How to avoid a change-resistant business culture
12 April 2021
12 April 2021
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How do you create an environment for your people to embrace change and thrive? Campbell Macpherson provides five easy steps to create a change-ready culture in your business.
If the last year has taught us anything, it is that an organisation’s ability to change is business-critical. Successful change is only possible if your people are ready, willing and able to change.
Eighty-eight per cent of change initiatives fail, according to a 2016 report from Bain & Co. It is a similar story when it comes to business strategies, mergers and acquisitions – seven out of eight fail to deliver what they set out to achieve.
Why? Because leaders forget that change is all about people: not business models, not balance sheets, not systems or processes. It’s about people.
Leadership today is all about leading change. Successful leaders do one special thing that the majority of their peers fail to do – they help their people to want to change.
How do you go about creating an environment for your people to embrace change and thrive? It really isn’t that hard. Here are the five steps I recommend to create a change-ready culture in your business.
Your people need complete clarity about what you are seeking to achieve, why they need to change and why success is possible. Your organisation’s purpose has never been more important; it is the anchor that will keep your people focused and confident.
As we emerge from the disruption of COVID, businesses across the globe have been revisiting what makes them unique; what gives it the right to succeed in a world of change. KPMG reports that “CEOs are accelerating strategic priorities to arm their businesses for a new reality.” Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is imploring business leaders to “rethink the art of the possible.”
Culture starts at the top. During turbulent times of change, cracks in leadership teams become glaringly apparent. CEOs will need to be ruthless when it comes to the composition and behaviour of their leadership teams; no business can afford weak links or a dysfunctional collection of individuals at the helm.
You will need a genuinely collaborative team built on trust and respect; delivering shared objectives together. You will also need leaders who empower their staff and develop more leaders throughout the organisation.
The single key leadership skill for leaders at all levels is the ability to lead change. If you are not leading change, you are not leading anything; you are just managing the status quo – an option that no longer exists.
To help its leaders meet the challenge as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, Astra Zeneca produced a new leadership toolkit to “help leaders develop the mindset and behaviours to navigate uncertainty, choose the most effective response to lead a team and to look ahead to the future, so we can all come out stronger on the other side.”
In the ‘Leading Change’ workshops and webinars I run for Henley Business School in the U.K. and for clients worldwide, we explore the essential ingredients for successful change, which include clarity, engaging your people to explore the implications of the change, genuine communication, and an understanding that all change is both emotional and personal. Leadership today is about helping your people to want to change.
The success of your business depends upon the ability of your people to embrace change. They must be equipped with the skills and mindset they need to accept change and thrive. As leaders, you need to help them realise:
Make sure your HR policies, management processes, incentives, financial rules and communications are all re-designed to support change – encourage informed risk-taking and innovation; enable people to try, fail and learn from the experience; and celebrate successful change. Set your people up for success.
The power to accept and embrace change is one of the most important gifts you can possibly give your people. For their own personal benefit and for the future success of your business, you can help them to learn to harness change and make it work – for everyone.
****
Campbell Macpherson is an international change expert, business adviser, keynote speaker and author of The Power to Change. Campbell runs workshops and webinars worldwide for leaders on ‘leading change’ and employees on ‘embracing change’. Campbell has been leading strategic change and enabling strategic change for more than 25 years.
How to avoid a change-resistant business culture12 April 2021 How do you create an environment for your people to embrace change and thrive? Campbell Macpherson provides five easy steps to create a change-ready culture in your business. If the last year has taught us anything, it is that an organisation’s ability to change is business-critical. Successful change is only possible if your people are ready, willing and able to change. Eighty-eight per cent of change initiatives fail, according to a 2016 report from Bain & Co. It is a similar story when it comes to business strategies, mergers and acquisitions – seven out of eight fail to deliver what they set out to achieve. Why? Because leaders forget that change is all about people: not business models, not balance sheets, not systems or processes. It’s about people. Leadership today is all about leading change. Successful leaders do one special thing that the majority of their peers fail to do – they help their people to want to change. Are you change-ready?How do you go about creating an environment for your people to embrace change and thrive? It really isn’t that hard. Here are the five steps I recommend to create a change-ready culture in your business.
Your people need complete clarity about what you are seeking to achieve, why they need to change and why success is possible. Your organisation’s purpose has never been more important; it is the anchor that will keep your people focused and confident. As we emerge from the disruption of COVID, businesses across the globe have been revisiting what makes them unique; what gives it the right to succeed in a world of change. KPMG reports that “CEOs are accelerating strategic priorities to arm their businesses for a new reality.” Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is imploring business leaders to “rethink the art of the possible.”
Culture starts at the top. During turbulent times of change, cracks in leadership teams become glaringly apparent. CEOs will need to be ruthless when it comes to the composition and behaviour of their leadership teams; no business can afford weak links or a dysfunctional collection of individuals at the helm. You will need a genuinely collaborative team built on trust and respect; delivering shared objectives together. You will also need leaders who empower their staff and develop more leaders throughout the organisation.
The single key leadership skill for leaders at all levels is the ability to lead change. If you are not leading change, you are not leading anything; you are just managing the status quo – an option that no longer exists. To help its leaders meet the challenge as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, Astra Zeneca produced a new leadership toolkit to “help leaders develop the mindset and behaviours to navigate uncertainty, choose the most effective response to lead a team and to look ahead to the future, so we can all come out stronger on the other side.” In the ‘Leading Change’ workshops and webinars I run for Henley Business School in the U.K. and for clients worldwide, we explore the essential ingredients for successful change, which include clarity, engaging your people to explore the implications of the change, genuine communication, and an understanding that all change is both emotional and personal. Leadership today is about helping your people to want to change.
The success of your business depends upon the ability of your people to embrace change. They must be equipped with the skills and mindset they need to accept change and thrive. As leaders, you need to help them realise:
Make sure your HR policies, management processes, incentives, financial rules and communications are all re-designed to support change – encourage informed risk-taking and innovation; enable people to try, fail and learn from the experience; and celebrate successful change. Set your people up for success. The power to accept and embrace change is one of the most important gifts you can possibly give your people. For their own personal benefit and for the future success of your business, you can help them to learn to harness change and make it work – for everyone. **** Campbell Macpherson is an international change expert, business adviser, keynote speaker and author of The Power to Change. Campbell runs workshops and webinars worldwide for leaders on ‘leading change’ and employees on ‘embracing change’. Campbell has been leading strategic change and enabling strategic change for more than 25 years. |
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