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Productive Change Takes an Aware Leader

November 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

When is change good?  Are your employees on-board with the changes that you are making?  Are they telling you that they are yet you are sensing resistance?   The truth, for the most part is this – people think change is good if 1) they initiate it and 2) it benefits them or they want the change.

Change has phases that can be mapped on a change grid.  It doesn’t matter if the change is by choice or forced upon employees, the same basic change of events occur.   Knowing the signs to look for will help you manage change in a more productive and people centric matter.

The basic stages of change are as follows:

  • Change is introduced  – this is the point where the leader of the change needs to be prepared to handle what consequences may occur from this announcement.  Be prepared for the fact that not everyone will embrace the change with the same enthusiasm as you would hope.
  • Disruption to productivity -  The introduction of change means more work for people as they find their way through the new process.
  • Adapting to the change – the employee makes the decision to either get on board with the change or they will continue to fight the change.  The sooner you can get people on board and remove the negative people from the process, the sooner the change will take hold.
  • Accepting the change – at this point people are on-board with the change and are finding ways to be creative with the change process and their new role within the change.

Obviously the sooner the employee moves through the stages the quicker the organization can return to a productive mode.  However, the process can not be rushed.  Much like the Stages of Grief by Kubler/Ross, the employee may go back and forth between the stages until they finally reach acceptance.  Your job is to be their guide through the change.

“The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled.  For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.”  unknown

 

Filed Under: Business, Career, Leadership Tagged With: , , ,

Adapting to Other Behavorial Styles

July 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

If you have every heard someone say – “you can’t change another person you can only change yourself”, they were right!  We can try to change someone, but it won’t work.  Why?  Because in most cases we are trying to change someone to be more like ourselves.  Deep down inside we believe that they way we address a problem is the right way, the way we deal with other people is the right way, the way we communicate our likes, dislikes, needs and wants is the correct way.  But…. guess what?  There are other ways and they are right as well.

I use DISC as one of the assessments  in my coaching practice.  DISC is a behavioral assessment tool that provides people with a better understanding of themselves as well as others. DISC is based on the work of Wm. Marston and examines the behaviors of individuals in their environment within various situations.   DISC uses four quadrant model and has four dominant styles, D, I, S and C.   After answering a series of questions, this assessment will provide you with an indicator of where you are within the DISC quadrant. At this point I will add that we are all a blend of each style, but we have a dominant style that we revert back to because it is the most comfortable for us.

How does this help the individual?  It helps in many ways.  One being that you are given characteristics of your style, how others perceive your style and what the good, bad and ugly of your style could mean for you.  As you are de-briefed on your style you are introduced to the other three styles.  This is where the “aha’s” generally come into play.  You are presented with the fact that not everyone is like you and that when you try to change someone to be like you it doesn’t work.  That leads us back to the fact that you are the only one that can change, if you so desire.

Knowing yourself better combined with knowing about the other styles can aid you in better communication methods.  You can learn to adapt your behavioral style to better interact with the other styles.  Communication is key to harmony and working with people in both our personal and professional lives.  If we take it upon ourselves to know the other person better we can determine what their likes and  dislike are.  What pushes their buttons and what makes them feel good about themselves.  When you know these things you can then adapt your style to accommodate some of these attributes so that you reduce stress, conflict and begin to develop a relationship based on mutual respect for each others uniqueness.

You may be saying that it is you doing all the work.  This may be true if the other person does not know about the various styles, but think of the power in your hands!  You can adapt and change a strained relationship into a productive relationship.  You can demonstrate the flexible nature that you have learned.

There is so much more to go into with regards to using assessments to be a change catalyst that this only touches on the tip.  There are also other assessments that can be used one being Berkman.  I just happen to like the results and depth of DISC.   Learning about yourself is a life long process and the more we know about ourselves the better we are prepared for the journey.

If you want to know more about DISC or take an assessment yourself, you can contact me for more details.

DISC Diamond – Extended DISC

Filed Under: Business, Career, Leadership, Training and Development Tagged With: , , , , , ,

If You Think Change is Happening Quickly Now… Wait

April 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Listening to the guest speaker address a group of employees at their annual conference  two things that stood out to me.  1)  change is happening faster now than ever before and 2)  change will continue to happen faster and faster in the future.

