By Kelli Hinshaw, vice president, Strategic Development, Reality-Based Leadership
Change management is a topic that’s been studied for over 30 years, and organizations are spending more time and resources than ever to train employees to better endure change. Conventional change management wisdom often promotes ways to “make change easier” for employees so it sticks. Leaders are frustrated with the outcomes of this approach and ready for results. So with over 30 years of investing time and talent into “helping people with change,” when is the breakthrough coming?
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Unfortunately, these long-standing conventional wisdoms have caused good, well-intentioned leaders to lean in too far and over-manage employees in an effort to protect them from business realities. Simultaneously, they underlead them by failing to keep their skills ever ready for what’s next. It’s time to move beyond old philosophies that promote the goal of change management to be protection of the people from the impact of change.
The next generation of great employees and forward-thinking HR and business leaders focus on a new philosophy. They cultivate employees with skills who are ready, willing, and able to thrive in anticipation of changing circumstances, with the focus on protection of the business from the impact of failing to adapt to changing times.
How can leaders shift into this new mindset of business readiness? At Reality-Based Leadership, we are asked this question almost daily, and they often fall into three main themes.