The Three Levels of Leadership - Scouller Leadership Blog » The Language of Change (part 2)
The Language of Change (part 2)
Post 3 of 4 in a series of articles on the subject of leading large-scale change in organisations (part 2).
The first post looked at the power and dangers of metaphors in leading change and suggested replacing the “burning platform” with the idea of a “High Noon moment”. The second post discussed the dangers of underestimating how long it takes people to change and what you can do about it. This post – which is appearing in four parts (this is the second) – continues examining how leaders can frame their change language to best effect.
In the previous post (Language of Change part 1) we looked at the confirmation bias, critiqued the usual approach to change communication and introduced a new three-step process:
- Get your audience’s urgent attention
- Stimulate desire for a new future
- Then and only then… appeal to the intellect
This post zeroes in on step #1 and offers practical tips in bullet-point format on how to get your change audience’s urgent attention.
The Basics
- You have to gain their attention and create dissatisfaction with the status quo before you can talk about the vision, end game or change idea. If you don’t, they’ll lack the desire to change. And if they lack that, it doesn’t matter how powerful you are, you’ll usually fail.
- Personalise the message to the audience and their situation + evoke an emotional response + be concise. Note: Negative messages hit harder than positive ones.
- If possible, make the message unexpected or surprising as this increases the impact.
- It helps to start by saying something they already believe or agree with. That way you’ll reduce the confirmation bias effect; then and only then challenge the status quo.
Understanding Your Change Audience
Before crafting the message, learn what (1) worries them, not what worries you; or (2) could tap into their desire to change. Questions to ask yourself (or them):
- What’s the story they tell themselves that keeps them imprisoned?” (Example: the rich will get richer and we’ll get poorer and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.)
- Behind that, what individual or collective beliefs do they hold or what assumptions are they making that’s stopping them seeing the problem or a way out?”
- Which of their heartfelt dreams or chief values remain unfulfilled?” (Think especially of Maslow’s esteem, belonging and safety needs.)
Ways To Get Their Urgent Attention
Once you understand them, here are good ways of getting their urgent attention:
- Tell stories to show them how serious the problem is and how it’s getting worse.
- Ask a surprising question to focus attention on the problem (but make sure their answer will help you make your point).
- Use striking metaphors. (“Jaws in Space” was how the idea for the the film Alien was sold.)
- Tell stories to remind them of what they care about most, but have perhaps forgotten or given up on… and therefore aren’t getting.
- Launch an exercise to sharpen awareness of the problem’s gravity/immediacy.
- Give people a demonstration of something that emphasises the need for change, making sure that it’s not too long.
And Don’t Forget…
- Don’t tell people (or imply) that they ‘re wrong or stupid or have been making foolish mistakes until your arrival… even if you’re right. That only gets their backs up, which guarantees resentment and then resistance. You may think this is obvious, but as a leader under pressure, it’s easy to fall into this trap. I should know – I’ve done it myself.
- As you do all this, you must appear friendly. More than that, be real: be open, show your vulnerability, for example, what you don’t know or mistakes you’ve made. Your genuineness in others’ eyes is key. If you’re asking people to change, they must trust you.
The next post, which will appear tomorrow, will offer advice on step #2: how to stimulate desire for the change idea.
The author is James Scouller, an executive coach. His book, The Three Levels of Leadership: How to Develop Your Leadership Presence, Knowhow and Skill, was published in May 2011. You can learn more about it at www.three-levels-of-leadership.com. If you want to see its reviews, click here: leadership book reviews. If you want to know where to buy it, click HERE. You can read more about his executive coaching services at The Scouller Partnership’s website.
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