Leadership is about change. Unlike managing, it is about constantly creating. Defining. It is about making a world that was only imagined a reality.
Leading people is about causing them to fall in love with a future that is not tangible. A vision.
This can only happen through change. Leaders’ ability and effectiveness is not only judged according to what they have accomplished but also how well they cause and lead change. This is the essence of leadership.
failure to communicate change well is the demise of many leaders and enterprises
You have to manage change internally to make the ultimate change externally. The external change is your object, but you cannot bring it about without change from within yourself as a leader as well as your team.
Myths
You cannot lead change well without being able to communicate it well. Telling people what changes you’re going to be making as an enterprise or team is not the equivalent of leading change. It is only a minute part of it.
Informing team member of changes to their job descriptions is not the entirety of leading change. It is a very small part of it.
Another mistake leaders make is assume that by telling their enterprise about what changes they are making is synonymous with communicating the results the changes ought to accomplish. Not so. That’s a myth.
Never measure the effectiveness of your communication by how many emails you send, or by the number of meetings you have. Communication only happens when the message received by the receiver is as intended to by the sender.
When you’re leading change you have to communicate change in the following:
The Leader
Email is not the essence of communication. We’ve been fooled by technology to think that email is the epitome of communication. It is only a small part of it.
As the leader you have to be clear within yourself about the reason you want to shatter the statute quo, cause a raucous. Make sure that you have no conflict within yourself. Sometimes leaders’ uncertainty can be frustration and demise of an enterprise.
No one wants to follow an indecisive leader about where they are going. The world does not need leaders that are inconsistent.
An inconsistent leader managing change is a tornado, wreaking havoc, building nothing.
Leaders must communicate change by being its epitome. Don’t talk or send emails about it, live it. Show your team what it means. Your team gets things better when you show them.
Result
Paint the picture. Define the future clearly. This means you reference and anchor everything into your cause, your vision. Communicate where you are and what it will take to get to the picture. The purpose of why you do what you do must be clear.
This way, you guard against just communicating changes and tasks related to change but the result of the change.
Remember:
The result of change not change is the object
Communication is where many leaders fail to shatter the status quo for the greater. Get this right and you’ve done at least half of what you need to accomplish in leading change. Be bold. Be /ˈherətik/.
[image by: Official U.S. Navy Imagery | cc]