For CEO's & Founders
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For Leaders in Education
Executive & Senior Leadership
For Divisions and Functional Teams
Board Level Teams
Values Profile
Network Analysis
Behavioural Report
Energy Audit
Maturity Profile
Emotional Assessment
Cognitive Map
Team Energy Grid
Change is constant and discomfort is part of change. The question is, how do we approach change to make it deliberate and positive, rather than something be endured?
As a species, we prefer things the way they are. Nowhere is our relationship to change more tortured than in business. As leaders, we prefer ‘no surprises’. Unpredictability in organisations is seen as a negative – especially by financial markets. We don’t talk about change positively, rather it’s something to be ‘got through’ as quickly as possible.
If you’ve ever felt a bit out of your depth in a new situation, had your assumptions challenged or found yourself wishing things could just ‘go back to how they were’, you’re not alone. For creatures that face almost constant change, it’s perhaps surprising that we haven’t got better at managing that change.
The Complete Step Change Wheel has four phases each with three steps – giving us 12 steps in the leaders’ journey. The four phases correspond to the process of human development – waking up, owning up, growing up and showing up or Discover, Decide, Develop, Deliver. Each stage builds on the last, helping you overcome obstacles to help you deliver at a new level. By understanding where you are on the wheel and what steps you need to take you can more effectively move your way through the developmental framework at greater pace.
Change competency is a fundamental part of leadership success. You might have heard it called resilience – a current buzz word in management circles. Resilience can turn change into opportunity. We might even develop the ability to enjoy the process of change and help others do the same.
Psychologist Suzanne Kobasa identified three key components of resilience, often referred to as the “3 Cs”: Challenge, Commitment, and Control. If we can understand change, we can take more control of the process and commit to the challenge ahead.
Sounds great in theory, but what about in practice?
There are 12 steps and four phases in the ‘Change Wheel’. Going through those steps enables us to become more sophisticated, creative and adaptable; we can become more resilient and, ultimately, change champions rather than change dodgers! You can build your understanding of each of the steps in Step Change: The Leader’s Journeyby Dr Alan Watkins.
The self-development involved in becoming resilient and an ‘embracer of change’ has huge benefits, not just from a business perspective, but in all areas of our lives. We gain a new perspective on our work, our relationships and our potential. You could almost say that we start to experience a fourth dimension – a degree of sophistication.
In 4D Leadership, Dr Alan Watkins explains how we normally operate across three dimension – being, relating and doing, or I, WE and IT. The right kind of leadership development takes in the fourth dimension and enables us to operate at a whole new level. Increasing our resilience and our change competency is in that fourth dimension of leadership.
If you find yourself struggling with change or you just want to be ready for the next big change that will inevitably come, explore the two books mentioned above, or contact Complete for support.
