So many leaders assume that their job has been done, once their Convention, webcast or confcall ended-up well! The Communication Pack is ready; the new Strategy, Vision, Organization or Roadmap has been explained and everyone will now cascade it, supported by a professional communication team… “Mission accomplished”, do the leaders feel by leaving the room. In fact our people expect to be engaged at three levels: Clarity, Credibility and Energy:
The Clarity test (Logos):
To quote Meg Wheatley, “Enormous struggle with implementation are created every time we deliver change to the organisation rather than figuring out how to involve people in its creation”. People need you to provide them with time and space so that they may co-create Clarity, Meaning and Ownership about the desired transformation. Broadcasting and ordering don’t help here.
The Credibility test (Ethos):
My most successful blog post to date was about the absolute killer in Change: Leaders expecting “others” to change while they remain the same. Change triggers our deepest fears (Survival, Territory & Habits). Hence, people need guarantees that their leaders are ready to change prior to throwing themselves wholeheartedly into the Transformation Pool. Only that will provide Change leaders with the needed credibility to engage their people.
The Energy test (Pathos):
If Logos can be compared to the GPS of a car (we need to be clear on our destination), if Ethos is our driving license (granting us the trust of our people about our habilitation to take them to destination), Pathos is… the fuel that takes us “from intention to action”. The secret to leadership charisma is to blend all three in order to engage our organisation into transformation. Pathos isn’t about techniques, it requires authenticity, belief, courage and determination
We help transformational leaders to prepare themselves and their organisations to execute change and make the transformation happen.
