San Francisco Bay Area Executive Coaching

Leading a Change Initiative – Communicate for Urgency

Leading a Change Initiative

One of my CEO leadership coaching clients needs to inspire urgency in her employees to embrace their strategic change initiatives. I am consulting with the company leadership team to transform the culture of the company to become more change resilient and innovative.

The CEO knows that sustainable growth will only occur when employees own the change effort and are fully engaged in executing the company strategy. She is empowering her leadership team to become better problem solvers. Leadership team members are collaborating with the CEO in decision-making. Our current coaching work focuses on helping the CEO motivate her employees to overcome complacency and develop a heightened sense of urgency.

Communicate for Urgency

Communications are critical to creating engagement and building a true sense of urgency. To that end, here are four steps for creating buy-in, courtesy of John Baldoni (Great Communication Secrets of Great Leaders).
1. Inform. Explain the situation in general and specific terms. Generality provides context; specifics provide expectations. For example, make the case for your initiative, ask people to support it and tell them why it’s necessary.
2. Involve. Once people understand the facts and what’s expected of them, they will decide whether to participate. Critical to gaining commitment is communicating "what's in it for me?" (WIFM). You must make the specifics clear and demonstrate what people will gain by supporting your initiatives.
3. Invite. Once people understand what’s expected of them, ask for their support. Never assume people will follow you until you ask them to do so. Be specific and persistent: "Can I count on your support for this initiative?"
4. Ignite. This final step is not always possible, but it separates the ordinary from the extraordinary. You must try to take individuals’ commitment and transform it into a collective willingness to work toward a cause greater than themselves. Excite their imaginations by talking about what will happen when your initiative is a success.

One further point: Never assume that you can stop communicating after your people buy into the process and understand the WIFM. Use a combination of rhetoric and storytelling to make your followers feel that they are vital to the cause.

This is the challenge that faces any leader who attempts to push through a significant change initiative. Make people feel as though they have an important role to play. They must embrace the idea that their participation matters.

Are you working in a company or law firm where company leaders and employees are mobilized with a sense of urgency to ensure business success?  Does your company or law firm provide leadership coaching and leadership development to help leaders at all levels overcome complacency and fully engage in the company change efforts? Company leaders need to create a compelling sense of urgency to help all employees become more change resilient.

One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “How do company leaders best communicate a sense of urgency?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching and leadership development for leaders who lead change and culture transformation initiatives.

Working with a seasoned executive coach and leadership consultant trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i CPI 260 and Denison Culture Survey can help you create an organization that fully engages its people in transformational change efforts by overcoming complacency and creating a culture that embraces sustainable change. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision, mission and strategy of your company or law firm.

I am currently accepting new executive coaching, career coaching, and leadership consulting clients. I work with both individuals and organizations. Call 415-546-1252 or send an inquiry e-mail to [email protected].
 

Leading a Change Resilient Company – Adapting to Continuous Change

Leading a Change Resilient Company

One of my CEO leadership coaching clients needs to create a fierce sense of urgency in his people to embrace unending change.  I am working with the company leadership team to transform the culture of the company to become more change resilient and innovative.

The CEO knows that sustainable growth will only occur when employees embrace change and are fully engaged in executing the company strategy. He is empowering his leadership team to problem solve in generating innovative solutions. Leadership team members are collaborating with him in decision-making. Our current coaching work focuses on helping the CEO inspire his employees to overcome complacency and develop a burning sense of urgency.

Continuous Change

We live in an age when change is accelerating. Over the next five or 10 years, it will probably increase even more, with huge consequences for nearly everyone. Change is no longer cyclical or episodic, but is becoming continuous.

External change must be seen and recognized so it can be acted upon. With an insufficient sense of urgency, people tend to avoid looking hard enough. When they do look, they don’t see, believe their eyes or recognize the need to change.

External change demands internal change. Processes must become more efficient. New work methods and products must be created. Organizations need to be reorganized to focus more on customers or growth.
When there’s complacency or false urgency, none of these changes can happen fast enough, smart enough or efficiently enough.

If U.S. companies are going to maintain their leadership status and economic power, the people who work for them must learn to become more responsive and adaptable to change.

Are you working in a company or law firm where company leaders and employees realize the organization needs to develop a true sense of urgency to ensure business success?  Does your company or law firm provide leadership coaching and leadership development to help leaders at all levels overcome complacency and fully engage in the company change initiatives? Company leaders need to create a powerful sense of urgency to help all employees become more change resilient.

One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “How do company leaders help employees become more change resilient?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching and leadership development for leaders who lead change and culture transformation initiatives.

