Successfully Leading Your Team Through a Pivot

(This article was written for an executive coach. The idea has many levels, and the trick was to organize and simplify the content into easy-to-digest pieces. SEO and a clickable title was applied as well.)
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We’re all about pivots these days. In the last year, we’ve seen companies successfully change their game-plans on a dime.

But we mostly talk about pivots or wholesale change from a global chess-game perspective, moving pieces around so they make sense in a new world. What we forget is that pivots profoundly affect everyone in the company on a personal level.

For executive leaders in charge of large teams and departments, learning how to successfully manage global and personal responses to change is the secret to any successful pivot.

Unfortunately, dealing with people’s feelings doesn’t always come easy—especially when the big changes require job losses, closures, and department overhauls. No one wants to be in charge of disrupting everyone’s lives, even if it is good for the company.

Ready to successfully lead everyone in your team—including yourself—through the change with a minimum of stress and a positive overall experience for all? Here’s how.

 1.     Create a Positive Employee Experience

 How employees feel about any transition comes down to the messaging they get from the top.  You’ll need to set a positive experience from the get-go. How? Make taking care of your employees’ emotional wellness and career success a priority of the pivot. Why?

Studies show that leaders who implement emotional-wellness and career-empowerment techniques throughout the transition enjoy a ROI estimated at an average of 143% compared to an ROI of 34% for those leaders who don’t.

In contrast, we’ve all seen disastrous transitions where ex-employees publicly begrudge the company they’ve worked for for years when mishandled pivots go bad. Lawsuits get filed, payouts in huge amounts weigh on the budget, and customers get a bad taste in their mouths. No business flourishes under that kind of reputation.

Instead, discuss your employees’ fears with them. Make placing them in better positions part of your pivot goals. Let them know that when they help with the pivot, they are helping to form something new, not just for the company but for themselves.

 
2.     Learn the Emotional Process of Change

Once you set a positive tone, plan for the fact that each person on your team will go through an emotional process before they can embrace any change.

What does this emotional process look like?

Essentially, it is a transition from the Known to the Unknown. As with any change, something known must be lost for something new to appear.

As part of the transition, people will cycle through these four emotional stages of change:

·      Denial

·      Resistance

·      Exploration

·      Commitment

Denial is when a person cannot believe the change is going to take place. They are scared and have lots of questions. You might hear people say, “It doesn’t make sense.” They may even cry or become depressed when faced with the sudden existential questions change brings.

Resistance follows denial when the truth of the change is understood, but a desire to fight against it occurs. Anger is present here. You might see people refusing to enact the changes asked of them, grumbling with their co-workers, or confronting your leadership.

Exploration happens when the person accepts the change, and they begin to think about how they can create a future for themselves within it. It is a time of creativity and opportunity.

Commitment is when the person is fully on board and is working to make the change happen to the best of their abilities.

Your job is to support and guide people through these stages on an individual level. How?

Make a point of being available. Talk to each person individually. Lay out the plans so people know what’s coming next, and be understanding when people are having trouble.

3.     Recognize the Archetypes of Change

In addition to the emotional process, most people fall into one of three archetypes when faced with a change that is out of their control.

·      The Change Agent – These people are early adopters who move forward quickly. They see the good in the change immediately and are the first on board.

·      The Stuck Person – These people are stuck in their pain and fear and are slow to move forward.

·      Preservers of the Past –These people are influencers who can’t let go of the past. They tend to play devil’s advocate or defect. 

Knowing these architypes gives leaders a leg up when managing and navigating groups through change because leaders can encourage each architype to help the other architypes through the change in their own unique ways.

For instance, Change Agents tend to be optimistic and eager. But they can get weighed down by The Stuck People who can’t seem to move on.

 A savvy leader would find a way for Change Agents to assist The Stuck People in seeing a bright future ahead.

 Similarly, there’s much to learn from Preservers of the Past. They ask excellent questions and easily voice their concerns, which helps you understand how the team is feeling.

Get a Preserver of the Past to embrace the change, and they will bring other people with them.

4.     Communicate Effectively

Communication during a pivot is essential for maintaining a sense of purpose, trust, and calm among your team. Be transparent and make sure your messaging continues to include every individual’s wellbeing.

After you announce the change, set up a series of Q&A meetings and regular drumbeat updates with your team outlining agendas and taking questions.

Articulate to yourself and to others:

• What is changing.
  Being specific about the details of the change allows people to visualize the future, which is a helpful tool to moving through the process.
  

• Who is losing and how you and the company plan to help them. Acknowledging loss is a deeply meaningful way to show you understand the impact of the change on some members of the team.
  

• What is possible. Helping people envision a new future for themselves ignites creativity and a feeling of renewal.

As with most personal communication, humility and openness lead to trust. Admit that you don’t have all the answers, and act as a role model who moves ahead despite some unknowns.

Every corporate pivot and transition is difficult. But you can steer the change so that others feel safe and supported. Doing so, will bring your team on board. It’s likely, in this scenario, they will work efficiently and will creatively to steer the ship with you. It’ll be a win-win for all.

Want more help managing your team? Let’s talk. (CTA)