How to make change work for you

If you believe the pace of change will slow down at some point, you’re dreaming. We live in a world where change is constant, and the only person who can make the pace slow down is you. By making change work for you and not vice versa.

Stay ahead

If you would have been ahead of change and ensure change works for you, a full-blown transformation is not needed. You’re ahead of the curve, and your team or organization is adjusting continuously. 

But that’s not the reality for most. Most of us are inward-focused and lagging. Our priorities are focused on today, if we’re lucky tomorrow. What’s urgent almost always trumps what’s important.

Our revenues get under pressure, and the bottom line starts to suffer. 

We know we need to do something but lack the vision or the means to invest in our business overhaul. We start changing things on the surface, and we call it transformation. That’s how transformation becomes a buzzword.

Question everything

Transformation requires you to question everything in your business. Including your primary line of business. That’s why certain banks start calling themselves technology companies. The way they do business has pivoted and made them a different company. That’s how transformation becomes a necessity. 

The way we look at people has fundamentally changed. Your workforce needs to be ready to change with you continuously. Even better, your workforce could be the catalyst for change if selected and developed well. 

Continuous change means continuous learning

Continuous learning requires you to take a different look at purpose, strategy, culture, leadership, and growth. You’re required to build a fluid organization, able to evolve continuously, with people who thrive in a dynamic environment, eager to grow with it.

People who love learning. People who overcome resistance, able to rally their teams behind change and transform naysayers into ambassadors.

Your role as leader

Your job, as a leader, is to connect the dots. Your job as a leader is to (help) find people who fit this profile.

But…

Those people won’t be successful if you and your organization are not committed to this journey. 

Therefore you need to be:

• clear on your purpose;
• clear on what you want your culture to be;
• have a strategy that facilitates continuous change;
• have the right leadership qualities to drive the above;
• committed to constant learning and growth.

The role of HR

The above requires HR functions to take a more holistic look at workforce development, beyond the transactional scope we so often see today.

When you’re about to recruit a new executive, you need to engage in a conversation about change and learning first and sure you hire someone with the right mindset.

When you are supporting a new executive, ensure she engages her team in the same conversation.

The journey may look overwhelming, but every journey starts with a first step. And that’s to create your vision.

How I can help

That’s where I can help. And would love to help you with your conversation.

• I’ve helped design purpose for companies and teams. 
• I’ve helped diagnose and define culture.
• I’ve helped teams and organizations change.
• I’ve helped create leadership qualities.
• I’ve helped leaders and teams connect the dots and create the conditions for learning and growth.

I can help.

Erikjan