Methods to Develop Change Readiness
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Click here to view and download this month’s worksheet to utilize on your own or with a Group and/or Team over the next 12 months.
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“Don’t plan seeds in hard ground.”
Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgers
Robert J. Kriegel PhD, David Brandt PhD
As we continue through quarter two of 2023, our learning and development journey focused on exploring the Change Ready Profile continues. We are grateful to join you on the journey of growth and always enjoy hearing feedback about how you are using the tools shared in the Tool of the Month!
Drs. Kriegel and Brandt’s Change Ready Profile is one of the four core tools we are investigating in 2023. It is an instrument we use to develop self-awareness and is a key coaching and development component to help Team Members be and become more effective, specifically as it relates to embracing and navigating change. You can review the 7 Traits of Change Readiness at the end of this article for ease of reference.
Last month we began by providing an overview of the Change Ready Profile, its purpose and content. This month we will explore how it can be used as a 1-1 coaching tool and next month, we will discuss further how to navigate and facilitate change at the team and organization wide levels.
One of the five steps the authors of Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgers say are key to developing change readiness is Step 5: Developing the Seven Personal Change-Ready Traits. I am convinced that change is highly personal and that only by individually preparing Team Members and coaching change readiness over a long period of time will organizations truly be and become change ready. Change readiness does not happen by edict, memo, proclamation, team-building events, ultimatums, or coercion. It happens by planting the seeds of change readiness in the fertile soil of the personal and professional development of each individual team member.
The primary reason we believe individuals and organizations are not change ready and are generally unable to implement long term systemic change, is that we do not institutionalize organizational disciplines. Specifically, the organizational discipline of 1-1 monthly developmental coaching.
We believe that by “institutionalizing organizational disciplines” you will be able to create change ready individuals, teams, and organizations. Organizational disciplines to implement include building a culture of trust and caring, creating and consistently implementing business, strategic, and succession plans, and coaching, training, and equipping every individual on your team when you are not on the verge of change or are not being forced to change. When the ground is hard, the seeds of change do not take root and grow.
Absent the key organizational discipline of 1-1 monthly coaching, that creates the foundation for developing highly change ready individuals, successful, long term, and meaningful systemic change most likely will not be realized. Developing change readiness begins with strengthening each and every link on your team member chain.
Review the Laura Schanz Consulting Associates 1-1 Coaching and Development Guide, HERE.
One of the most effective and remarkable examples of the impact 1-1 coaching can have on an individual, occurred during the height of, or should I say depths of, the COVID-19 pandemic. We had the privilege of coaching a senior level executive who had transferred from a corporate setting to a privately held business. The individual joined the organization, and we were engaged to provide 1-1 developmental coaching to the leader manager as they embraced change and transitioned to their new role and responsibilities.
We quickly ascertained the leader manager we were working with left an organization that primarily focused on subject matter expertise and what we fondly refer to as “GSD”, getting stuff done. The leader manager had tremendous integrity, willingness, energy, passion, and desire. Their greatest challenge was their level of self-awareness and the impact their behavior had on others.
Using the Change Ready Profile as a development tool we discovered their level of resourcefulness was a 29 on the change ready scale, their drive score was 24, the second highest of their seven change ready traits and their tolerance for ambiguity, a score of 7. Keep in mind the optimal change ready zone is a score of 22-26!
Using the 1-1 development guide, the leader manager identified the areas of self-awareness they wanted to hone in on, created written coaching objectives, and we implemented a year-long monthly 1-1 meeting cadence. Month after month we discussed self-awareness, provided a forum for self-discovery, and identified strategies they could employ to be and become more effective.
We were undoubtedly working with a high achiever and a person with a very high level of coachability. Within one year the leader manager achieved tremendous results with their team of direct reports, successfully integrated with their fellow senor members of their leadership team and achieved and or succeeded all departmental goals.
On the first anniversary of their employment, we administered the change ready profile for a second time. The data revealed remarkable personal and professional growth as demonstrated in this chart.
Truly remarkable results and although not all individuals possess the same levels of capacity, intellect, willingness, and coachability, time and again we see measurable improvement in Change Ready scores following a year of 1-1 development coaching.
We encourage you to till the soil of growth and development in each and every team member to ensure the long-term growth, success, and sustainability of your organization. You and your organization will enjoy the fruits of your investment in others and ensure a rich and rewarding experience where individuals and teams may thrive and flourish!
-LS
This Month’s Worksheet
Click here to view and download this month’s worksheet to utilize on your own or with a Group and/or Team over the next 12 months.
Recommended Quarterly Reading
Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgers
By Robert J. Kriegel PhD, David Brandt PhD
2023
Managing From The Inside Out
Winter 2023
February 1, 8, 15, 22
March 1, 8, 15
AM Classes: 8:30-11:30 A.M.
PM Classes: 1:30-4:30 P.M.
Spring 2023
May 3, 10, 17, 24, 31
June 7, 14
AM Classes: 8:30-11:30 A.M.
PM Classes: 1:30-4:30 P.M.
Fall 2023
October 4, 11, 18, 25
November 1, 8, 15
AM Classes: 8:30-11:30 A.M.
PM Classes: 1:30-4:30 P.M.
Register today to engage in professional growth and development as a Leader Manager and join us for Managing From The Inside Out! Simply email Kelly Martin at kelly@lauraschanz.com to reserve a seat for yourself or a Team Member. The 2023 Registration Fee is $1,295.