Leading in times of transition

Forget the notion of keeping up with change – organisations are awash in it. With unrelenting change becoming the norm, leaders have no choice but to adapt to it and to help others do the same. The Center for Creative Leadership’s Michael Wakefield and Kerry Bunker report

Organisational events such as restructuring, mergers and acquisitions or financial problems force leaders to rethink their work and adapt to a changing workforce. Pressure to achieve results and to satisfy often-competing demands builds the intensity of the challenge. External factors – the economy, industry and market trends, globalisation, political and social concerns and rapid technological changes – all conspire to make leadership a complex, difficult undertaking.

“Leadership today often feels extreme and extraordinary,” says Michael Wakefield, a senior faculty member at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL). “Paradoxically, the dynamic of extraordinary times in organisations is becoming ordinary and commonplace for most leaders. Uncertainty can trigger all kinds of behavioural and emotional reactions from leaders and the people who are affected by the decisions of leadership. Confronted by change, people go through a time of transition that is rarely easy. They adapt at different paces and in various ways, depending upon the circumstances and the individual.”

People have come to accept change as a part of organisational life and are more comfortable in adapting to it. But the challenge of leadership in this environment remains.

Leading change versus leading transition

The complexity and intensity of transition is a reaction to change – and the more frequent or more dramatic the change, the more complex the process of transition. Yet, organisations and leaders commonly overlook or dismiss the human side of change.

“Many managers have mastered the structural side of leading change – creating a vision, reorganising, restructuring and so on,” Wakefield says. “They are rewarded, evaluated and educated to deal with the structural issues and so have more experience with them.”

The stresses and pressures generated by structural or operational change lead to an increased need to pay attention to what’s going on with the people in the organisation. Leading transition is about guiding people though a process of grieving, letting go, building hope and learning. “In many ways, the bigger challenge for leaders is to manage the longer-term, human aspects of change: recovery, revitalisation and recommitment,”says Wakefield.

Research shows that 75 percent of change initiatives fail. So what’s missing? As the adjoining graphic suggests, managing change requires leaders to deal effectively with both the structural side of leading change and the human dynamic of transition. When the skills associated with either side are overplayed, leaders destabilise the organisational culture by eroding trust. Instead of a loyal, productive and enthusiastic workforce, executives and managers must lead employees who are insecure, fearful and sceptical. By failing to gain sufficient buy-in from employees, leaders slow down and undermine their progress toward new goals.

“When leaders ignore or minimise the people side of managing change, perfectly good strategies and change initiatives stall or fail,” says Wakefield.

Critical leader competencies

For many leaders, managing the business and addressing the needs of workers are at odds. They ask, “How can I make the tough decisions if I have to focus on the emotions and concerns of my employees?” The answer isn’t about choosing either the people or the business. Instead, the answer lies in being authentic and building trust, according to CCL senior faculty member Kerry Bunker, who co-authored CCL’s Leading with Authenticity in Times of Transition with Wakefield. In the book, Wakefield and Bunker explore how rapid change and constant transition have created a more emotional dynamic in organisations.

In the face of transition and turmoil, people look for leadership that is simultaneously strong and vulnerable, heroic and open, demanding and compassionate. “The bar has been raised for leaders by the growing threat from terrorists and from a series of corporate scandals,” Bunker says. “People want the strength and courage that characterised the stereotypical leader of the past, but they also hold leaders to a high standard of character, humanness and ability to empathise and care about others.”

“When leaders focus on establishing trust, instead of taking a one-sided approach, they find they can be both tough and empathetic, committed to change and understanding of transition,” says Bunker. “They become agile and resilient and able to do what it takes to run both the structural and the people aspects of the organisation.”

Imagine a wheel that has trust as its hub, Bunker suggests. Radiating out from that hub are the spokes, which represent twelve leader competencies for dealing with change and transition. Six spokes represent structural competencies; the other six represent people-related competencies.

“Any of the twelve competencies can be overdone, underdone, or held in a positive, dynamic balance,” says Bunker. “If a leader neglects or overplays any one element, he strains the trust that is needed to lead effectively during times of transition.”

To create and sustain an environment of trust leaders must become adept at balancing all twelve competencies:

1. Catalysing change is championing an initiative or significant change, consistently promoting the cause and encouraging others to get on board.

