Leadership lessons from
Elon Musk
Before I begin, I will confess, I am
not entirely sure what is going on with Twitter, and Elon Musk. My guess is as
good as yours perhaps, but I have read posts on social media both supporting and
condemning Mr. Musk’s actions, and I even read a timeline of the events that led
to the current situation. While I may lack knowledge on the particularities of
the decisions made and even understanding of what the claims are from both
sides, one thing is for sure; as a leader you can not shove change down your
employees’ throats without expecting chaos to erupt. I have personally seen this
repeatedly, and quite frankly can’t comprehend how in 2022 we still have
leaders who believe they can do it!
Change is inevitable! That we can all agree on,
especially in these days post the COVID19 pandemic that forced everyone in
every industry to change to survive. However, the process you use to implement
the changes will be critical to the success of those changes. There are several
important steps to take when implementing change if you want to be successful.
1. What’s needing to change? Why?
In the beginning, it is important to create, a broadly, but easy
to understand need for the change. Of equal importance is the need to share
with the team what the outcome will look like for them and the reason the
company came to deciding for this change. The more you leave to the imagination
the more anxious the employees will get and the more resistance you will face.
2. Engage the employees or those affected by the
change.
First you need to get the team
involved in the decision-making process. All too often, leaders make decisions
that will impact not just the customers or patients, but the employees first
and totally neglect to incorporate their feedback in the process of finalizing
that decision. Quite frankly, I never understood why they do this either, after
all do, we do not understand that the employees who will carry out these
changes will ultimately be the ones to impact its success. I mean sure you can
get other employees to do the job, but at what cost? What will the need to
replace, hire and train do to the timeline of your projects? How will it impact
your clients/patients?
By incorporating the employees in the
planning stages of the changes you will be setting up your changes for success!
Think about it, engaging the employees will mean they will give you feedback
you may not have considered and can put you in a better position to implement
the changes successfully. But what if they don’t agree with the changes you
might ask? Well, that’s up to you as a leader and how you present those. What
are the benefits of the changes? How will these changes put the organization in
a better position to treat their employees even better? What’s in it for them? If
your employees do not agree with these changes, do not implement them all at
once, and rather do so progressively. This will allow them to adapt and digest
those changes before going on to the next stage.
3. Secure the team’s buy in for the change and create
a plan for handling resistance
Support your team members in the
process of digesting the idea of the change. Show your commitment to them by
being available to answer their questions and clarify their confusion. Before
implementing the change make sure there are sufficient resources
dedicated to getting employees committed to the change. This cannot be done by
means of intimidation or threats. You need these employees, they need you! If
there’s resistance to the change is not on them, it is on you as a leader who
failed to plan this properly by helping them understand how this is beneficial
to them. They already know it’s beneficial to you, that’s why it was decided in
the first place, they just need to understand what’s in it for them. When
allocating resources, make sure you plan on those needed to help the team adapt
to these changes. Create a plan for crisis response, customer demand changes,
competitive pressure. Your internal and external processes should consider how
you will address it if things go wrong, and how you will correct that for your
customers and you even need a plan for addressing your competitors who are
likely watching you right now like hawks ready to jump on and recruiting your
team who will help them defeat you.
4.
Develop implementation plan including metrics.
There must be a way to track the change efforts (monitoring
progress) and be ready to adapt. Your implementation plan should be flexible,
as you might need to spend more time supporting your team in some stages of the
plan than in others. Measure the progress of the change and report the findings
to your team. Remember, the relationship between you and your team members will
be based on trust. If they trust you, they will respect you. If they can’t
trust you, they will fear you. If you want to be successful you need your team
to trust and respect, you. To trust you, you will need to be honest, opened,
and transparent. Don’t lie to them, the truth always comes out. Be opened and
vulnerable, this will only open you up to a better relationship with them. And
please don’t preach transparency if you don’t know what that means. If you say
you are transparent and you have hidden agendas, YOU ARE NOT TRANSPARENT.
5.
Implement the change—in stages, if possible.
Finally, too much change is stressful. Stress
leads to burn out and anxiety and neither one is beneficial for you nor your
organization. If possible, consider implementing the changes progressively. This
will allow your team to adjust and adapt and this will make them more committed
to the project. If the change cannot be progressive, then make sure you have a
good communication plan that allows for them to be informed and give them the
opportunity to discuss their concerns.
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