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The Reload with Sean Hansen
The Reload with Sean Hansen
Transforming Organizational Culture: Insights on Embracing Change - 221
Unlock the secrets to transforming organizational culture and embracing change with insights from renowned therapist Esther Perel and neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman. Discover how leaders can foster a culture of flexibility and adaptability, even when employees come in with fixed expectations. We promise you'll leave with strategies to recruit individuals open to change and understand the vital importance of clear communication in guiding your team toward a competitive future.
Join us as we tackle the complexities of leading organizational change with effective communication strategies. Learn how to paint a compelling vision of the future and ensure your team is aligned and engaged throughout the transition. We'll explore the significance of managing mindset and physiological well-being to handle the emotional challenges of change. With a focus on building trust and reducing uncertainty, we'll delve into open discussions and collaborative experimentation as tools for smoother transitions, offering leaders the keys to fostering a supportive environment for growth and adaptation.
Are you an executive, entrepreneur, or combat veteran looking to overcome subconscious blind spots and limiting messaging to unlock your highest performance? Feel free to reach out to Sean at Reload Coaching and Consulting.
Welcome to the Reload, where we help unconventional leaders craft the life they truly want by questioning the assumptions they have about how life works. My name is Sean and I'll be your host on this journey. As a performance coach and special operations combat veteran, I help high-performing executives kick ass in their careers while connecting with deeply powerful insights that fuel their lives. All righty, today is going to be a quick one, hopefully, and what are we going to be talking about? We're going to be talking about this notion of changing culture and changing relationships inside the ever-evolving elements of an organization. Not too long ago, I was listening to an episode between Esther Perel and Dr Andrew Huberman on the Huberman Lab podcast, and what they were discussing essentially were relationship dynamics, and you might be wondering well, okay, what does this have to do with leadership? What does this have to do with leadership?
Speaker 1:My belief is that we are best equipped to improve ourselves when we are able to draw on learnings from various fields, when we're able to recognize patterns and so that we can incorporate those patterns in a more holistic manner. It's one thing if we are, I guess, instructed on. I don't know the specifics of a certain situation, but that to me seems like a very finite tool that would only be useful in circumstances that look exactly like what you have been trained in. And so if we can develop a mindset that is more fluid, that is more flexible, that is more adaptable, in which we train ourselves to look more for patterns and we look more for the underlying common connective tissue, if you will, then we put ourselves in a better position in order to conform to circumstances that we cannot predict. You know, if we were thinking about this in mathematical terms, we are deriving our answers from common patterns. Perel's books, and having listened to her TED Talks and also the interviews that she's given, is that she is actually a very universal thinker, while her specialty is being a couples therapist. So frequently what she really works on is where there are polarities, where there is tension, and in the decades that she has been working with individuals again predominantly couples she has learned that there are certain common elements or common themes. If you don't have the experience of listening to her, I would really recommend that you search out some of her content and, by and large, I think that Andrew Huberman does a pretty solid job as an interviewer in drawing out deeper material, in trying to, I guess, present elements that strike him as meaningful and then also, in certain ways, recapping and then also distilling down for the listener, who may not have as great a depth of understanding in a certain topic. So if you are of an inquiring mind, I guess then searching out that Esther Perel episode on the Huberman Lab podcast might be a really good move.
Speaker 1:Now transitioning into the conversation for today, looking at where it is that change occurs in an organization Every business out there is by default in a dynamic environment, operating in dynamic markets, in a very volatile and uncertain world, and what that necessitates is the ability to adapt and the ability to change to those ever-evolving conditions. And I think a big part of what's going on there and I've seen this play out in various client organizations is where the changes in the environment also then require us to change the culture of our team, of our larger organization, in order to make sure that we remain competitive. But one of the struggles that I've noticed in a couple of my client organizations is that they have recruited and sometimes for quite a long time a certain type of individual and in the hiring process there was a certain, I don't know foundational assumption that was made about. We are asking you to do a certain thing and we have hired a certain type of person to go do that certain type of thing. So then the tricky issue gets to be that when the market or the environment requires change, how do you get the people to go through that, especially when they came aboard believing that there was a certain type of expectation that was going to be put on them and that they would have to honor in that exchange of I'm working for you, you give me money and I give you some sort of service in return.
