Leading Meaningful Change

Take-Aways
⦁ “Use-of-Self” focuses on the individual as the pivotal point for meaningful change.
⦁ The process for “Leading Meaningful Change” (LMC) has six precepts.
⦁ Each principle in the “LMC Framework” builds on the previous principle.
⦁ Plan around organizational goals and develop a “Master Change Plan.”
⦁ “Culture shifts” are common and require strong structural and system support.
⦁ The LMC process incorporates Use-of-Self, change leadership, and change management.
⦁ Teams can be powerful change agents.
⦁ As “One City, One Team,” Ottawa’s city management team utilizes the LMC Framework.
Summary
“Use-of-Self” focuses on the individual as the pivotal point for meaningful change.
The Use-of-Self model has been around for decades. Research indicates that the “Self” is a crucial driver of meaningful change efforts. Change efforts begin with knowing who you are and what unconscious factors drive your decisions, then linking that Self with the greater world. Thus, you can use Self-energy to motivate and inspire followers. In times of change, leaders can apply Use-of-Self for coaching and to a lesser extent, mentoring. The one element in the change management process that you completely govern is yourself.
The “Triple Impact Coaching” (TIC) model is within the Leading Meaningful Change Framework: Picture a diagram with the Self at the center of a circle, with concentric circles denoting your relationships with individual colleagues, teams, and the company. See how the mechanisms of change – “choices, reframing, power, and feedback” – can help you make the transition from “unaware” to “aware.” If you concentrate on your Use-of-Self and becoming more self-aware, you will also become more genuine and intentional as a coach.
“A shared purpose captures early involvement and support for the change, reduces tensions and conflict and leads to better results.”
As generations shift and baby boomers retire, coaching becomes an essential skill for leaders and managers. It is important to adapt the Use-of-Self model to serve an increasingly diverse workforce, to work with millennial employees’ reliance on technological communication – social media, email – and to handle the disruptions of global competition.
Re-imagine your priorities to shift from processes to performance and from hierarchies to teams. The LMC Framework is embedded in the real world. It requires not only change leadership but change management. Use-of-Self aligns with the significant transformations occurring in today’s world and applies research in neuroscience, mindfulness, and emotional intelligence (EI or EQ).
The process for Leading Meaningful Change (LMC) has six precepts.
Six tenets help leaders, managers, and change agents build on their strengths while addressing and breaking down counterproductive habits. To optimize these principles, perform exercises to practice the related and necessary skills:
⦁ Be deliberate about your decisions and take accountability – Personal accountability means examining your biases and making better choices. To practice, consider how you reached your decisions to be sure you’re aware of all the facets of your thinking.
⦁ Foster “Use-of-Self as an instrument of change” – Address people’s resistance to change and employ your technical and political skills. Model the behavior you wish to see. Help your employees identify what they want from change leadership.
⦁ “Reframe” – You determine the meaning of any experience. When you reframe, you find new perspectives from which to view your experiences. Reframe negative experiences – for example, hitting a poor golf shot – as an opportunity to learn – improving your swing, for example.
⦁ Utilize “the dynamics of power” – Personal, formal, informal, and collective power constantly interact. Analyze, understand and make use of the ebb and flow of power(s) in your organization.
⦁ Deliver and request feedback – The giver and the receiver must continuously monitor what they offer and receive to ensure sound communications. Carry out practice feedback sessions to critique and accept critiques well.
⦁ Recognize and leverage diversity – Be sensitive to people who do not share your background, gender, race, values, and more. Listen and pay attention to how you differ.
Each principle in the LMC Framework builds on the previous principle.
Apply the seven principles of the LMC Framework:
⦁ Establish a mutual mission, with its own precepts, values, and ideas for the future.
⦁ Bring your people into the process and build engagement.
⦁ Nurture interpersonal connections, teamwork, and cooperation.
⦁ Mesh your plan with your objectives and strategic priorities.
⦁ Generate a shared corporate culture that is favorable for change.
⦁ Build the “systems, structures, and processes” change requires.
⦁ Assess your plans and implementation steps and their ramifications on an ongoing basis.
Each principle builds on the next. To start your change journey, you need a compass – your organization’s shared purpose, its guiding principles, and values. To make your shared purpose concrete, practice the “Envisioning Success Exercise,” which asks participants to project themselves into the future, visualizing the success of your change initiative, and retrace the steps that got them there.
“Organizations in all sectors need to function at our best, which means as communities of human beings, not collections of human resources.”
Engagement requires sound personal relationships, so show and encourage empathy. Productive, engaged team members trust each other and work to achieve shared goals. The best teams serve as role models for other teams and individuals. Team members engage with all their roles, as members of a workforce, as citizens, and as consumers.
Plan around organizational goals and develop a Master Change Plan.
The best plans for transformational initiatives have four key actions:
⦁ Creating role models.
⦁ Nurturing comprehension and commitment.
⦁ Using formal processes to imbed change.
⦁ Building people’s abilities and skills.
Leaders who work through all four actions systematically enjoy the most success. Develop a Master Change Plan that sets out your priorities and implementation projects in alignment with the company’s purpose. Such a plan helps leaders avoid the usual pitfalls in change management, such as a too-narrow focus, funding issues, political infighting, overwhelming workloads or not adequately conveying the larger picture. Chart your plan on a timeline by determining, for instance, what stage of your change implementation you expect to reach each quarter. Your change should cascade down through four levels – “corporate, project, supports, and communications.” Factor in the structures and supports needed at each level to accomplish your change goals.
