Change communication won’t happen automatically, and you can’t assume that the communication that comes from above will be often enough, specific enough, or helpful enough. As a leader, you have a responsibility for making your change happen. You can play a bigger role in this than you realize, and it starts with how you communicate with your team.
h ow t o c o m m u n i c a t e c h a n g e 103
Your Now Steps
1. Apply one or more of these steps to a current change effort today.
2. Even if you are unsure or anxious, give one or more steps a try.
3. If you aren’t sure where to start, simply talk with someone about the change, asking that person questions about how he or she feels about it.
B U T W H AT
A B O U T R E S I S TA N C E ?
We can’t leave the subject of change without talking about resistance.
Although we haven’t talked about it directly, everything in this section on change equips you to deal with resistance successfully and to use it to your advantage.
That is right, we saiduse resistance.
First things first.
Most people think of resistance in negative terms. They try to reduce resistance, overcome resistance, and even combat resistance.
We believe that is the wrong approach.
Rather, we suggest you recognize resistance as neither inher- ently positive nor negative; it just is. Resistance to change exists in nature because homeostasis—the tendency for living things to remain stable—tries to hold things the same.
But instead of going all biological on you, let us give you two definitions of resistance.
The first definition comes from Peter Block as quoted in Rick Mau- rer’s bookBeyond the Wall of Resistance:resistance is ‘‘a reluctance to choose.’’ When you think about resistance that way, in light of what you have learned in this section, it gives you a new mental hook for resistance. Doesn’t it?
The second definition comes from Kevin’s bookRemarkable Lead- ership. In that book, Kevin said: resistance=engagement.
Couple Peter Block’s definition of resistance with Kevin’s and you get a totally different view of it. Resistance could actually be agood thing. After all, would you rather have people apathetic about a 104
b u t w h a t a b o u t r e s i s t a n c e ? 105 change or resisting it? If they are resisting it, they care about the organization, the status quo, and more. Don’t they?
When you frame resistance as a natural thing, as simply a reluctance to choose, and you recognize it as a sign that people care, you allow yourself the chance to use resistance. Rather than complain about it, you can actually transform it into acceptance.
Although this may all make sense to you now, we know that the prevalent thought about resistance is negative.
You can get a special report onSeven Reasons We Avoid Resistanceby going to the Bonus Bytes page at
BudToBossCommunity.com and clicking on the Avoid Resistance button.
Also in Kevin’s bookRemarkable Leadership,he outlined five steps to working with resistance:
1. Surface it.
2. Honor it.
3. Explore it.
4. Build a plan for overcoming it.
5. Map the solutions.
That set of steps is valuable for dealing with resistance, and for now we want to focus you on one other important point.
Resistance to change will come from one or more of the change components.
When you remember this principle, and use the lessons you have learned in this complete section on change, you have the fundamentals to translate resistance into a positive force for change.
Your Now Steps
1. Think about a current situation in which you are sensing or dealing with resistance.
2. Use the ideas in this chapter to redefine it, understand why the resistance exists, and identify the causes.
3. Take no other communication actions with regard to this resistance until you have done step 2.
part iii
communication
As we showed in the chapter on the critical components of your supervisor role (Chapter Six), much of what you need to do as a leader calls for the skills of interacting with people. Those skills include many things that we cover in other parts of this book, and all of those skills require you to communicate with people.
You cannot help others see the importance of change without communicating. You cannot coach others without communicating. You cannot collaborate without commu- nicating. You cannot engage others in goal setting without communicating. Communication is such a vital skill for leaders that if you take this skill away, everything else we discuss in this book becomes irrelevant or nearly impossible.
As we dig further into communication skills, remember what we said about leadership being a complex skill set.
On your first reading, look for ways that you can improve your communication skills immediately. Then go apply what you have learned. When you experience challenges or struggles, come back and review this section or the Bonus Bytes content for subtleties or insights you might have missed in your first reading. As you gain experience applying the concepts in this section, you will gain deeper understanding of the finer points that could easily be missed in a single reading.
In this section, we share a number of key concepts you can use to become a more skilled communicator. Before we get too deeply into the material, let’s stop for a moment so that you can reflect on and assess your current skill level. As we have stated in other sections, this assessment will help you focus your attention and more quickly learn to apply the concepts presented here.
Self-Assessment
Using the scale below, think about your current communication skills and approaches:
1 Almost never 2 Rarely or seldom 3 Occasionally 4 Sometimes 5 Usually 6 Frequently 7 Almost always
I use a communication model to help me communicate more clearly.
(Chapter 17)
I know how to describe common behavioral traits in an objective way.
(Chapter 18)
I can clearly see and use the dynamics of interactions between people.
(Chapter 19)
I know how to create an environment that meets the needs of people on my team.
(Chapter 20)
I know how to adjust my communication style to better connect with others.
(Chapter 21)
I communicate in powerful, persuasive, and memorable ways.
(Chapter 22)
p a r t i i i : c o m m u n i c a t i o n 109 I listen actively and effectively.
(Chapter 23)
My presentations produce the desired results.
(Chapter 24)
Based on your self-assessment, you now have a starting point for understanding where you need to focus your attention as you read this section. We have said this before, and the thought is worth repeating.
Read carefully in the areas in which you are weaker, and resist the urge to skim the other areas. Leaders are learners, and they are always on the lookout for how they can improve all skills—even the ones in which they have a high degree of competence.