President Obama and change management leadership…
What can organizational executives learn from President Obama about leading a change effort? If you listen between the lines when the President speaks or read the recent New York Times article called “Redefining Capitalism After the Fall,” you can learn much. He is talking no less than about how to help our country re-think the fundamental drivers of our current economic system - consumer-driven capitalism! Now if you think your change goals are big and overwhelming, just step back and consider what the President is trying to achieve.
…We must lay a new foundation for growth and prosperity — a foundation that will move us from an era of borrow and spend to one where we save and invest, where we consume less at home and send more exports abroad…
It appears that the President like many leaders in a time of crisis is charting two courses simultaneously. He is acting tactically to address short-term economic and social challenges while at the same thinking strategically about shifting economic values and structures to drive sustainable prosperity in the future. This two-pronged attack to solving a problem is classic leadership work. And, whether you agree with Mr. Obama’s ideas or not, we can use his efforts to provide examples of best practices for change management.
As a leader, he takes his role as “chief communicator” seriously and uses his position as a “bully pulpit” to guide people to think and act differently. He never misses a chance to:
- share his vision for the future and the potential benefits of change
- explain why we need to change by describing what is not working
- provide concrete behavioral examples of how to act differently to achieve the benefits
Thus a best practice for executives leading a change effort is to see themselves as the “chief communicator,” and to use their own “bully pulpit” to guide employees through change. Here is an example of a leader message within an organization that is successfully moving through change.
For us to thrive as a company, we need to grow - at the same time maintain the quality that our brand is known for. To do this we are raising the bar - less tolerant of mediocre performance - in the past being connected to the “right people” meant you never got fired - today we are setting expectations and measuring performance against goals. For some folks, this has been a cultural shock and for others a wake-up call…
Not every organizational leader has the speaking skills of Barack Obama, but crafting communication methods to match personal strengths is key - talking to people one-on-one may work better. Most importantly, the message needs to be constant and consistently include vision, benefits, what is not working and the required behaviors for the future.
