Overcoming the Irrationality of Change

Rapid-fire changes are putting extreme pressure on business leaders to lead in ways not seen before.

Change means movement, and to move as described in the dictionary is, “to go or pass to another place or in a certain direction with a continuous motion.” Leaders must move themselves and move their employees along the change journey. Most people have an inherent bias toward maintaining the status quo because change is hard. Leaders forget that the way people respond to change isn’t always rational, it’s a deeply emotional experience for many.

So what can your leaders do to move people along? In the acronym MOVE are 4 tips to help your leaders lead change.

1. Manage emotions. The very first step in managing emotions is simply to acknowledge and name the emotions people feel about the changing situation. Being aware of fear, anger, or sadness, etc. makes emotions less overwhelming and helps employees move toward processing the change more objectively. Leaders should not shy away from having emotive conversations with the teams, rather embrace it.
2. Overcome the self-fulfilling prophecy loop. Past failed experiences of change may lead some to predict similar failure of future change initiatives. The prophecy goes a little like this: beliefs influence action, which bolster beliefs, which cause other actions, which reinforce the original beliefs. When this loop works negatively — it’s possible to turn the loop in a positive direction by reframing the future state in a positive light. Your leaders should challenge themselves and their teams to move towards predicting positive outcomes — seeing opportunities for success — updating their dearly-held old beliefs.
3. View the world with a growth mindset. Change presents an opportunity for your employees to learn and grow, if they believe they can learn and grow. Your leaders can highlight the benefits of learning new skills and encourage a culture of continuous growth.
4. Explore future actions and behaviors. Nothing helps people more to move towards a new way of doing things than actually picturing themselves doing those new things. Help your leaders tell emotive stories, paint influencing pictures, and make inspiring plans. Have them help employees visualize the new way of working.

Our Leading Change Workshop helps participants engage in change conversations that result in actionable outcomes. Register an in-tact leadership team and have us customize the workshop to your needs and desired outcomes.

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