Change Insights

When Leading through Change we can share the WHAT & HOW of the plan but at times fail to offer the missing link that is the WHY.

WHY provides the greatest level of understanding for your team, as it helps them to understand the purpose behind the change that is required – be it a positive or challenging time ahead. Don’t let the team fill in the gap for you, as this is when stories can get ‘made up’ and where uncertainty surfaces. This all creates the ‘noise’ that slows businesses down!

“I think they are going to sell the business…we are about to lose our jobs”
“They don’t understand us and what is needed right now”
“I don’t know why things need to change, we are ok as we are”

We saw the reality of this in an SME entering a new era of growth, one which required the Leaders to step up and out to manage the business effectively.

The unanswered questions of a team missing the WHY…

Sharing our ‘Personal Why’ is another piece of the jigsaw, when the owners of this business got clear on and shared their personal vision and plan of action, the reality made even more sense to the team. They could let go of the ‘stories’, they became ‘unstuck’ and started to change how they worked, behaved and supported the change.

Simon Sineks Golden Circle provides a powerful Leadership model for inspiring and leading others. WHY sits in the centre, with HOW wrapped around that and WHAT being the outer circle. He recommends when communicating to always start with the often forgotten WHY, the reason for doing something and the thing that will likely best connect and excite others most. In doing so it will help you to attract loyalty, develop trust and create action that leads to long-term success!

A Leader recently said to us “I find that the how is easier if the people are bought into the why”

Be honest in WHY things need to change, give your team the best chance of making sense of it and to respond like the adults they are, even if it is a tough message to share – good intentions to protect in tough situations can inadvertently lead to confusion and resistance. Before communicating sit in their shoes for a few moments, what might they hear, what might they fear, what pieces could they put together and get the wrong answer!?

Where you don’t provide the answer, your teams most certainly will as they strive to make sense of something new happening. Time and time again we hear how Trust is such a vital trait of successful Leadership, and this comes when we are open and honest with each other…

Sharing a full picture of the WHAT, HOW & the WHY!