Working with a seasoned executive coach and leadership consultant trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i CPI 260 and Denison Culture Survey can help you create an organization that engages its people in transformational change efforts by overcoming complacency and creating a culture that embraces continuous change. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision and mission of your company or law firm.

I am currently accepting new executive coaching and career coaching clients. I work with both individuals and organizations. Call 415-546-1252 or send an inquiry e-mail to [email protected].

Leading Disruptive Change – The Danger of False Urgency

Leading Disruptive Change

One of my CEO leadership coaching clients needs to create a true sense of urgency in his people to better manage change. Company leaders needed to change the culture of the company by helping employees embrace change and create a more innovative culture.

The CEO believes that sustainable growth will occur when employees embrace change and execute the company strategy. He is empowering his leadership to generate solutions and help with decision-making. Our current coaching work focuses on helping him inspire his people to overcome complacency and develop a true sense of urgency.
False Urgency

When organizations suffer from a false sense of urgency, they experience a great deal of energized action, but it’s driven by anxiety, anger and frustration. There’s activity, but little focused determination to win — and to do so as soon as possible.

With false urgency, you will frequently witness:

• Running from meeting to meeting
• Sending lots of emails
• Writing unnecessary reports
• Juggling lower priorities
• Compulsively making lists that are never completed

The danger here is that participants and observers actually believe their increased activity is productive. Some workers may actually be driven by a sincere desire to contribute to the change process. But if they’re not guided by a clear sense of purpose toward winning results — and if these results never manifest — then people will give up. Spinning their wheels can create intolerable anxiety and frustration.

Are you working in a company or law firm where leaders at all levels realize the organization needs to develop a true sense of urgency to face the current business reality?  Does your company or law firm provide leadership coaching and leadership development to help leaders overcome complacency and fully engage in the company change initiatives? Company leaders need to create a sense of urgency to help all employees embrace change.

One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “How do company leaders know when a false sense of urgency has been established?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching and leadership development for leaders who lead change initiatives.

Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you create an organization that engages its people in transformational change efforts by overcoming complacency and creating a culture of urgency. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision and mission of your company or law firm.

I am currently accepting new executive coaching and career coaching clients. I work with both individuals and organizations. Call 415-546-1252 or send an inquiry e-mail to [email protected].

Leading Change to Overcome Complacency – Complacency is Rampant

Leading Change to Overcome Complacency

One of my CEO leadership coaching clients change efforts in his company includes creating a sense of urgency and helping employees overcome complacency. Company leaders needed to change the culture of the company by helping employees embrace change and create a spirit of innovation.

The CEO believes that sustainable growth can only occur when employees embrace change and execute the rapidly evolving strategy. He is open and direct with his employees about the significant challenges the company faces and empowers them to come up with new ideas. Our current coaching work focuses on helping him inspire his people to overcome complacency so that the company and its employees can thrive in the economic recovery.

Complacency Is Rampant

Complacency is much more common than we think. In the current economic recession, you’d think that workers would be too worried about job security to be complacent. Sadly, the consequences of complacency seldom make a blip on their occupational radar.

People gravitate toward doing whatever alleviates their anxieties and worries, and they will go to great lengths to avoid discomfort. This usually means “Don’t rock the boat. Hang onto what used to work.” It’s human nature to cling to the familiar.

Often, complacency is invisible to managers and leaders, as well as the employees in its grip. You, too, may be complacent and not even realize it. That’s because success produces complacency and, for peace of mind, we often focus on success instead of our failures or gaps.

Complacency occurs on many levels: organizational, team and personal. An organization’s many years of prosperity may have ended a decade ago, but the complacency created by prosperity can live on — and the people involved don’t see it.

A smart, savvy manager may be oblivious to the extremely complacent individuals who are two levels beneath him in the organization’s hierarchy—so much so that his blindness will thwart his dreams of career advancement. People can easily live in delusional memories of success and be unaware that they are dangerously close to complacency. As humans, we simply like our well-established routines too much.

This problem is augmented by our tendency to replace a true sense of urgency and purpose with frantic activity and unfocused anxiety — what we call a false or misguided urgency. This phenomenon is as prevalent as complacency, but it’s more insidious.

Are you working in a company or law firm where leaders at all levels realize the organization needs to overcome complacency to be successful?  Does your company or law firm provide leadership coaching and leadership development to help leaders overcome complacency to support change initiatives? During rough economic times, company leaders need to create a sense of urgency to help all employees embrace change.

One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “How can I instill in employees a sense of urgency to help them overcome complacency?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching and leadership development for leaders who lead change initiatives.

Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you create an organization that engages its people in transformational change efforts by overcoming complacency and creating a work climate of urgency. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision and mission of your company or law firm.

