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Change Management

Change management

People struggle to change and let go of their comfort zones. It is far easier for organizations to change their strategy and structure, than to get people to accept and support these changes. This is a big reason why so many efforts to improve organizational performance fail.

We believe that leaders can become better at managing change and taking their people along on the change journey. We understand change and how people cope with it. We know what works and what does not work, and how leaders can make change stick. We have helped many leaders successfully to manage change in their organizations, and become better leaders than before.

It is human nature for people to resist change

It is human nature for people to resist change. People fear the unknown and what the future holds for them. They fear that they will lose something of value and fail to cope with the future. People have a natural inertia and struggle to let go of outdated beliefs, behaviours, relationships and structures. Studies have even shown that 90% of people struggle to change, even when it is a matter of life or death.

When confronted with the unknown, most of us want to give up and move back to the known, even if the “known” can no longer exist. The unknown is an uncomfortable place, and good change requires that people spend some time in the unknown as it provides people with an opportunity to let go of the past and prepare for the future.

Leaders are responsible for helping people to accept and support change

It is a leader’s role to help people in the organization to accept change. With good leadership, change can become an exciting journey. Without good leadership, change is more than likely to fail, regardless of what theories and tools are being used in the process.

Leaders should realize that people change much slower than organizational strategy or structure. The trouble is that some leaders believe that people change automatically, when the truth is that people need sufficient time and nurturing to change.

It is a myth that organizations manage change. The truth is that leaders manage change.

How can leaders help people change?

There are a number of things that leaders can do to help people in their organizations to accept and support change.
  • Cultivate the desire to change. Leaders can help people in their organizations to feel motivated to change. They can help these people to understand the reasons for the change and how it will affect them personally. Leaders can also involve people in deciding on what changes are required and how to carry them out.
  • Cultivate the ability to change. Leaders can help people in their organization to develop the understanding, skills and knowledge that they need to change successfully. Leaders can walk with the people in their organizations through each step of the change journey. Leaders shouldn't think that just because people have a desire to change, that they are able to. Leaders can help people to end the status quo, move through a phase of chaos without retreating, and move forward into a new beginning.
  • Cultivate permission to change. Leaders can ensure their organization gives people permission to change (allow people the space to change). For example, if a new strategy and structure requires that people take much more initiative in their work, then performance appraisal systems, job descriptions, company culture and management style should allow and support this change.

Change leaders need coaching too

Leaders can benefit from coaching during a change process - from a skilled coach or facilitator that understands the nature of change. Leaders sometimes forget that they are also part of the change process and need support themselves. (We've found that training programmes usually fail to prepare leaders for the realities of managing change in their organizations.)

Remember that it is much easier to design a new strategy or structure for an organization, than it is to help people through the change journey. It’s in leading people through the change journey where the real effort and skill is required, and this is where we can help leaders to succeed.

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