March 12, 2013
(1) COMMENT
We’re continuing to unfold the story of Sara, a fictitious change practitioner who is on a journey to find out who she is and learn to redefine how she shows up with clients. After recouping from the draining victory over the “dragon,” Sara reengaged with the practitioners she had left behind at the beginning of her odyssey. She was excited about sharing her wonderful news and couldn’t wait to see them develop the strength and freedom she now enjoyed as a practitioner. But it didn’t go as she expected…
October 9, 2012
(1) COMMENT
This is the final post in my series on victimization. The victimization syndrome can be compared to a virus that has infected not only clients, but our profession as well. Transformational change intensifies existing victimization and brings any latent tendencies to the surface. No one—advocates, agents, targets, or sponsors—is immune from its destructive power. In this post, I review some perspectives I’ve found helpful with clients, other practitioners, and myself as we all contend with our own vulnerability to victimization.
March 27, 2012
(1) COMMENT
We have many reasons for communicating with clients, and multiple vehicles for doing it, but I believe the most critical ingredient in effective communication is how well we use language.
Out of all the elements that contribute to the effective use of language, I have chosen three that can help us achieve our intended impact. I’ll talk about these in my series that starts today:
Applying the proper frame of reference
Being frank and straightforward
Being accurate, crisp, and compelling
I’ve been training and guiding change professionals for almost four decades, and I can say with certainty that these three components are in short supply among professional change facilitators. Even if you consider yourself proficient in these areas, I encourage you to read this series and challenge yourself to be even more aware of when you might emphasize these facets of effective, change-related communications.
October 4, 2011
(2) COMMENTS
In this series, I’ve been describing the skills required (there are five of them) to reframe a person’s mindset during a change initiative. In this post, I’ll talk about the final skill—the willingness to confront. For many change facilitators, it’s the most difficult part of the reframing process.
June 7, 2011
NO COMMENTS
Transformational change generates an exhilarating, fast-paced environment where key people seek, and are often asked to take on, many demanding tasks. The sum of these tasks can sometimes push everyone past their capacity to meet commitments. The result is failure to deliver what was agreed to. This often means realization does not materialize, which is unacceptable for business-imperative initiatives.
This is no less true for us as professional change facilitators than it is for sponsors, targets, or advocates. In fact, given that our role is often to serve at the epicenter of an initiative’s activity, we are particularly vulnerable to over-promising what we can deliver.
In this two-part series, I’ll talk about identifying and protecting your professional (and even personal) commitment boundaries.
February 22, 2011
(2) COMMENTS
Last week I started a series on building commitment for major organizational change. This week, I talk in depth about the eight stages of commitment. Understanding these steps and the sequence for building commitment gives change practitioners a powerful advantage when building momentum and critical mass for the change.
February 2, 2011
NO COMMENTS
Previously, I talked about redirecting energy during a transformational change from protecting “the way things are” toward addressing the issues related to the shift.
In this post, we’ll discuss how to build the momentum of this energy until there is critical mass to drive the initiative through to realization.
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