Leadership Viewpoint

We are often asked to work with management teams to effect change. Whether we employ the Kotter model or the Moss Kanter model, or if we setup a Balanced Scorecard or some other set of metric is all beside the point. These are just the details; the real point of our efforts is what we call the ‘stirring of the pot’ to facilitate discussion. Many organizations actually use management consultants as the bad guys to help them wake up the troops. That’s our job, and as a result, we are both loved and hated by people in the same firms.

It can be very challenging for management to play the bad guy, since they intend to stay there and face people everyday. It is easier to bring in a hired gun to take the heat. They are usually there for the short-term, so their relationships with employees within the company are quite different. Management teams that need to effect dramatic change without outside assistance need to be prepared for personal rejection, high turnover and even short-term employment. Internal teams are often more successful with gradual change, which can be executed without significant disruption of normal business operations.

There are techniques to minimize the emotional distress that employees experience with dramatic change. A credible approach is termed appreciative inquiry. In this approach, a systematic series of positive questions, designed to elicit positive responses, are employed to lead people through each step of the thought process and change. Check it out if you find yourself in a major change leadership situation.

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