You, A Change Leader

Whether change is initiated by you or imposed on you, your challenge is to lead well. As John Kotter says, leadership is about change and management is about complexity. You cannot separate leadership from change.

You have a choice in the way you play your role as a leader of change. Will you be successful or ineffective?

Critical behaviors for Change Leaders:

• Be Yourself  – authenticity is critical during change. Not everyone leads the same way, communicates the same way or connects with others in the same way.  You need to use your unique abilities and strengths to lead change effectively.  Understand who you are and use it to your advantage.
• Make Meaning  – while communication is critical, what really matters is making meaning  out of the madness that occurs during times of change.  Making meaning is about connecting the disparate activities and decisions in a way that employees can make sense of them.  Making meaning is contextualizing a message so it can be received and achieve its intended results.
• Believe It –  you cannot lead change that you do not support.  That does not mean that you can walk away from a change you disagree with.  It’s your responsibility as a leader to process a change with a peer or your leadership in order to be able to believe it.  It’s never appropriate to talk about your lack of belief with your team.

If you are interested in some additional perspective on behaviors that make a difference when leading change, go HERE for a document. Change may or may not be your decision. How you lead though change is always your decision. Decide today to be effective and succeed.