One of my passions as a consultant is embarking on a continuos journey of the seeking truth successful change in the organisation. In this illusive and delusive journey, I am very much aware of the need to separate hype from reality.

Too often what you hear from the leaders is quite different from the real thing. Likewise, what you read in management literature and corporate journals are often "publicity stunts" to depict a good image of organisations. The problem of listening to leaders and reading about what they say about successful change is that many do not practice what they preach.

However, there is a small groups of leaders who practice what they preach and have truly achieved success in the change that they have embarked on in their organisations. I know them and believe what they say because I see what they are saying being put to action when I visit their organisations.

After discussing with these leaders and having worked in many organisations both as a practitioner as well as a consultant, I am more convinced now than ever that the new role of leaders today is to open minds and win the hearts of people in order to achieve successful change.

The fact that many face tremendous difficulties in implementing change in their organisations is a clear indication that leaders are still very much in the dark about the right way to win over people in accepting change.

The following model developed by KL Strategic Change Consulting (KLSCC) has proven effective in the implementation of change in organisations.

OPENING MINDS

Too often, leaders try to change the minds of others through a forceful approach. They attempt to get people to change by talking at people and, some, barking at people. They focus more on getting people to near what they are saying. However, people can hear what they say but are not listening as long as their minds remain closed. The critical task of the leader is to first open the minds of people before he sell his massage of change. To open the minds of people, the leader must first break down their complacency levels. To reduce the complacency level of people, leaders need to communicate a compelling message for change. 

They can do this through benchmarking and by comparing their level of achievements with competition. Leaders can highlight the weakness within organisations and the threats they face in the industry. A leader can reduce the complacency level of individuals by getting them to look outward instead inward. By this, I mean assessing changes in the environment such as the increasing intensity of competition, more demanding customers, deregulation and globalization, and by highlighting the impact of these changes on the future of the companies. Independent studies or survey by external parties will be good source of material to get the attention of people within organisation to see the urgency for change.

Another way to open the minds of people is to develop a conductive environment in organisation whereby people are allowed to question past assumptions. There may be assumptions which are no longer valid which leaders should take steps to abandon. By getting people to have an open mind is a good way to prevent them from developing blindspots.

Leaders need to help people become aware of the reality of situations to breakdown rigid attitudes and old habit which are hampering change. Keeping people's minds open requires constant assessment of the need for change and communicating this need in a convincing and acceptable manner to those who need to implement the necessary changes to improve performance in the workplace.

WINNING HEARTS

While opening minds is about appealing to sound reasons, wining hearts is appealing to emotions. The famous Professor William James said: "The deepest principle of human nature is the craving to be appreciated." Everywhere in organisations, I run into this unarticulated and unfulfilled need. The need of people to be appreciated serves as one powerful motivation for change. One powerful way we can start to appreciating people is by recognizing the importance of their knowing what is going on around them. By genuinely communicating early to them about the rationale and the purpose of the change we will win more hearts than by justifying why change was not communicated.

This process of creating awareness of change should therefore rightfully begin by emphasizing the importance people place on the need to know and understand why change is being undertaken. Having done that, leaders must "sell" the benefits of the change to the people. People who do not "buy" the change are the ones who will resist it. Selling the change is about getting people excited about wanting to change.

Leaders who want to implement successful change must learn the skills of presenting change in an interesting and positive manner. Too often leaders themselves look at the negative side of change themselves and are overwhelmed by the difficulties. People will change when they see the change as positive and beneficial. The role of the leaders is to make change attractive, interesting, meaningful, friendly and beneficial.

Similarly a salesman who wants to sell his products or services will make the sales transaction pleasant. He will convince you of the attractive feature of his products and his benefits it will bring you. He will get you excited, willing to buy and hence put in your money.

Likewise getting people to change is getting people wanting and accepting it through your influencing power of selling. Winning hearts is also about establishing credibility. No one will be won over when leaders are not viewed as being credible. Leadership credibility calls for consistency, fairness, transparency and competency. 

To win people's hearts, leaders must be sincere in their efforts they take towards change. They need to practice what they preach and deliver what they promise. They need to respect individuals and at the same time build teams which are committed to common goals and purpose. And winning commitment is the ultimate fruit of winning the hearts of people.

ENABLING ACTIONS

There are four key reasons why people do not change.  first, they do not know what they are supposed to do.  Second, they do not know how to do it.  Third, they do not know why they should do it.  Fourth, there are obstacles beyond their control.

Let us address the role of leaders in tackling each of these reasons to enable people to make change happen.  For those who do not know what they are supposed to do, the leaders role is to ensure communication is effective.  Leaders need to communicate effectively what needs to be changed.  The objectives, rationale and benefits of the change should be clearly and convincingly communicated.  Should there be a breakdown in communication, leaders must identify the root cause and correct the situation right away.  Sometimes information is communicated in bits and pieces and people down the line are confused.  At other times, information may be stuck at certain levels and thus are not communicated downwards.  Information that are not timely and accurately communicated will hinder change because people will not know what they are supposed to do.

For those who do not know how to change, leaders must provide the knowledge and skills to ensure that people have the confidence and competency to implement the change desired.  The learning process can be done in a formal or informal process.  Sharing information, knowledge and experience is an effective way to build competency in people.  Coaching, formal training and team learning are also good way to increase the knowledge and skill levels of people.  And of course, leaders should encourage staff to undertake sel-learning, self-education and self-discovery on a continuous basis which I believe is still the most effective way to increase one’s knowledge and skills.

For those who do not know why they should change, leaders should start by opening minds and winning hearts towards change.

For those who face obstacles which are beyond their control, leaders must help to remove them.

Of course, there are some people who tend to perceive every challenge as an obstacle.  Good leaders must know how to differentiate them.  They must only help remove obstacles that are beyond their staff’s control.  For those within their control, they must encourage their staff to remove them by themselves.  For example, obstacles such as frequent computer downtime which is due to the network system is not within the control of the frontline staff.  The manager should address this issue with the Information Technology people in the regional office or head office and help solve this problem.  While waiting for the head office to resolve the problem, the manager should in the meantime address the problems-created by the computer downtime to lessen the queue and discomfort at the branch.  He should provide all the necessary support and encouragement to help smoothen things out until the computer is up again.

To enable change to happen, leaders must also mobilize the necessary resources and empower people to take action.  The role of leaders is to negotiate and secure the necessary tools, equipment, manpower, materials and budget to enable the change to take place in their division or unit.  Leaders must also ensure that people have the necessary authority to carry out their jobs effectively.

REWARDING ACHIEVEMENTS

It is the natural law of the universe that whatever we sow we will reap.  Leaders in organisations must realize that they cannot violate this universal law for long.  If people do not get recognized or rewarded for their achievements by their companies, some other organisations will reward them.

Valuing people and their contribution will go along way towards motivating people to want to change and achieve more for themselves as well as for their organisations.  Leaders who care for people and show genuine concern for people will win their respect and commitment.  People do not care how much a leader knows until they know how much he cares.

In total, achieving success in change is about opening minds, winning hearts, enabling people and rewarding them.  Leaders who take the time and effort to develop these skills will be handsomely rewarded with positive and productive results.  Those who do not will continue to be disappointed with the failure of their people to change and improve

Victor S.L. Tan is an international consultant and authority on change management.  He is the author of 4 books and the CEO of KL Strategic Change Consulting Group. He can be contacted at 603-90741129 / 90742219 or email: victorsltan@klscc.com