Be progress: say ‘no’ to change management

Significant change can arrive quickly, shaking our sense of identity, and then dropping us outside our comfort zone. the tough business climate makes it easy to understand why so many people have trouble finding ways to get and stay moving toward progress, says Dean Lindsay

Every day, every hour, every minute we are changing and so is our world. Some may feel resistant to change, and even claim to be personally unchangeable, yet the presence of change is one of life’s few constants. Marriage, graduation, a new job, the birth of a child, all bring change. But so do eating a big lunch, seeing a sad movie, and meeting someone new. We experience and relate to change daily.

We are always in some form of transition, always arriving at some new mental place. Every day we have a slightly new normal. The very molecules inside the cells of our bodies are in constant flux. 

Significant change can arrive like an Oklahoma twister, picking us up, shaking our sense of identity, and then dropping us way outside of our comfort zone. The ailing economy and the tough business climate (not to mention the real climate and global pandemics) make it easy to understand why so many people have trouble finding ways to get and stay moving toward progress. 

Change management

The business term ‘change management’ has been around for a good long while. The term relates to ‘initiating significant change’ within an organisation’s processes. This change can include anything from altering organisational culture to embracing diversity to modifying an individual’s work tasks to increasing morale and loyalty to an organisation’s mission and vision.

The goal behind ‘initiating significant change’ may be solid, but the problem with the term ‘change management’ along with the focus on ‘change management’ is that no one plans to change or desires to change. We do not want managers to manage our change. We want leaders to lead our progress. We plan and desire to progress, not change.

We – along with our leadership, organisations, solutions, directions, guidance, vision, strategy, communication style, our organisation’s mission and vision, products, and services – must be positioned as progress in the minds of those we intend to lead and inspire to positive action. We must ‘be progress’ in their minds. As leaders, we must be viewed as catalysts in their progress, agents in their progress. We must be viewed as progress agents, not merely change agents.

Initiating significant change

Let’s focus on what ‘initiating significant change’ truly should be: progress leadership. In a time of continual transformation, committed leaders should focus on inspiring and influencing progress, not supervising change. Leaders should position challenges as opportunities not merely problems to be solve.

It is reasons that shape, nourish, and sustain the thoughts that create the actions necessary to reach desired results. Organisations are most successful at ‘initiating significant change’ when the reasons to act connect personally with the individual employees making the alteration in behaviour. If the reasons don’t connect with the individual, then the planned progress will be viewed as merely change and will be resisted or at least not acted on. Team members may still be physically clocking in but will have mentally checked out.

Progress agents don’t just tell people what to do, we include others in the progress as well as the process and work to positively influence thoughts and feelings by sharing reasons to act. We live in a world of influence. We are influenced to purchase this, to believe that, to participate in this activity, to attend that event. This is not a bad thing. Most often it is good. Our parents influenced our decision not to play with fire. Our best friend influenced our decision not to wear corduroy. 

The human side of change management

Intense focus on feelings in a time of transformation is often described as the ‘human side of change management.’ This always gives me pause. The ‘human side’ of business – what other side is there?

Some might say the organisation’s side. So then, the organisation and the humans are on different sides? That’s the problem right there. Organisations are formed by people (humans) partnering to get their wants and needs met by helping other people (humans) get their wants and needs met. 

Leaders who do not take the individual into account and do not plan for the human side of Progress often find themselves scratching their heads about where their plans went wrong. You develop a fuzzy point of view when all you focus on is you. Let me be very clear, it takes more than the title of supervisor, manager, or ‘change agent’ to lead people in the direction of progress. 

We all want to be in relationships with people, as well as partner with organisations that bring progress to our lives. Without personal commitment to execute, new organisational plans and initiatives often fail. Execution is assured by establishing clear links between goals, motivations, strategy, and team members.

Leadership begins with self

Make no mistake about it, all leadership begins with self. Committing to progress leadership means personally striving to help others find meaning in their work. Committing to progress leadership means working to understand and communicate how a team member’s personal goals can dovetail with the organisation’s goals and thus create true commitment that gets the team member to act – because they want to, not because they have to.

Leaders committed to being progress in an ever-changing world (progress agents) focus on helping all progress not on making some comply. Progress agents thus create an organisational culture in which empowered employees are committed to finding what is truly the next step forward. Also, just because an organisation is getting bigger does not mean it is progressing. A serious challenge for companies large and small is to progress, and not just change.

Committing to progress

Committing to progress leadership enhances employee engagement and morale because moving our focus from change management to progress leadership creates a shift in power from wielding power over employees to creating power among employees. Progress leadership helps all team members create the internal drive needed to focus on and commit to an organisation’s mission and vision. Our ability to lead personal and professional progress is directly related to how successful we are at helping others progress.

Beware of anything that, after some thought, does NOT seem like common sense. The unfortunate truth about common sense is that it’s rarely common practice. The tough journey, in leadership and in life, is to travel the long road from ‘always KNEW’ to ‘always DO.’ Execution is vital. Learning should not lead to simply knowing. Learning should lead to action. True progress leadership requires well-planned, progress-based action.

Leading progress in this ever-changing world creates better leaders, better team members, better human beings. Leading progress for ourselves and others establishes and cements customer loyalty, generates quality referrals, and leads to career development and job satisfaction.

There is a powerful and important connection between solid leadership, sales success, true customer loyalty and organisational culture improvements. All are achieved by effectively positioning ideas, recommendations, solutions, products, services – even ourselves – as progress in the minds of those we intend to lead or to inspire to positive action.

The key is to focus on being progress not merely making progress. Committed leaders progress as they help others progress. Committed leaders are progress agents NOT change agents. Commit to progress leadership. Say NO to change management. Be a progress agent. Be progress.