From Ancient Wisdom To Modern Leadership – 3 Keys To Communicating Change That Inspires Action

Last fall, I visited the sprawling ruins of the ancient city of Ephesus in Turkey, home of the Greek philosopher Heraclitus who remarked how “change is the only constant.”

Walking down the remains of the marble stone street Heraclitus walked, marvelling at the site of carved remains of building facades and water fountains, not to mention restored frescoes and painted tile floors, I wondered if the change that had befallen his once opulent city was the kind of change he had pondered.

Of course, today’s leaders have no choice but to not only anticipate change that disrupts the status quo, but to proactively initiate it.

In many cases, leading change is the only way to ensure your organization remains at the forefront of a fast-moving world, and not getting left behind as yet another example of an organization that’s fallen out of step with today’s demands and interests.

And yet, despite this current reality, a study done by CEB Corporate Leadership Council found that less than 35% of major change initiatives achieve any form of success.

And the problems that lead so many of these change initiatives to fail are not simply found when you’re deep into the process. Many times, those roadblocks surface just as you’re getting ready to sprint out of the starting gate.

When leaders announce a new change initiative, it’s often met with resistance and wariness. In fact, one study found that over 70% of employees are feeling overwhelmed by the amount of change they have to address at work.

A key reason for these feelings of wariness and fatigue is that employees are often assigned to drive a new change initiative without a compelling narrative that not only resonates with them, but which inspires them to take up the cause.

It’s for this reason I want to share three simple, but powerful measures that will help you to craft your change narrative so you’re not only providing clarity to overcome these early obstacles, but your employees will be motivated to commit their best efforts to see this change initiative through to successful completion.

1. Show why this change matters by connecting specific benefits to employees

If I were to tell you to do something just because it’s “good for you”, how likely are you to do it? Not very.

It’s the same thing with change initiatives. It’s not enough to say this is ‘good for business.’ You need to be crystal clear about what specific benefits this change will create for your employees and for the organization at large.

2. Balance commitment with being flexible and adaptive

While employees need to see strong commitment from senior leadership – that this is more than a pet project to chase the latest shiny object – it’s important that leaders not allow this sense of conviction for the cause doesn’t lead to inflexibility over how to achieve this change.

A good measure to counter this is to make efforts to actively listen to employees to understand their perspective.

This will reassure them that your commitment doesn’t mean you’re not open to changing course in light of new information.

3. Clarify day-to-day expectations of what will be needed going forward

Many leaders tend to obsess over how to create a compelling vision that they overlook explaining what this will look like in the day-to-day.

So tell employees what this change will look like from their vantage view. Be open about what contingency plans have been developed to address inevitable setbacks.

Don’t forget, the success of any change initiative is dependent on your people – on their hopes, concerns, and potential.

But applying these three keys to craft a narrative around your change initiative will help them gain a sense of shared ownership over the process, and encourage their full participation in transforming this change into your collective new reality.