his showed up on the linked in site and is an issue that needs to be addressed by all consultants who are producing change in organizations – either directly or indirectly.
We are getting a little concerned, however, that these leaders, so willing to be good sponsors of change, may have a blind spot that could derail the changes they are trying to make. In their belief that these are the right changes, and their commitment to being the cheer leader for the changes, they may not be able to see that others do NOT see the change the way they do but are frightened to say so in the face of such strong messages about how important and valuable the changes are….as the leader sees them. When you believe something is right and know how important it is that others believe it to, it can be hard to understand why anyone wouldn’t have the same view, the same perspective. When you are busy shouting the cheers you may not be able to hear the whispers of resistance. If you are a change agent, have you run into this? If you are a leader who must sponsor change, have you had this experience?
What this consulting company is noticing is the result of a linear approach to change. When you believe that change is a purely rational step-by-step process that you lead/coach/cheerlead it is easy to assume that others are approaching it in the same way. However, the experience of change is never rational – it is emotional and psychological. This is true for the best type of change, a promotion, and the worst type, job loss. We focus on the transactional aspects of change and ignore the transformational aspects of change to the detriment of our clients and their organizations. Leaders need to first understand that they are triggering an emotional strain that is felt throughout the organization in very personal ways (the jagged line on the graphic below). Leading change, requires that the “change sponsor” first recognize and acknowledge the emotional journey that individuals and teams will be making, second steward this journey providing leadership at all three exit ramps, third engage the whole organization by allowing the transactional aspect of change (green line) to be non-linear and therefore innovative, which also means the outcome is not predictable. Change is a mirror image of the world – volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous (VUCA). The goal of change leadership is to establish the conditions for volatility to include vision, uncertainty to include understanding, complexity to include clarity, and ambiguity to include agility (VUCA Prime). When leaders can do this, then they are speaking to the hearts and minds of those who are making the change journey.
