Developing the Leader Within You - Creating Positive Change : Part 3

We will continue our leadership journey, learning new skills and refreshing old ones, with John C. Maxwell's book Developing the Leader Within You.


The first order of things to be changed is me, the leader. After I consider how hard it is to change myself, then I will understand the challenge of trying to change others. This is the ultimate test of leadership.

Last time, we talked about the various forms of resistance the change agent may encounter. Today, we will discuss how to create a climate for change.

Human behavior studies show that people do not basically resist change; they resist "being changed."

As you read the following, remember: you do not have to be the "boss" or have a title to be a leader.
We are all leaders or future leaders. So, when you read the word "leader," think of yourself in that context.

1. The Leader Must Develop a Trust with People.
   • First question to a leader who wants to make changes within an organization is always: "What is your relationship with your people?"
   • If the relationship is positive, then the leader is ready to take the next step.
2. The Leader Must Make Personal Changes Before Asking Others to Change.
• "As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do." - Andrew Carnegie.
• Great leaders not only say what should be done, they show it!
3. Good Leaders Understand the History of the Organization.
• "Don't take the fence down until you know the reason it was put up." - G.K. Chesterton
• It is important to know what happened in the past before making changes for the future.
4. Place Influence in the Leadership Positions.
• Leaders have two characteristics. First, they are going somewhere; and second, they are able to persuade other people to go with them.
5. Check the "Change in Your Pocket."
• Every leader is given a certain amount of "change" (emotional support in the form of bargaining chips) at the beginning of a relationship. If the relationship weakens, the leader gives up "change" until it is possible for him to become bankrupt with the organization. If the relationship strengthens, the leader receives "change" until it is possible for him to become rich with the organization.
• Always remember: It takes "change" to make change.
• The more "change" in the pocket of the leader, the more changes that can be made in the lives of the people.
6. Good Leaders Solicit the Support of Influencers Before the Change is Made Public.
• This ten-item checklist includes all the steps a good leader will go through in soliciting support for a change from a major influencer in the organization:
  
• List the major influencer(s) of the major groups within your organization.
• How many will be affected directly by this change? (These people are the most important group.)
• How many will be affected indirectly by this change?
• How many will be positive?
• How many will be negative?
• Which group is the majority?
• Which group is the more influential?
• If the positive group is stronger, bring the influencers together for discussion.
• If the negative group is stronger, meet with the influencers individually.
• Know the "key" to each influencer.
7. Develop a Meeting Agenda that Will Assist Change.
• Every new idea goes through three phases: It will not work; it will cost too much; and, I thought it was a good idea all along.
• A wise leader, understanding that people change through a process, will develop a meeting agenda to enhance this process.
8. Encourage the Influencers to Influence Others Informally.
• Major changes should not surprise people.
• A "leadership leak" done properly will prepare the people for the formal meeting.
9. Show the People How the Change Will Benefit Them.
• The proposed change is what is best for the people, not the leader. The people must be first.
10. Give the People Ownership of the Change.
    
    • Openness by the leader paves the way for ownership by the people.
    • Without ownership, changes will be short-term.
      

Donald G Rosenbarger
Senior Vice President
Delta Companies Inc

Developing the Leader Within You - Creating Positive Change : Part 2

We will continue our leadership journey, learning new skills and refreshing old ones, with John C. Maxwell's book Developing the Leader Within You.

The first order of things to be changed is me, the leader. After I consider how hard it is to change myself, then I will understand the challenge of trying to change others. This is the ultimate test of leadership.


Last time, we talked about the Leader as a Change Agent. Today, we will discuss the various forms of resistance the change agent may encounter.



Why People Resist Change:

• The change isn't self-initiated.
  -When people lack ownership of an idea, they usually resist it, even when it is in their best interest.
  - Wise leaders allow followers to give input and be a part of the process of change.
  
  
• Routine is disrupted.
  - Habits allow us to do things without much thought, which is why most of us have so many of them.
  - Habits are not instincts. They are acquired reactions. They don't just happen; they are caused.
  - First we form habits, but then our habits form us.


• Change creates fear of the unknown.
  - Change means traveling in uncharted waters, and this causes our insecurities to rise.
  - Therefore, many people are more comfortable with old problems than with new solutions.


• The purpose of change is unclear.
  - That's why decisions should be made at the lowest level possible. The decision-maker, because of close proximity to the issue, will make a better decision, and those most affected by the decision will know it quickly by hearing it from a source close to them and to the problem.


• Change creates fear of failure.
  - Elbert Hubbard said that the greatest mistake a person can make is to be afraid of making one.


• The rewards for change don't match the effort change requires.
  - What leaders sometimes fail to recognize is that the followers will always weigh the advantage/disadvantage issue in light of personal gain/loss, not organization gain/loss.


• People are too satisfied with the way things are.
  - We choose to die rather than choose to change.


• Change won't happen when people engage in negative thinking.
  - Regardless of his state in the present, the negative thinker finds disappointment in the future.


• The followers lack respect for the leader.
  - People will view the change according to the way they view the change-agent.
  - When you love your followers genuinely and correctly, they'll respect you and follow you through many changes.


• The leader is susceptible to feelings of personal criticism.
  - For growth and continual effectiveness, every organization must go through a continuous four-stage cycle of create, conserve, criticize, and change.
  - Either the creators handle criticism positively and begin to make changes or they will be replaced by those who will embrace change and, therefore, create.


• Change may mean personal loss.
  - "How will this affect me?"
  - Usually there are three groups of people within the organization:
          1. Those who will lose,
          2. Those who are neutral, and
          3. Those who will benefit.
  - Each group is different and must be handled with sensitivity, but also with straightforwardness.


• Change requires additional commitment.
  - Time is the most precious commodity for many people.
  - Whenever change is about to happen, we all look to see how it will affect our time.


• Narrow-mindedness thwarts acceptance of new ideas.


• Tradition resists change. 
  
  

Next time, we will discover how to create a climate for change.


Donald G Rosenbarger
Senior Vice President
Delta Companies Inc

Developing the Leader Within You - Creating Positive Change : Part 1

We will continue our leadership journey, learning new skills and refreshing old ones, with John C. Maxwell's book Developing the Leader Within You.

The first order of things to be changed is me, the leader. After I consider how hard it is to change myself, then I will understand the challenge of trying to change others. This is the ultimate test of leadership.

Change the leader, change the organization. Everything rises and falls on leadership.

Unchanged leaders equals unchanged organizations. People do what people see.

"There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things."  Nicolo Machiavelli

"You see, effective teaching comes only through a change person. The more you change, the more you become an instrument of change in the lives of others. If you want to become a change agent, you also must change." Howard Hendricks

The Leader As Change Agent

• Once the leader has personally changed and discerned the difference between novel change and needed change, then that leader must become a change agent.
  
  
• He must first understand the two important requisites to bringing about change: knowing the technical requirements of the change, and understanding the attitude and motivational demands for bringing it about.
  
  
• Both requisites are critically necessary. More often than not, though, when failure to change results, it is because of inadequate or inappropriate motivation, not from lack of technical smarts.
  
  
• A manager usually will be more skilled in the technical requirements of change, whereas the leader will have a better understanding of the attitudinal and motivational demands that the followers need. Note the difference in the beginning the skills of a leader are essential. No change will ever occur if the psychological needs are unmet. Once the change has begun, the skills of a manager are needed to maintain needed change.
  

Next time, we will learn why people resist change.
Donald G Rosenbarger
Senior Vice President
Delta Companies Inc