05/16/2024

Shifting to a New Paradigm in Navigating Change

Here are five steps leaders can take to elevate their success

Abraham Lincoln is quoted as saying, “Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.” For leaders, this message means navigating change either preemptively or reactively. If only the decision were so simple. 

Most industries are undergoing some type of transformation today. It’s not that this is a new phenomenon, but if you were to wonder, “Will this ever end?” you wouldn’t be alone. According to Gartner, the average employee has experienced ten planned enterprise changes in the past 12 months alone. The dilemma: Ongoing transformation is the norm, but most leaders approach change management as though it were an event instead of an ongoing process. The outcome of misinterpreting the mandate for change is fatigue, disengagement and resistance. 

All leaders need to adjust to a rapidly changing environment. But in the business world, the track record for successful change management is mixed at best. When it comes to navigating change, we know a great deal about what doesn’t work: Failing to develop a clear picture of the organization’s future state, failing to engage people across the organization in co-owning a future state vision or failing to create a deliberate road map between the current environment and future state. Navigating changes also fails if leaders don’t communicate frequently about progress and challenges in the journey, fail to re-engage the organization in their vision regularly or fail to adjust the road map as conditions evolve. 

Please select this link to read the complete article from SmartBrief.