It’s not about you.
Well, not just about you.
If you’re managing a team or an entire organization, you know this.
But it’s even more true if you’re leading. And yes, there is a difference.
As a leader, you’re challenging the status quo – what is now – with what could be, should be or must be.
You may have your own vision of change. Or you may be responsible for igniting a change that comes from above or beyond.
You can certainly do whatever you can yourself to realize the change. That in itself can be a mighty undertaking. But it may just be a drop in the bucket. And it doesn’t take leadership.
Igniting significant change takes a collective of individuals each thinking and acting consistently and congruently until it is achieved.
And the odds of that happening without an effective leader at the helm are pretty small.
So if you’re a leader responsible for igniting meaningful change, know this:
You have to be able to engage, align and mobilize the collective(s) of people that can help you.
That’s leadership.
The good news is that every time you speak – whether in a meeting conversation, a presentation, a town hall, or any other forum – you have an opportunity to advance your change initiative.
Every single time. If you don’t squander it.
It’s a journey of moving them from where they, and it, are now to where they, and it, could be.
If you approach your communication opportunities thinking only about you – what you know, what you believe, what you think – your leadership and your change will falter and fail.
Because it’s not just about you.
So before you open your mouth to speak, think about them. Where are they at right now with your change initiative?
You can start with these questions.
Likely not as much as you given what you’re privy to in your leadership role.
Is it even on their radar, or has it been buried in the deluge? Do they even care?
Do they worry about its effect on them and what they do now? Do they see it as just another of the many changes that are destined to fail?
Do they see why it matters to them, to their work, and to the organization? Do they believe it’s even worth the effort?
Then tailor what you say accordingly.
And one more thing for now.
We are, as you well know, living in uncertain times. And that’s definitely having a destabilizing effect on people. At best, they’re distracted. At worst, fractured.
It’s understandably making it more difficult to engage and maintain their interest, let alone invoke yet another change in their lives.
The reality is that when we feel any level of uncertainty, we do not act.
And that makes realizing change next to impossible.
So in addition to your due diligence on them before you speak, look a little deeper. Ask yourself, “What state are they in right now?”
And if you gauge any level of uncertainty, confusion, doubt, concern or fear, do as I counsel many of my executive clients to do right now.
Reassure them.
Change can be very unsettling so start by recognizing their concerns. Then say what you can, truthfully of course, to help quell them. What they’re feeling now about the change may seem interminable. So also share what lies beyond, what’s next, that perhaps only you can see right now.
And as the leader, you may find you also need some reassurance from time to time. When you challenge the status quo, you will get resistance from all those who want things to stay just the same. You can reassure yourself that you know it’s for the better.