“As a tool, the Master Change Plan will help you go beyond the basic tactics so you can build a holistic and integrated plan to successfully lead meaningful change.”
Different departments can create their own Master Change Plans and combine them to create a grand Master Change Plan. This is a “living document” you can assess and adjust as needed. When you reach an agreement, set timelines and commitments. Solicit feedback from others. Constantly monitor, evaluate and communicate to keep everyone accountable at every stage.
Culture shifts are common and require strong structural and system support.
To lead change, acknowledge your organization’s complex culture. Every culture has its own underlying concepts, symbols, and values. Take these elements into account when the time comes for a shift. To understand the shift’s “magic,” consider it as a series of small changes over time. The most common culture shift is from a hierarchical to a “flat” organizational structure that gives more people decision-making power.
“For a large-scale change, it can be useful to plan for small and impactful changes in the system that will culminate in a series of cultural shifts that, over time, achieve the transformation.”
Your organizational structures and systems must support change. Because everyone is part of many interdependent systems, change in one part affects other areas, sometimes provoking unintended consequences. Change agents should look out for mismatches between intention and results, inside and outside influences, and risks. Remain nimble, receptive to feedback, and willing to innovate.
Your organizational structure has many players, stakeholders and new situations to align and integrate. As change occurs, expect new collaborations to emerge and to restructure jobs. Keep employee engagement high through structural change. Assessments, dashboards, and a “comprehensive evaluation process” must be part of this process and help people to adapt in a setting of rapid change.
The LMC process incorporates Use-of-Self, change leadership, and change management.
The seven principles of the LMC Framework above guide the LMC process. Combined with the Use-of-Self strategy, change leadership, and change management, these principles add up to a holistic approach that renders change meaningful.
“Often, the more complex the change, the greater the need for an expert design team to design, facilitate, coach, support and evaluate the individual and team development process.”
Expect that the four stages of a change will be in constant motion as you design, deliver and evaluate the planned change. These stages are:
⦁ “Alignment” – Gather people from across your organization, with different competencies, backgrounds, and accountabilities – board members, HR, communications, political stakeholders, and community members. Work with your participants to define success and establish your team’s “charter.”
⦁ “Integration” – Prioritize real-world learning experiences. Address resistance to change. To facilitate integration, use workshops, and working sessions; consider the demands of change leadership, and develop your management style and abilities as a change leader.
⦁ “Action” – Embark upon an ongoing cycle of learning; reflect on what emerges as the process unfolds. The workplace is a laboratory, and change is an experiment. Polish your Master Change Plan, consider stakeholder needs, coach yourself and build a communications plan.
⦁ “Renewal” – Evaluate the overall changes, make adjustments and improvements, and reiterate. Change doesn’t happen overnight. Put supports in place for those who struggle to adapt. Even when you succeed, assess continuously to ensure sustainability. In this stage, evaluate your change exercise and discuss how your organization will sustain the changes.
Teams can be powerful change agents.
Effective teams get the job done but evaluate your teams’ dynamics to avoid problems. The five main team dysfunctions to look out for are mistrust, conflict, poor commitment, avoiding accountability, and inattention to results.
“Teamwork becomes the glue that binds people together around the shared purpose and collectively engages their hearts and minds.”
A team must be cohesive. This is simultaneously an art, a craft, and a science. The art involves seeing the details and the whole. The craft involves balancing people’s emotions with accountability. The science is documentation, structures, and decision-making processes.
As “One City, One Team,” Ottawa’s city management team employs the LMC Framework.
Author Beverley Patwell worked with the government of Canada’s capital, the City of Ottawa, to apply the LMC process. Ottawa’s leaders needed to field a historic celebration of the 150th anniversary of Confederation while improving the city’s transit infrastructure.
In the Alignment phase, the city manager created a transition team and met with the mayor and city council. His team adopted the motto, “One City, One Team” and a philosophy of servant leadership. They created governance documents and an organizational structure. That helped the team plan for the next six months as it moved through creating a cultural shift. It flattened the hierarchy, consolidated certain departments, and set up seven priorities, which included better service delivery and infrastructure.
“When reflecting on their work on the SLT [Senior Leadership Team] and with their teams, partners, stakeholders, and city council, many talked about achieving a truly shared purpose.”
In the Integration and Action phases, the team participated in a “Leading Transitions Program.” This helped them understand their accountabilities and commitments. By the time they reached the Renewal phase, they were a coherent group with shared priorities, and they could assess their progress confidently. Employee satisfaction was up 4% and the team met a $14-million efficiencies target for 2017 and 2018. Its plans included leader development and succession planning.
The Ottawa team commended the LMC process, saying that it gave them a sense of accomplishment, set realistic expectations, and proved sensitive to people’s emotional needs while requiring teamwork, leadership, and continuous evaluation. They recommended the LMC process for renewing commitment through alignment, integration, action, and assessment. The best teams “honor teamwork,” establish a legacy, and master the Use-of-Self philosophy. LMC helps leaders and supporters feel empowered, communicate well, and purposefully engage stakeholders
About the Author
Beverley Patwell is a professor at the University of Notre Dame, Queen’s University, and Concordia University, and co-authored Triple Impact Coaching: Use-of-Self in the Coaching Process with Edith Whitfield Seashore.