Speaker 1:So to maybe look further upstream for a second, in terms of how one recruits in the first place, knowing you don't know exactly what the change is going to be, you don't know exactly when the change is going to occur, but what you do know is that you will face change. So when you are recruiting individuals, how do you recruit for a certain type of attitude or a certain mindset or mentality about change? How do you question individuals about their willingness to undergo change? There are individuals out there who are much more willing, I guess, to be adaptable, to be malleable, to be fluid. How are you asking questions about that? How are you looking for demonstrations of that quality in their history? Additionally, how is it that they can impress upon you ways in which they might lead change themselves? This is especially relevant if you are actually recruiting for leadership positions, because if you're going to hire a leader let's say, maybe a mid-level leader that is unwilling to step forward and lead change themselves, you might have a real problem on your hands. Anyway, back on track.
Speaker 1:So, assuming that you actually have hired individuals that are in this willingness to adapt, then, as you are facing the need for adaptation, how do you paint the vision of where to go? And, furthermore, how do you communicate the elements of the current changing conditions that you believe warrant an overhaul or a remodel of how things get done? Is there something that you can point to that requires cultural change, or is there something that you can point to that requires changing the strategy or remaking the structure of the business? In a few of my episodes, I guess I've I don't know ended up talking a little bit of trash, I guess, on companies that constantly restructure and I do still stand by that that if you are constantly restructuring and you haven't established the appropriate threshold or gates that would meaningfully lead to a restructure, then you're often just restructuring in an attempt to solve a problem, without actually going through the deeper work of understanding what the deeper problem is. And then you restructure, you have the chaos of a restructure, but you actually haven't addressed the root cause of the problem, and so then the problem still manifests itself, even though you have a different structure.
Speaker 1:Anyway, painting the vision what is it that we are going to be moving toward? What are some of the changes that are going to be required? And that's part of bringing people along, right, so you want to be able to paint the vision you want them to be able to recognize. Ooh, it could be better over there. But then part of that process is to bring people along with you so that you are not just miles ahead of them.
Speaker 1:And this is an interesting thing, especially for CEOs, because CEOs are often the ones who are, by virtue of their position, thinking about where to be five years from now, and oftentimes, whether it's doing layoffs or whether it's changing things up in the business somehow and that can also be for positive reasons they have often taken several steps intellectually, cognitively, conceptually, down that path, and everyone else is still chugging along on the day-to-day, the existing status quo. And so one of the big gaps that I've seen between especially CEOs but this also applies to other leaders just in lower elements of the company, if you will that they do end up sort of several steps ahead, and then there's almost an impatience that shows up, or a certain intolerance, I guess, for when people are resistant or they are not immediately on board with the change. And so, as the leader, one of the things that you have to recognize is that you have spent several weeks sort of acclimating yourself to this notion that we're going to be in a different place. So part of bringing folks along for that journey is not just painting the vision, it's not just saying, okay, here are some elements that I think will facilitate the change, but it's also making sure that you show up with patience. How do you manage your mindset? How do you manage your sleep, for instance, so that you don't show up physiologically taxed, which puts an extra burden on your ability to manage your own emotional mindset?
Speaker 1:And then another piece of bringing people along for the journey is how do you communicate? What is the cadence at which you communicate? In some cases you may decide that, well, I'm going to communicate on certain milestones, certain events. In other cases you might decide well, no, actually we want to have a more periodic and consistent communication schedule, even if we have nothing new to report. People get accustomed to hey, if we have some big strategic change that we're going to be making in the business, we're going to communicate to you on a cadence of every two weeks, because this is a long-term project that we're going to be putting into place, and if we don't have anything new to say, we'll let you know. But every two weeks you can expect from us some sort of leadership update, and part of how you make that decision is going to be dependent on what the initiative change actually is and what is the climate or the culture that you're dealing with. What is the climate or the culture that you're dealing with? If you have a lot of individuals in your organization that you believe require a great deal of certainty and reassurance, well then setting a sort of locked in time cadence might be the more effective way, even if one of those or multiple of those updates is there's nothing new to report. But I think the regular communication really helps assure people.
Speaker 1:Additionally, when it comes to change and this is something that was alluded to in that interview that I mentioned is how do you avoid making it seem abrupt to the recipients of the change? And this is an area where I don't know. It's interesting. Sometimes clients, they adopt new ways of interacting with the people on their team, and I am generally an advocate and proponent of growth. Obviously, this is what this whole show is dedicated to, and one of the things that I've noticed is that there is often not enough communication being done around where it is or when it is that the leader is attempting to experiment with new concepts, and that could be new concepts interpersonally on the leadership team. That could be new concepts in the business in terms of how the business is structured or future R&D projects. You know what is the direction for tomorrow.
