Your change strategy is failing. And it’s not just you. Leaders everywhere are struggling to keep up with the pace, pressure, and unpredictability of change.
The biggest challenge I see organizations struggling with today is hands down —change. Teams are getting crushed by it, leaders can’t keep up with it, and employees are completely overwhelmed by it.
For leaders today, change is their biggest priority and their biggest obstacle to success. Leaders are struggling to manage it, drive it, and get their teams to buy into it. Change is critical to success in today’s marketplace. Yet we’re failing at it. Failing miserably.
The research and statistics on change strategies are alarming:
70%
of change initiatives fail
4 of 5
employees are burned out
76%
of leaders don’t feel equipped to manage change
52%
of employees quit due to poorly managed change initiatives
75%
of organizations don’t provide adequate training for change initiatives
As a leader, you are putting a record amount of time, energy, and resources into managing change, but the results show your efforts are not working.
Here’s the hard truth: The old way of managing change doesn’t work anymore.
Now you have a choice to make – you can continue to use the same strategies you have been using and continue to get the same lackluster results. OR you can continue to read this article and learn a new, bold, innovative strategy that will shift how you and your team think, feel, and act about change and uncertainty.
A New Approach To Managing Change
The one thing you know about change, the one thing you can count on, is that more change is coming. You should also know that the change is coming so much faster than it used to.
So, if you know change is coming, why don’t you plan for change?
In other words, why don’t you ASK FOR CHANGE? Use the time that you have now to predict, condition for, and take action around the changes you know are coming.
What Does It Mean to Ask for Change?
It means, rather than waiting for disruption to happen to you, you actively seek it out. You start predicting change and preparing for change, so you move from managing change to driving it. You start to control change rather than allowing change to control you.
Pretty empowering, right? You move from being a victim of change to the boss of change.
Let’s do this!
How To Get Your Team on Board with Change
In today’s marketplace, your team needs a new kind of leader, one that is committed to getting them read for the future. Your team needs a leader with the skills to help them move past the overwhelm, move through the fear, and a leader who can help them Ask for Change!
3 Steps to Ask for Change
1
Set The Vision
Before you ever ask your team to think about what needs to change, ensure they have a clear vision of how great change will be. Most people resist change, because they fear what the change will be – the unknown. If you paint a picture, if you articulate a vision, and show your team that just on the other side of change is a result they can buy into – your team will be excited to Ask For Change.
Just getting started is the hardest part of creating a succession plan, and starting small makes it easier and more effective to get your plan moving.
2
Brainstorm Change
Asking for change means thinking about change before you have to think about change. As we said before – change is coming and you can wait for it or use the time that you have now to get ready for it. If you want to get your team on board with change, you need to get them asking for change. Have them brainstorm about the changes they see coming in your industry, with your customers, competition, and technology. Getting them talking about change, predicting change, consistently gets them comfortable with the idea of change. The more comfortable they are, the more they will Ask For Change.
3
Take Action
And last but not least, you need to help your team take action. Take action around the changes they see coming, and take that action now. Action will move your team into feeling they’re in control, like they are deciding the impact change will have rather than letting change decide their fate. And that shift will change everything in getting your change initiatives implemented effectively.
The Future Belongs to Leaders Who Drive Change
Change isn’t slowing down, and the pressure to keep up isn’t going away. The leaders who will thrive in the future are the ones who don’t just manage change—they lead it.
So I challenge you: Stop reacting. Start anticipating. And Ask For Change. Your team is counting on it.