I am currently accepting new executive coaching and career coaching clients. I work with both individuals and organizations. Call 415-546-1252 or send an inquiry e-mail to [email protected].

Leading Transformational Change – Create a Sense of Urgency

Leading Transformational Change

One of my CEO leadership coaching clients change efforts in his company includes developing a sense of urgency and overcoming complacency among employees. Company leaders needed to transform the culture of the company by helping employees embrace change and innovation.

The CEO believes that increased growth can only happen when employees embrace change and execute the strategy. He is transparent with his employees about the significant challenges the company faces. Our current coaching work is focusing on helping him become better at inspiring his people to feel a sense of urgency so that the company and its employees can thrive in the economic recovery.

The Big Error

When you fail to create a sense of urgency, your people will be unwilling to take the critical leap toward an uncertain future.

Here are some questions to test the effectiveness of your company’s change program:
• How high is managers’, peers’ and workers’ sense of urgency?
• How do you know this?
• If it’s too low, why?
• What exactly are you doing to change this?
• If you cannot change the level of urgency, what are the consequences for your organization? How about your career?

Create a Sense of Urgency

At the beginning of any change effort, of any magnitude, leaders fail when the organization’s sense of urgency is lacking. This leads to a variety of difficulties, pain, disappointment and that distressing 70 percent statistic.

Are you working in a company or law firm where leaders at all levels realize the organization needs to be transformed to grow?  Does your company or law firm provide leadership coaching and leadership development to help leaders help employees overcome complacency to drive change initiatives? During tough economic times, company leaders need to create a sense of urgency to help all employees embrace change.

One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “Am I a leader who w helps employees overcome complacency?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching and leadership development for leaders who lead change.

Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you create an organization that engages its people in transformational change efforts by overcoming complacency. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision and mission of your company or law firm.

I am currently accepting new executive coaching and career coaching clients. I work with both individuals and organizations. Call 415-546-1252 or send an inquiry e-mail to [email protected].

Combat Complacency to Lead Transformational Change

Lead Transformational Change

One of my CEO leadership coaching clients needs his company to develop a sense of urgency and overcome complacency to stay competitive. Company leaders needed to transform the culture of the company by helping employees embrace change and innovation.

The CEO believes that increased growth can only happen when employees embrace change and execute the redefined strategy. He is transparent with his employees about the significant challenges the company faces. Our current coaching work is focusing on helping him become better at inspiring his people to get out of their comfort zone so that they and the company can thrive in the economic recovery.

Combat Complacency

You would think bad business results are enough to shake people out of complacency. But approximately 50 percent of companies fail to establish a sufficient sense of urgency to succeed in their transformation efforts, according to John Kotter, author of Leading Change and A Sense of Urgency.

People in organizations are entrenched in maintaining the status quo, even in the face of devastating news such as:
• Shrinking margins
• New competition
• Decreasing market share
• Flat earnings
• Lack of revenue growth
• Declining competitive position
• Global economic recession

In spite of bad news, getting people to change and motivating them to participate in change initiatives are major problems. Starting a transformation program requires full-bore cooperation from many individuals. And without sustained motivation, people won’t stay with the program long enough to get results, so the effort goes nowhere.

Executives underestimate how hard it is to drive people out of their comfort zones, even when these zones lack security. Management also overestimates its success in creating a culture of urgency — the element that may, in fact, be the most important contribution to transformation efforts.

Research reveals that in situations where substantial changes were clearly needed, the following results were typical in 70 percent of companies:
1. Changes were not fully launched.
2. Change efforts failed.
3. Changes were achieved, but they were over budget, late and extremely frustrating.

In reality, only 10 percent of company change efforts achieve inspirational results. What distinguishes them from the appalling 70 percent?

Emotions play a strong role, Kotter asserts. When there’s a dramatic sense of urgency, people are motivated to do whatever they can to help implement changes. Where there’s complacency, leaders will be faced with resistance and a desire to maintain the status quo.

Are you working in a company or law firm where transformational leadership realizes the enterprise needs to be transformed to grow?  Does your company or law firm provide leadership coaching and leadership development to help leaders become more forward thinking and drive change initiatives? During difficult economic times, leaders need to create a sense of urgency to help all employees embrace change.

One of the most powerful questions you can ask yourself is “Am I a leader who shakes employees out of complacency?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent organizations provide executive coaching and leadership development for leaders who want to transform their organizations and become better at managing change.

Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help you create an organization that engages its people in change initiatives by inspiring them to rise to the occasion and overcome complacency. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision and mission of your company or law firm.

I am currently accepting new executive coaching and career coaching clients. I work with both individuals and organizations. Call 415-546-1252 or send an inquiry e-mail to [email protected]