Leadership First posted a fascinating article about Change on LinkedIn.
He states, as we all know, that change is difficult to achieve, but some companies have successfully implemented change throughout the length and breadth of their organization. So what’s the secret behind a successful transformation, one word, LEADERSHIP.
Any organizational culture is a direct result of a leader’s behavior and values, but more importantly, the leadership values are crucial to understanding corporate behavior since people tend to emulate the behavior of their leaders with the assumption that their behavior is right. Role modeling is an effective strategy to facilitate change; however, leaders must prepare to walk the talk of change to instil any credibility during the change process.
If you want to implement a successful change, consider using the following 8 points:
1. Drop the “I can do it all by myself” nonsense.
Every single person must work as a team, and you, as the leader, must make it happen. You have to be creative, swallow your pride, and genuinely reach out to your team.
2. You must walk the talk of change and continuously espouse the core values of the organization to create that organization identity.
3. A shared mindset and new behaviors must be created within the organization, particularly at the management level, to achieve any type of change.
4. Everyone, starting with the leadership, must be held accountable for building that awareness in their department for change and ensuring that their staff is aware of the organization’s values.
5. Be prepared for resistance. There should be objectives and a clear line of sight to determine if employees are achieving their goals.
6. The leadership should be aware of the employee’s psychological contract and impact on that contract because of the change.
7. Communication must be a priority.
The leadership must ensure that people know where to go for more information if they need it. Management must be patient enough to answer any questions that come from the staff.
8. The essential stage of any change process is to know whether a change initiative has had the desired effect or not. Know which measures will be used to monitor and evaluate the change outcomes.