I recall as recent as 5 years ago when a change in a company was discussed you knew that nothing would happen over night.  You went about your daily tasks until the next month Town Hall Meeting where an update would be given and a new time line for when the change would take place.  It seemed that there was always a wait while someone received word back from someone else.  Or, the proposed equipment change was delayed because of manufacturing or shipping.  With this type of movement you were eased into change.

Change is happening faster and faster and will continue to move at rapid rates.  We are now connected to anyone we want to be, need to be or have to be by technology.  I know for myself, I talk to my son on SKYPE almost daily.  I have a coaching partner in Australia where we interact either with SKYPE of another interface like VYEW where we can share our slide decks, whiteboards or documents for editing.  What would have taken longer via snail mail was quicken by using email and now more so my virtual collaboration media.

For those people who don’t like change or resist change the mere knowledge that change is happening more rapidly can send them into a state of panic or stress.  If you work with people who stress easily over change you may want to take small steps now to help them adapt.  Some things that may help are:

  1. have them sign up for one of the social media sites
  2. upgrade their cellular phone to the newer smart phones
  3. have them step outside their current comfort zone in an area now before change takes place
  4. assure them of where their support systems
  5. have them change one small routine each week/day.  Perhaps turn on their computer and then get coffee or try a different restaurant for lunch
  6. have them take a new way home or to work one day a week

We all know change is inevitable and the way we deal with change has a dramatic impact on how well we will adapt and move forward.

Filed Under: Business, Leadership, Training and Development Tagged With: , , ,

What Is Your Level of Productive Tension?

August 17, 2009 By Leave a Comment

The one thing we can always count on is change!  How many times have you heard this?  We are all dealing with change everyday of our lives.  Some times that change is good and sometimes not so good.  The way we handle change has a great deal to do with the way we handle stress.

Let’s face it – there are some things that we can’t control.  But, we can control the way we respond to change and this will reduce the stress that may accompany any change.

I recently took an assessment on how I am managing my change curve.  The results were graphed so that I could see where and at what level the changes I am encountering now could be affecting my performance/production.

The five categories of Productive Tension that I could have plots were:

  • Stress – key word here – panic
  • Power Stress – key word here – Process of Change
  • Power - key word here – consider, considering the options
  • Power Apathy – key word – delegate.  Know what needs to be done but would rather delegate
  • Apathy - key word – snooze.  In other words low level of engagement if any at all

Luckily I had none in the Stress area or in the Apathy area!  This is not to say that I have never had some areas of my life in these areas, but as of now I have managed by Productive Tension well which equates to dealing with the changes in my life affectively.

How are you doing?

Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: , , ,

Value Driven Leadership

November 24, 2008 By Leave a Comment

I have been hearing more and more people tell me that their companies will not be handing out bonuses this year.  Some have even said that there will be no annual increases.  The economy is definately suffering, all you have to do is pick up any newspaper or magazine and read the headlines.

People are worried about job security.  Forget about the bonuses and raises, they just want to keep a job with cash coming in.  So, without the monetary incentive and with people feeling insecure about their future with the company, how are managers coping?  Perhaps they are dusting off their copies of Beverly Kaye’s book “Love em or Lose em” or Adrian Gostick’s “The Carrot Principle”.  Maybe “Who Moved My Cheese” or “Our Iceberg is Melting” would be good reads now since change is definately here!  Either way, managers have the responsibility to keep their employees on task and foster a culture of change.  Above all, mangers should not be telling their employees “its business as usual”.

Manager’s need to be open and honest.  What are the values of the company?  How are those values lived out in the work that is done.  In Badaracco and Ellsworth’s book Leadership and The Quest for Integrity, they state:  ”Leadership means shaping an organization so that its values, norms and ideals appeal strongly to its individual members while at the same time making the company a stronger competitor.”  Value driven leadership aligns the employee with the company.  Alignment of values between company and employee provides for a creative work force.  People value work that allows them to contribute, to be creative and to help problem solve.  When the company is seen as a community, everyone can benefit.  Go back to your brainstorming days when everyone was allowed to throw out ideas on ways to solve a problem.  Although some pretty far fetched solutions were offered, there were definately some valid ones as well.  Everyone felt that they had a say and a stake in the outcome.  They were made to feel part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Going back to what I said earlier, employees are worried about losing their jobs.  Perhaps they see themselves as one of the problems of the company.  Not they themselves, but their salary, benefit package, bonus, annual increase all equate to dollars, perhaps dollars that a struggling company does have.  If we can use our greatest assest and engage them in the solution, we may all be saved!

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