SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Leadership — tracks feedback from more than 200,000 business leaders. We run the poll question each week in our newsletter.
How deliberate are you about applying change-management practices when your team faces a large change?
- Very: I put a lot of effort into managing the change and dealing with change issues: 46.47%
- Somewhat: I apply change-management practices for big and important changes: 46.46%
- Not very: I infrequently apply change-management practices in the face of change: 5.05%
- Not at all: I’m not sure what good change-management practices even look like: 2.02%
(104 responses)
Change doesn’t happen on its own. 93% of you report being reasonably rigorous in your change management efforts. Bravo! Underestimating how challenging a change will be can doom your decisions to failure.
Since so many of you report doing a good job in your change management efforts, take those skills to the next level. Start teaching your team members how to properly manage change. Don’t let it be a process they learn by osmosis. Help them see how you think about change. Show them the tools you use to manage change. Include them in change planning. Delegate parts of the change management to them so they can learn to be change leaders in the future. A leader’s job is to create the next generation of leaders. Here’s a great opportunity for you to build your team members’ skills.
— Mike Figliuolo is managing director of thoughtLEADERS, which includes TITAN — the firm’s e-learning platform. Previously, he worked at McKinsey & Co., Capital One and Scotts Miracle-Gro. He is a West Point graduate and author of three leadership books: “One Piece of Paper,” “Lead Inside the Box” and “The Elegant Pitch.”