Leaders Create Clarity
The greatest transformation plan won't succeed unless it's properly communicated. When leaders want to change a culture, and in particular, create a culture that thrives on change, they need to communicate in a clear, consistent, and transparent way. Leaders create clarity so that everyone who's affected by the change understands in the simplest possible language exactly what is being changed and how it will be implemented, and what their roles are. The change also needs to be communicated consistently, which means using the same kind of language when giving updates on the ongoing changes. In this way, the employees can share an understanding of what's changing, which can provide them with a sense of continuity and comfort, while adapting to a constant state of change. Leaders need to be transparent about the reasons for the change; the why. The communications need to answer the questions of why staying the way the organization is currently will not guarantee success in the future, and why the change will.
Employees need to understand the reasons for change, which often requires intense, candid and trusting communication of the intent for change. This cannot be achieved by a single announcement but rather through a process of unlearning of old behaviors, beliefs, and norms that are no longer appropriate. This part of the learning process takes some time which in the traditional organization is an aspect little appreciated in lieu of rapid results. Once people are convinced that change is necessary, they must still be convinced that they themselves must change. Leaders must discover what motivates individuals to learn and behave in new ways while addressing issues of fear and job security. People learn best in risk-free environments that are purposely structured to enable people to experiment with new ways of working that promote learning and relieves the individual stress. There are five elements that a leader needs to share in making a case for change:
- the unsustainable present as an explanation for why things cannot stay the way they are
- a description of the desired future
- be honest and acknowledge that it will not be easy
- explaining how we can do it
- remembering what's in it for me (WIIFM)
The key to exceptional communication is simplicity. Forget about impressing people with big words or complex sentences. If you want to connect with people, keep it simple.
Effective communicators focus on the people with whom they’re communicating. They know it is impossible to effectively communicate with an audience without knowing something about them (it's relational). Share as much as you can about what will and will not change and how it affects the team. Use the case for change as a template to create a message any time explaining a change. Make time to gather the information needed so that you can explain all five of the above elements.
Communications foster an environment in which the entire organizational team gains clarity around how the business is doing overall, members gain insights as to how the various products and services meet customer demand and awareness as to the competitive market facing the organization. Information such as operations performance results must be tracked and talked about at all levels of the organization on the shortest interval applicable so the decisions can be made timely. Exceptional communications must break traditional models that hoard information, feeds the status quo while protecting the command and control structure so that only the upper levels of management know what is happening in the business. Leaders in effective organizations break through the functional aspects and collectively develop a system-wide view of the transformation. This provides full alignment and integration across and up/down the organization for a cohesive leadership approach.
