Leading Culture Change, Part 2
In part two, we discuss how a CEO can work with a consultant to establish a cultural change in their organization.
Can CEOs inadvertently be standing in the way of an organization's growth?
I sometimes find leaders choosing to stand above the organization and feel that they're going to change it without it somehow profoundly changing them in the process. Effective change can only happen when leaders grow personally. The CEO has to ask themselves: "Am I prepared for some kind of change in me?" Because change in their organization starts in their office.
I remember a client saying to me once, "Chris, I realize that every instinct I have for this business is no longer relevant, yet they are the only instincts I have."
They had got to a very critical place in their own learning, the place of "I don't know." But then he moved forward, and made some difficult and risky choices, which may well not have worked. Without this almost mystical combination of humility and courageous vision in a leader, change is very hard to foster. I have said, "As grows the leader, so goes the change process." It seems that this is most often the case.
Can CEOs inadvertently be standing in the way of an organization's growth?
I sometimes find leaders choosing to stand above the organization and feel that they're going to change it without it somehow profoundly changing them in the process. Effective change can only happen when leaders grow personally. The CEO has to ask themselves: "Am I prepared for some kind of change in me?" Because change in their organization starts in their office.
I remember a client saying to me once, "Chris, I realize that every instinct I have for this business is no longer relevant, yet they are the only instincts I have."
They had got to a very critical place in their own learning, the place of "I don't know." But then he moved forward, and made some difficult and risky choices, which may well not have worked. Without this almost mystical combination of humility and courageous vision in a leader, change is very hard to foster. I have said, "As grows the leader, so goes the change process." It seems that this is most often the case.
All too often, leadership can be a point of resistance. Instead, leadership must advance ahead of the organization. People need to take personal risks with their career or credibility. I remember being 18 months into a change process with a CEO and discovering that he had literally gone fishing. In another case, it got too hard and too distasteful - "I just don't need this, Chris!" That process was never going to work because he had quit. A change agent is an instrument, I prefer the word "servant" of the leadership; it should never be the other way around. I can only help them take the organization in a direction where the CEO is ready to go.
How can the relationship between a change agent and CEO help define a new leadership position for the organization?
The role of the CEO is fairly lonely. If you muse out loud, you run the risk of people taking you at your word and doing exactly what you say. You don't always have the opportunity to dispel fear or uncertainty. The role of confidant or sounding board is one that I play quite often. Sometimes what they need most is an intelligent and empathetic person by their side.
Competent change agents live in what always feels like a "twilight zone." They are close enough to be familiar with the organization, but far enough away to be considered a third party. By moving in and out of those zones, they can avoid irrelevance or getting trapped with the political system of an organization. They are known by an organization, but are not of it.
From this place, relationships are built over time across many different parts of the organization. Often the organization structure, designed for efficiency on one dimension, creates barriers in another. The change agent whose next paycheck does not depend on the success of one division over another is a useful bridge-builder and can "connect the dots." At a recent leadership conference I led, several years of relationship building across the company provided a web of relationships that could be drawn upon to help fashion an outcome that was of great value to the CEO, but that no one person inside the organization could have delivered. That is when the outsider is capable of adding the greatest value - doing what they alone can do because they are outside yet critically relevant to the organization.
What strategy can a CEO employ to effectively overcome resistance to change within a corporation?
Organizations that have a long history of success find change more difficult. Big organizations are big because at one point they were wildly successful. But in the seeds of that success lies the weakness that will undo them. As the stakes get higher, the constant process of readapting to changing market conditions can be challenging for a corporation. It's extremely difficult to let go of something when it is working.
Since every organization with success has a history, the key is to work within that history and find things to leverage. One of the great mistakes I've seen a CEO make was to ignore the grand history of an organization, destroying the goodwill that had been built in the process. It's important to remember that change isn't the beginning of the story. By understanding and respecting that story, you can anchor a new concept in something familiar. Almost inevitably there are individuals throughout the organization who are longing for the very change that the CEO is considering. Some may, at great personal risk, be already experimenting and pushing the boundaries but have little encouragement. They need to be uncovered and let loose. I have often felt that the single most important asset I ever possess as a change agent is the raw gut instincts of my client. My job is to help uncover them and give them life. The same applies for the leader - the best asset for change is the people inside the organization who are already on your side. They may be few in number and they may be well hidden, but they are there if you go and look for them.
