Taking Risk and Championing Change

When it comes to change, there is nothing so certain than the fact that things change in the workplace whether it’s a change of direction for the business, the need to downsize, new technology, or a new chief executive.

The leader is the one responsible for taking the risks and championing change. When it comes to taking risks, leaders should be confident enough to make a decision, and if they make a mistake, the leader must have the courage to rectify, assume responsibility and take the right path, without blaming it on the team. Good leaders know how to get ahead of their time, they see opportunities where others can not and know how to spread the enthusiasm for their vision to make it real.

Change brings stress and uncertainty and there are those within the workplace who will find it overwhelming, and those who will embrace it and be excited by it.  It can be really difficult as a leader to know how to help those who struggle with the challenge of change and even more difficult to change attitudes; people make their own judgments about the value of change and decide whether they see it as a positive or negative thing. People naturally look for ‘what’s in it for me’; an effective change champion can translate the outcomes of the change.

What can help a leader is to identify those individuals who have taken a positive perception of the change, to harness their motivation and positivity and use it to try and help bring along those who feel more negative.  The closer the leader or change champion is to the key stakeholders in the change, the greater the chances of success.

Here are several key components for taking risks and championing change effectively:

• Listen with a willingness to new ideas and feedback
• Interact across the organization and make connections between others
• Focus on solutions. Leaders know how the organization works and understand its culture, challenges and strengths.  They are also ‘tuned in’ to the mood of different areas of the organization and able to provide clarification about the change where there is misunderstanding or identify when and where communication is needed.
• Not be afraid to take reasonable risks. A strong change champion recognizes that one can learn from things that do not go well and then build on this learning.

A change champion can make a key impact on the outcomes of a change management program but it is not enough to just nominate change champions and then expect them to get on with it.  To play their role well, they need to be managed, developed and supported, as a team of champions, and be given the opportunity to resolve issues through an action learning approach.

Tim has the experience to help you as an executive officer with your team to create a strong strategy that can then be delivered to your senior managers for further implementation throughout the organization.

Please contact TNB today!