Leading people through change is often the most difficult part of change management. As we unleash new technologies, process improvements, and structural changes on our teams at an accelerating pace, leading teams through change and understanding how to adapt engagement for different personalities is a critical skill for new and more experienced leaders.
Align on decision altitude
While as leaders it often makes sense for us to have decision ownership about changes affecting our teams, and in many cases we should, it may not always be the case. People are complicated and organisations even more so. Policy, egos, risks, politics, cross-functional impact, professional development, personal ambitions and more can play into whether a decision should be owned by one person or another.
Understanding the options in play is only half the equation. Once you understand them, you’ll need to consider the change and what’s involved. If it touches other teams and requires negotiation, discuss with your own leader and consider whether the decision needs to be transferred laterally or diagonally. If the decision affects only your team, is there an option to delegate and offer a one of your team a growth opportunity? What’s the cost of not retaining the decision?
Transferring decision ownership
Delegating decisions to one of your team members lowers the decision altitude, but empowers your emerging team members to embrace ownership and learn better judgment. For change initiatives, this is best done after team members have developed a sense of clear judgment around their day-to-day work and are ready for growth. Supporting them through this and evaluating the outcome through a blameless approach is the right way to do this, avoid the helicopter parenting.
Shifting decision ownership upward is a tricky business but can be necessary when there’s competing priorities across teams, cross-functional impact, or significant business risk. For example, you may be owning a major change initiative but your VP is making the final go or no-go decision with the leadership team. While you want to transfer the “decision ownership” in this case, you still want to retain authority of your remit and ownership of the initiative.
When to retain decision ownership
If a decision significantly impacts your standing - having the ability to support or undercut your trust, capability, or leadership - you should endeavour to retain it. You may not always be able to do this, but be aware of what the trade-off is. Intentionally delegating your authority in the right moment can strengthen your leadership, but doing it carelessly can quickly achieve the opposite.
Identify the change personalities at play
There are several types of "Change Personality" that you’ll encounter when managing and implementing change within your teams and organisations: Catalysts, Champions, Passengers, Deliberators, and Skeptics.
| Catalyst | Champion | Passenger | Deliberator | Skeptic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Change drivers who live and breathe transformation. Will shape outcomes. | Early-adopters comfortable with change. Will help convince others. | Go with the flow types who are accepting of change but aren’t engaged with the process. | Exhibits knee-jerk resistance to change, but accepts it after thinking things through. | Deeply uncomfortable with change. Will challenge need and spread doubt. |
| Partner with Catalysts for the full journey. Provide them with shared ownership of the implementation. | Bring Champions along for the journey with opportunities to provide feedback and advocate to other stakeholders. | Offer clarity and insight so they can adopt the change(s) and get back to their work. | Provide ample time for them to discuss changes and offer feedback during implementation to increase acceptance. | Offer chances for them to provide input on the need, shape a key area, or own a problem that matters to them. |
Regardless of someone’s change personality, make sure team members know change is coming before it hits - no one likes surprises. An approach I often take is to farm “thoughts, feelings, opinions” in one-on-ones ahead of deciding on a specific course of action. It lets me consider whether there’s group consensus and also how much of an impact an issue or factor has on my team. Don’t let this process trap you in constant analysis, however, remember to move firmly from analysis, to decision, to action.
Unwinnables
From time to time you may encounter an ‘Unwinnable’. These people are not simply uncomfortable with change, but fundamentally incompatible with it unless they’re in the driver’s seat. Often they surface in (or are caused by) environments with low trust, where authority and compliance are valued over ownership. This can also surface in team members operating from a self-interest basis, who aren’t connected to the bigger picture.
Don’t waste time attempting to engage Unwinnables to see your side of things because they won’t respond to it. If it’s absolutely necessary for an Unwinnable to provide buy-in, you need to make them feel they’ve had a guiding hand in leading the end-to-end process (this goes beyond being consulted), and can see how the decision benefits them. Not everyone is cut out for this level of strategic engagement, so apply caution when engaging with these types to ensure you don’t burn out, or run the risk of spending too much time focused on this group at the detriment of the others.
While you mightn’t be able to win these types over, you can adapt and learn to work around them with forward planning to preempt potential concerns, understand their influence and impact, and if they’re absolutely necessary engage them in the process.
Execute with intent
The last piece of advice offered here is to execute changes with energy and commitment. Transformation relies on the momentum you not only generate through initiatives, but also that which you personally show up with.
Make sure to clearly communicate progress on a regular cadence to stakeholders. Ongoing communication keeps people connected to the change, but also helps them understand the pace that it’s moving at. Communication will build your authority, and also allow you to raise and resolve blockers early, engaging with concerned team members to ease hearts and minds.
There can be unforeseen challenges during changes and embracing rapid iteration will help you to embed change quicker if they surface. Engage with stakeholders at all layers, not just immediately when making changes, but also afterward. Seek to understand unmet needs, pain points, and where confusion might lie. Remain agile in tweaking and shaping the form of changes as adoption grows.
Finally, don’t stop once the current project has ended. Change requires ongoing care and observation. By staying engaged and forward-focused, making your changes and systems work best for the people they serve, you’ll be effective leading your people and organisation forward.