2. Coping with transition is about recognising and addressing the personal and emotional elements of change. It includes being in touch with your own emotions and reactions.

3. Sense of urgency involves taking action when necessary to keep things rolling. A leader who has a strong sense of urgency moves fast on issues and accelerates the pace of change for everyone.

4. Realistic patience requires knowing when and how to slow the pace down to allow time and space for people to cope and adapt.

5. Being tough denotes the ability to make the difficult decisions about issues and people with little hesitation or second-guessing.

6. Being empathetic involves taking others’ perspective into account when making decisions and taking action.

7. Optimism is the ability to see the positive potential of any challenge and to convey that optimism to others.

8. Realism and openness involve a willingness to be candid and clear about a situation and prospects for the future. It includes speaking the truth and admitting personal mistakes and foibles.

9. Self-reliance involves a willingness to take a lead role or even to do something yourself when necessary. A leader who is self-reliant has a great deal of confidence and is willing to step up and tackle most new challenges.

10. Trusting others means being comfortable with allowing others to do their part of a task or project. It includes being open to others for input and support.

11. Capitalising on strengths entails knowing your strengths and attributes and confidently applying them to tackle new situations and circumstances.

12. Going against the grain involves a willingness to learn and try new things – to get out of your comfort zone – even when the process is difficult or painful.

“Finding the right behaviours, tone and style can feel like an impossible balancing act at times. But, because trust is so crucial to a leader’s effectiveness, it is a challenge that cannot be ignored,” says Bunker.

Building trust and leading change

Effective communication, particularly in times of transition, involves much more than sharing information. It is about building trust. To see real change and gain significant benefits from their strategies, leaders need to establish an environment of trust, according to the Center for Creative Leadership’s Michael Wakefield and Kerry Bunker. Leaders who are trusted – even in times of great difficulty – are skilled communicators. They suggest the following communications fundamentals when leading in times of change and transition:

Communicate relentlessly. Now is not the time to keep quiet. Leaders need to be able to communicate information, thoughts and ideas clearly – and frequently – in different media. Find many ways to share information; keep processes open and transparent.

Listen. Good communicators are also good listeners. Allow people to air their gripes and complaints. Pay attention to what others are saying, thinking and feeling. What is said? What is left unsaid?

Explain the change. People are often sceptical of change. Share your thinking and the trade-offs you’ve weighed – not just the final decision or strategy.

Make an appeal. Draw on a sense of loyalty, courage, morality or other principles that tie the organisation’s change strategy to what is important to people.

Articulate expectations. Clearly explaining why, how and when things need to happen will set expectations and create a healthy level of stress and pressure. It also establishes a mechanism for monitoring and addressing performance.

Be visible. If you communicate well, you won’t be out of sight. Find ways to interact with all of your stakeholder groups.

Confront problems and conflict. Don’t postpone dealing with challenging issues or conflict. By avoiding the difficult people or difficult issues, you can do great harm to yourself, your co-workers and your organisation.

Be honest and open. A commitment to genuine change requires honesty, clarity and truth. An effective leader will ask the hard questions and foster an environment of honesty and candid discussion.

Show respect. Treat people with genuine concern and sincere consideration. Spend time with them, ask them about the things they are interested in and consider their hopes as important as your own.

Make room for doubts. Establish a climate that processes resistance rather than attempting to squash it. Don’t dismiss, write off or label employees too easily or too quickly.

Don’t dismiss the old. Ignoring, demeaning or dismissing people and “the way things used to be” prevents them from moving on. Help people through transition by acknowledging their history and attachments.

Be sincere and authentic. Communicate truthfully and honestly, follow through with what you say and avoid deception. Don’t try to bury or deny your own reactions to ongoing events. People pay close attention to their leaders in such times and are looking for indications that they are real people who are capable of having human emotions like their own.

Trust people to handle the truth. Tell them what you know and own up to what you don’t know. Avoid putting a false positive spin on decisions or events that are inherently negative or difficult to handle.

Demonstrate that you can handle the truth. People may not readily tell you the truth or give you feedback. You have to set the tone and model the behaviour that makes truth telling okay. Stay connected to a broad circle of people and make it clear that you want them to share their concerns and ideas.