Momentum already exists. I subscribe to the "Train" theory of change. You find something that is moving in the right direction, enable it, and then get out of the way. Frequently within a company, there are already people working within their own sphere of influence to create change. By channeling that frustration and bringing those people together, you can unleash the pent-up desire for change that exists in every organization.
At some point in the change process, crucial moments arise. They are easier to detect in hindsight, especially when "the moment was missed," but they arise as symbols of whether the leader means what he/she says, or if this is all about words. How the leader acts in that moment, in each of those moments, will define if resistance will prevent the change or if enough momentum is built to move on. They are defining moments - the change agent may recognize them, but only the leader can choose to act. The resistance to change is first overcome within the leader and then the organization will follow.
How can the relationship between a change agent and CEO help define a new leadership position for the organization?
The role of the CEO is fairly lonely. If you muse out loud, you run the risk of people taking you at your word and doing exactly what you say. You don't always have the opportunity to dispel fear or uncertainty. The role of confidant or sounding board is one that I play quite often. Sometimes what they need most is an intelligent and empathetic person by their side.
Competent change agents live in what always feels like a "twilight zone." They are close enough to be familiar with the organization, but far enough away to be considered a third party. By moving in and out of those zones, they can avoid irrelevance or getting trapped with the political system of an organization. They are known by an organization, but are not of it.
From this place, relationships are built over time across many different parts of the organization. Often the organization structure, designed for efficiency on one dimension, creates barriers in another. The change agent whose next paycheck does not depend on the success of one division over another is a useful bridge-builder and can "connect the dots." At a recent leadership conference I led, several years of relationship building across the company provided a web of relationships that could be drawn upon to help fashion an outcome that was of great value to the CEO, but that no one person inside the organization could have delivered. That is when the outsider is capable of adding the greatest value - doing what they alone can do because they are outside yet critically relevant to the organization.
What strategy can a CEO employ to effectively overcome resistance to change within a corporation?
Organizations that have a long history of success find change more difficult. Big organizations are big because at one point they were wildly successful. But in the seeds of that success lies the weakness that will undo them. As the stakes get higher, the constant process of readapting to changing market conditions can be challenging for a corporation. It's extremely difficult to let go of something when it is working.
Since every organization with success has a history, the key is to work within that history and find things to leverage. One of the great mistakes I've seen a CEO make was to ignore the grand history of an organization, destroying the goodwill that had been built in the process. It's important to remember that change isn't the beginning of the story. By understanding and respecting that story, you can anchor a new concept in something familiar. Almost inevitably there are individuals throughout the organization who are longing for the very change that the CEO is considering. Some may, at great personal risk, be already experimenting and pushing the boundaries but have little encouragement. They need to be uncovered and let loose. I have often felt that the single most important asset I ever possess as a change agent is the raw gut instincts of my client. My job is to help uncover them and give them life. The same applies for the leader - the best asset for change is the people inside the organization who are already on your side. They may be few in number and they may be well hidden, but they are there if you go and look for them.
Momentum already exists. I subscribe to the "Train" theory of change. You find something that is moving in the right direction, enable it, and then get out of the way. Frequently within a company, there are already people working within their own sphere of influence to create change. By channeling that frustration and bringing those people together, you can unleash the pent-up desire for change that exists in every organization.
At some point in the change process, crucial moments arise. They are easier to detect in hindsight, especially when "the moment was missed," but they arise as symbols of whether the leader means what he/she says, or if this is all about words. How the leader acts in that moment, in each of those moments, will define if resistance will prevent the change or if enough momentum is built to move on. They are defining moments - the change agent may recognize them, but only the leader can choose to act. The resistance to change is first overcome within the leader and then the organization will follow.
Thanks for a very thoughtful post on ways to support change. I like the train analogy. . . I am going to link back to your blog from my own. And I look forward to reading future posts.
Rick Maurer
www.changemanagementnews.com