In a recent newsletter published by the American Society for Training and development, the following article appeared;
Forbes contributor Carol Kinsey Goman, a self-described “professional change agent” hired to help leaders communicate more effectively, shares these five lessons from her experience coaching business professionals.
- People matter more than strategy. “Organisational change efforts fail more often than they succeed — and rarely because of poor strategy,” Goman says. “Rather, it’s almost always a ‘people’ issue.”
- Emotion has more impact than logic. Both have their place, she explains, but “employees need to understand the marketplace realities that are the driving forces of change. They need to know the consequences of not changing.” They also need to know how these changes will or will not affect their duties, their job security, and if they will need to learn new skill sets.
- Behavior is more persuasive than words. “If the stated message is ‘Let’s all collaborate!’ and employees see that senior leadership doesn’t work well together, the collaboration message hasn’t a chance,” Goman says.
- Informal networks are more influential than formal communication channels. While formal approaches such as authentic speeches from senior leaders, well-researched articles in newsletters, and first-line supervisors who are excellent communicators are integral and helpful, “none of them deals with the complex web of social interactions and informal networks that are the conduit for up to 70 percent of all organisation information,” Goman explains.
- And finally, nonverbal communication is more powerful than verbal communication. “The key to successful change communication may be found in the kinds of signals ordinarily overlooked, especially tone of voice and body language,” she says.
The reason I find this article particularly refreshing is that in many organisations the focus and energy is placed on developing the strategy and the process of transition. Everyone knows the importance of engaging the people and taking them with you, but unfortunately there are no shortcuts. Managers need to invest a serious amount of time in:
- Building open honest relationships with their people
- Listening from the heart – by that I mean understanding the true impact of the changes on each individual
- Communicating using both the formal and informal channels of communication, even if there is nothing new, people like to be reassured that things are not happening without their knowledge
- Thinking before speaking, how will their words be understood by their people.
- Avoiding use of management speak and waffle
- Checking their personal engagement with the changes. If the managers are not truly engaged them don’t attempt to engage others. Remember your people are a reflection of you!
- Displaying the positive behaviours they wish to see in others
- Understanding the team dynamics, informal networks and communication channels and knowing who the influencers are within the team
- Keeping people focused on the Vision, Planning and Detail and away from the Problem and Drama
In summary, managers need to be “Up close and personal” with their people. Spend time getting to know them as individuals, their issues, worries, challenges, likes, dislikes, preferences and motivators.
One of the challenges facing managers is that most of the popular management models in use today were developed in an age where change was at a much slower pace and rarely as complex as today. The old management models focused more on process, not people. There are new models emerging based on Neuro-scientific evidence and already producing measurable results. Human Potentials leadership or sometimes referred to as Attentional or Interior models has emerged as a result of the interest in Emotional Intelligence[1] and leaders aspiring to become “Level Five” leaders[2] which has humility and determination at the heart. It is important that managers learn how to tune in more and Human Potential models are the answer.
Whilst Human Potentials leadership is still relatively new, there is already evidence available of the validity of such models in the workplace. Transport for London[3] conducted an internal review in 2003 and found that mental health was one of the top two issues affecting company employees. TFL offered staff a six week group stress reduction workshop, which was open to any of the 20,000 employees who met the referral criteria.
The workshop programme, included psycho-educational and cognitive behavioural therapy alongside the teaching of Mindfulness techniques.
The outcomes:
- Number of days off for stress and anxiety, amongst the employees attending fell by 71%
- Absences for all conditions dropped by 50%
- 80% reported improvements in their relationships
- 79% improvements in their ability to relax
- 64% improvements in sleep patterns
- 53% improvements in happiness at work
The common thread of all of Human Potential models such as Authentic Leadership and Resonant Leadership is Mindfulness, which “spontaneously arises out of a Being mode when we learn to pay attention, on purpose, in the present moment, without judgement, to things as they actually are. It is the ability to see the world as it is, not as we expect it to be or want it to be or fear it might become.” (Williams & Penman 2011)[4]
Why should organisations be taking note of these new approaches? Look out for the answers in our next blog.
