversee the change and buy into it, in order for it to be successful, should be influenced as the solution is developed.  The best format for this is to meet one-on-one to pre-sell the concepts. 
• People impacted by the change because it will change what they do, will need to be fully trained on how to do it.  
• People affected by the change because they will need to support it, should be included in all communications and education about why they will need to interface differently with those impacted. The best format for this is group Q&A sessions.  
• Any person or group touched in any way by the change should know about it. Communication can happen via email or at a larger group meeting.  

Leaders of others impacted by change must manage themselves through the acceptance of change before they can help anyone else.  This should occur before their part in the communication plan and after people have been told about the change.  On an airplane, the emergency instructions include, “Apply your own oxygen mask before assisting another.”  Once leaders have accepted the change, they can coach others through it.  We will only see the need for this if we are aware of how others are handling the changes, so we have to be paying attention.  Once known, we can help people gain greater acceptance. 

To do this for ourselves and for others, we must understand the cycle of change.  There are four main stages, and each of us will experience all of them every time we are asked to change, even if only briefly.  The first stage is resistance. This usually manifests itself in the form of rebellion, spanning from inactivity to attempts to derail the change.  Some of the characteristics include anger, negativity and visible stress. To assist a person in moving to the next stage, leaders must require movement and not allow the person to stagnate in this response.    

The next stage is confusion.  This usually manifests itself in the form of inactivity.  The most common cause is that people shut down during the first stage and miss the communication that shows them how to do engage in it.  Some of the characteristics include fear, caution and cynicism.  To assist a person in moving to the next stage, leaders must re-explain.  Communication should start at the basics, explaining what is happening.  Some may require education, retraining, or an overview of the reasons for the change.

The next stage is exploration.  This signifies the road to recovery.  People become engaged, curious, and ask questions.  They may over-think matters or have trouble deciding what to do, but this is because they are trying.  Leaders and coaches should be sure to involve them in helping others, keep them busy and challenged, and build their enthusiasm.  With confidence, a person can move easily from exploration to the last stage:  acceptance.  

When key players reach acceptance, the organization will harvest the intended benefits of the change.  Change can be hard; embracing it passionately can be even harder.  But with flexibility, communication, trust, and solid coaching, the rewards will be great.