For the past week I’ve made it a point to spend a few minutes watching the night sky, marveling at the vision of the crescent moon in line with Venus and Jupiter. We’ve just experienced the summer solstice and the axis tilt has occurred without incident. We’ll experience another change with the winter solstice. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could plan all our changes within our organizations and have them go as smoothly as the changing constellations in the night sky and the axis tilt with each solstice?
Change in any setting can be stressful. As leaders, we have a responsibility for insuring that changes are implemented as needed and done so in such a way that our staffs continue to know that they are vital members of the organization. Any time a change is implemented without first informing the staff, we ask for problems. The biggest problem will be addressing the perception that our people’s contributions to the organization are no longer valued and they, as individuals, have no further value.
Effective leaders will empower their staff members to encourage them to take a vested interest in the successful implementation of change. They can be trusted sources of information on potential problems and possible resolutions. Leaders can be effective role models by showing their staffs that they know some changes are necessary and some changes are implemented to try out new ideas and stimulate creativity. For whatever reason change is implemented, quality leaders will need to take the time to reassure their staff and properly convey that each individual is valued. That approach will go a long way toward insuring a successful change.