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CATALYZING CHANGE VERSUS COPING WITH TRANSITION

Striking a balance between catalyzing change and coping with transition helps you establish your authenticity and trustworthiness as a leader. Catalyzing change involves the ability to manage an initiative or change, generate acceptance and support, and see things through. Coping with transition involves the ability to recognize and address the personal and emotional fallout that accompanies change.

Leaders who are skilled at catalyzing change consistently promote the cause, encourage others to get on board, and reinforce those who already are. They are highly driven and are eager to get others engaged in any new initiative. Leaders who are able to understand and cope with transitions are in touch with their personal reactions to change and are comfortable sharing those emotions. They walk the talk and lead by example. A leader who is adept at both catalyzing the change and coping with the complexities of transition creates a climate and culture for working through difficult times. Trust and commitment are maintained at a higher level, and the transition ultimately gains momentum as people work through the process.

The fast pace and complex challenges that typify today’s organizations push most leaders to focus on catalyzing change at the expense of helping people deal with the transition during the change. Typically, top leaders have well-developed strategies and plans, roll them out, utilize a range of communication tactics, and are then ready to move on with the implementation. Often they wonder why a change initiative is faltering, why a new system isn’t showing the anticipated return, or why people aren’t moving on and getting with the program.

When a leader overdoes catalyzing change and minimizes coping with transition, he or she is likely to have unrealistic expectations. Typically, such a leader sets up a high-pressure environment and underestimates the negative impact the change and the pressure may have on others. Always putting a positive spin on change, this leader is often perceived as speaking idly, misleadingly, boastfully. Exaggerated attempts at reassurance end up being perceived as phony and condescending. This results in a number of negative individual and organizational consequences. A leader can easily lose credibility and be viewed as false and insincere. People in the organization become disillusioned and disconnected.

Of course, the opposite set of overdoing and underdoing has its own perils. By overemphasizing the process of coping with transition, a leader can easily run a change effort into the ground. If the leader doesn’t have sufficient ability to catalyze change, the direction becomes unclear and people lose energy and enthusiasm. The organization and individuals can become stuck and overwhelmed. Emotional reactions run the gamut and are likely to include frustration, anger, resistance, and depression.

When leaders balance catalyzing change and coping with transition, the way in which others perceive their behavior is based on two elements: what they say and what they do.

1.  Leaders need to communicate effectively by sharing their thinking and the story behind their reasoning—not just the final decision or strategy. During times of change, leaders want people to grasp the importance of the changes, and they hope that people will agree with the rationale and the process. On the other hand, people want a clear understanding of the background strategy—why the change? Part of the inherent challenge of leading people in extraordinary times is that they are often skeptical. As a result, they have a thirst for information. The level of understanding and agreement the leader stimulates can affect the degree of enthusiasm people bring to their individual roles in the change.

2.  Along with a rationale, people need reassurance. While the leader’s role involves convincing others to get on board for a change initiative, bombarding them with information has limitations. A critical component of leading change is to model the behavior and demonstrate the resilience that will take people through the transition. People need to see leaders living and integrating the changes that they advocate. If they don’t see that, they can become skeptical and even resistant. If a leader is inconsistent—saying one thing but doing another—doubt and resistance arise, damaging integrity and eroding trust.

Leaders who are skilled at catalyzing change

  understand the rationale for a shift in direction

  communicate the vision with enthusiasm and energy

  demonstrate how the change is a win for the organization and its people

  engage those who are resistant

  make themselves accessible for formal and informal discussions

  talk the talk and walk the walk

  listen to understand other points of view

  marshal the resources to drive the change

  speak truth to power when necessary

Leaders who cope well with transition

  are in touch with their own reactions and feelings about the change

  understand the difference between change and transition

  give themselves and others permission to experience and express loss and grieving

  model vulnerability so that others are able to move through transition stages

  are realistic about the challenges people can handle

  communicate with staff at all levels

  tell people as much as they can about the situation

  push back on senior management when appropriate

  celebrate successes along the way

Making It True

Where do you begin? What steps can you take to strike a balance between catalyzing change and coping with transition?

Communicate. Effective leaders are relentless communicators. Find many ways to share information and keep processes open and transparent. Talk about your thoughts and feelings. Good communicators are also good listeners, so pay attention both to what is said and to what is not said.

Don’t dismiss the old. Ignoring, demeaning, or dismissing the way things used to be prevents people from moving through the transition process. Help people through transition by acknowledging their history and attachments. The new is built on the old. There will be many opportunities to apply past lessons to new challenges.

Make yourself more visible. If you communicate well, you won’t be out of sight. But be sure to be visible and accessible as much as possible; people can’t be influenced by behavior they don’t see. You must find ways to interact with all of your stakeholder groups. Although this seems fairly obvious, there are several reasons why executives are less visible during rough times. The obvious and legitimate reason is that you have little extra time. But it also may be that you are uncomfortable or worn out from facing employees who feel threatened and defensive. While you may prefer to avoid putting yourself out there as a target for negative feedback, it is essential to do so in order to effectively lead others through transition.

Be genuine. This involves making more of yourself available. Let people see who you are. What kind of person are you in times of stress, crisis, and change? This involves taking off the masks or armor you have put on over the years and being real with people. Others want to know that you are genuine in what you say, feel, and do before they invest their trust in you. What’s more, people under stress have a heightened sensitivity for assessing who is being genuine and who isn’t. This means it is more important to be yourself than to act like an executive. You will probably feel somewhat vulnerable and uncomfortable, but masking rarely fools people and your self-protective efforts will only serve to erode your trustworthiness.

Reinforce authenticity. Learn to recognize and reinforce authentic, resilient behavior patterns in others. Keep your antenna up to spot the kind of behavior that can build an open community with high integrity. You will send a signal that these genuine behaviors are noticed and rewarded. This will help spread your good intention throughout the organization.

Find inspiration. You need your own touchstones or reminders about what you are trying to accomplish, what your problems are, and how you want to behave. Adopt a quote, parable, cliché, picture, or other symbol to help you stay connected to your situation. Examples include the following: Walk the talk. Practice what you preach. Trust is earned by the penny and spent by the dollar. What you do is so loud, I can’t hear what you’re saying.