WHAT COULD LEADERS LEARN FROM PARENTS?

WAYS TO HELP GUIDE EMPLOYEES THROUGH CHANGE

Each and every situation is different when it comes to change within an organization, and so is each and every employee that makes up the organization. Here are eight solid techniques that, as a leader, you can utilize to help communicate change to your employees.

1. Be Clear and Honest when communicating change to employees - When you start hiding things from your employees you lose trust, so be open and honest for what is down the pipeline.

2. Use Empathy when communicating organizational change - Change is hard, accepting is hard.

3. Tell employees what’s in it for them - Paint the picture. The team needs to know why it's changing and what its going to do for them long term

4. Set Expectations with change management communication - How are you going to continue to update your team

5. Create a Roadmap - Give your team a visual of what is to come and the steps of the organizational change

6. Cascade Leadership messages on change - Make sure your team is always "in the know", such a hard pill to swallow when your team feels blindsided. Make sure whatever you know, they know.

7. Celebrate the Success - Take time to celebrate BIG and small wins of milestones also groups and individuals who helped advocate for the change

8. Continuously Review and Improve the change success - There is always a need to manage your change as its an ongoing process

STAGES OF CHANGE

Just like any BIG thing in life, change within an organization is like a grieving process. The teams are mourning the life they "once knew" to change into something new and unknown to them. Its the process of transformation. According to Kubler Ross, she developed in 1969 The Kübler Ross' Change Curve Model or also known as The Change Curve.

Denial stage -- This is the first stage, which happens right after the change in implemented. This

can happen as both a manager and employee. Although this is normally part of your

unconscious and you are not aware, it could put your business in jeopardy. You

could be pushing away your customers and into the hands of your competitor. Some

common signs of denial are: Not participating or engaging in the business

discussions, undertaking activities and decisions that will actively sabotage or

undermine the change, becoming preoccupied with other matters and assuming

everything is running smoothly.

Resistance stage -- This is the second stage, and the most critical as this is the stage where the

productivity, team morale and employee competency can decline. In this stage, the

employees are very aware they are putting up resistance to change. They are working

diligently to try and switch the new change back to the old way. As a manager you

need to check in with your employees and let them know that you are aware of their

resistance. A lot of times being aware of the resistance, the employees will point out

anything that is wrong, complain instead of making the new change work, get into

negative mindset, and blame discussions or let their anger come out.

Exploration stage -- This is the third stage, which happens after the resistance stage just doesn't

work out. Employees sometimes bounce between “exploration” and “resistance”

stages, so it's important as a leader to be open and truly listen to you team. By your

employees being vocal with you they are looking for new ways to succeed within the

changed organization. Some ways as a leader you can help your employees pivot and

adapt better as they are exploring their new norm is: offer positive feedback and

acknowledge improving attitudes, focus on the positive directions your team is going

rather than dwelling on the past, encourage brainstorming sessions as a team,

acknowledge their fears and have all the training available to ensure they are all on the

right track.

Acceptance/ commitment stage --This is the final stage, in which the employees finally accept

the change; but that doesn't mean they like it! These committed and accepting

employees see the vision and values of the company and they believe that the

changes have been implemented for a reason. Although they may not understand or

agree with those reasons they do know that the company and leaders have never led

them wrong. As leaders its important that you look for these qualities in those

committed employees to ensure they all are on board. If not, you need to re-

evaluate those employees; are those employees are team players who are willing to

learn and link arms with others. Do they put effort into implementing these changes

and making them work and do they feel included and appreciated, then in turn do

the same things for others.

WHAT I LEARND TO DO BEST FROM BEING A PARENT IN MY CURRENT LEADERSHIP ROLE

Being a parent, let alone new parent is never easy. As a parent, I find myself constantly pivoting and adapting to new situations. My “family team” constantly challenges me with new “parenting dilemmas,” just as things at work are never constant. My parenting journey continues to evolve as I see my daughter, Khloe learn first words, first steps, new friends, and fail. There have been moments when I felt like I had it all figure out and things were going smooth but then things changed. A new leap in development or growth spurt happens and suddenly I am pivoting and adapting to new changes. As Khloe is growing, I have to grow with her. This allows me to adapt with her. I was taught to learn from our failures. In turn, I need to take the same mindset in today’s workforce. I have worked very diligently to create an environment where Khloe can learn and grow, challenge herself, ask all the questions and be able to express what scares her. I am working on raising her in a positive, open environment where she is strong, independent, learns from her failures, and feels comfortable to use her voice.

I need to use that same mindset in the office for my team. Even with an open door policy I have found that the hardest task is managing relationships. I realize I need to encourage our teams dynamic to be a safe place. The more I can put in place an open mindset with our colleagues, the more I can create bigger bonds with the team. As parents we strive to make our kids resilient and encourage problem solving; we need to do the same with our team members. This means creating a culture at work where mindset safety comes first; and your colleagues feel comfortable and willing to share their concerns, needs, and ideas.