Speaker 1:But oftentimes what I've noticed in in, especially in doing 360s for leadership figures, is I'm often told by the subordinates yeah, you know, we'll be going along one direction, and then it'll feel like the leader reads some new leadership book or read some new article, and then we are all of a sudden yanked into a different direction and it's a bit difficult to discern how much of that is actually true versus merely perception. That is actually true versus merely perception, and so one of the things that leaders can do about that is to, I guess, have a bit of a check-in with their people. What does that look like? That could look like hey, you know, I just came across such and such article, or I read such and such book, or I started working with this coach and they introduced me to this new concept and I'd like to try it. And we don't, you know, we don't have to go invest in it a hundred percent. We can try it out for a couple of weeks and see if this concept is working for us. Does it yield better results in terms of our meetings or just generally how we communicate with one another? And if so, then maybe we can make that our new plan. But in either case, it's this concept of really sort of giving people orientation. Hey, this is where I'm coming from and this is where I'd like to go. Are you cool if we try this?
Speaker 1:And for the most part, people are, yeah, generally cool with trying new things when you communicate with them, and it's a lot less jarring for the recipient when some of that additional groundwork is laid and some of that explicit communication is actually happening, and I think it goes a long way in reassuring people, as I said before, but in this case it's more of like on a one-on-one basis and that can also be demonstrated also in front of the team at large. But I think so often what ends up happening at least what I've gathered from clients is that there's this unconscious connection to a certain degree of insecurity in the leader about trying the new idea, and then there's an unwillingness to show your ass, I guess, and to call things out. Call spade a spade, but people are going to see it anyway, and if you're trying a new concept, it's quite likely that you're not going to be fluid and smooth with it. And so how might you get greater acceptance and greater tolerance and compassion from the people around you if you just simply call it out and say, yeah, I'm playing around with some new ideas and this is what I could potentially see being a way forward for us. That might make it more effective? Would you mind giving me some feedback on how it's playing out? You know, and sometimes maybe the delivery is a little rough up front and that just chalks up to getting more practice. In other cases maybe it really is not a great fit for the structure of the business or the personality types that you have on the team, etc. Etc.
Speaker 1:But in either case, I think, opening up those lines of communication and recognizing I'd like to change some things and I'd like you to be there on the other side of this change and I'd like us to actually do that change hand in hand. What do you require from me in order to make you feel comfortable going on that journey? And in the beginning, how do you hire individuals? How do you look for individuals who have an aptitude or, at the very least, an attitude where they are willing to accept having greater flexibility? You really truly have to ask those questions, even if it feels awkward, because it's much easier to ask awkward questions in a hiring interview than to face the much more difficult conversation of changing people on the fly when they're already part of the team. And yes, there may be times when your organization really truly does need to let certain people go in order to hire different people that have radically different skill sets, because the business has to change that dramatically. But I would say a good chunk of the time. And what does a good chunk of the time mean? I don't know. 60, 70% of the time somewhere in there 80% of the time probably Don't quote me, it's not like I've run some sort of double blind study on this, but I would say a good chunk of the time.
Speaker 1:An organization can do a lot with the people that it already has, provided that they are willing, they have a mindset that allows them to change. Now what if you have hired individuals who are unwilling to change, or at least let's just say that that's not their default setting. They are typically more accustomed to comfort of habit or consistency. In that case, yeah, sure, you're going to need to take a look at, okay, what is the benefit of keeping them on the team If they come with a significant amount of operational expertise or knowledge and you recognize that the foundations of their technical value are going to carry over into the new way that you want things done. But then you also recognize, ooh, this person's pretty entrenched. They like doing things a certain way. They generally resist doing things in a new way. That's obviously much more difficult.
Speaker 1:So in that scenario it becomes all the more important to paint the vision of why making the change makes sense, either from a necessity perspective or a reward perspective. And then how is it that you communicate that, and you might be on some sort of roadshow, for instance, for a while, going site by site, for instance, or employee by employee, in order to really make sure that each site or each individual truly understands what's in it for them. And it's up to you, based on the size and scope of your business, maybe that gets chopped out to different leaders so you can cover the ground more effectively. What have you? But ultimately, each individual is going to be going through the pain of the change, and so then, how do you communicate that there is a reward in it for them? And so then, how do you communicate that there is a reward in it for them, because they are going to be going through that costliness, let's say, of the discomfort of trying to make that change?
Speaker 1:How, even if it's all the way down to the individual contributor level, how do you allow them to tie this experience into character growth? How do you help them see, hey, you know, one of the things that we've noticed is that you seem to resist change, change, and whether it's finding higher opportunities in this organization or maybe, down the road, you see opportunities in another organization. What's the benefit of being somebody who is more connected with and more approachable with, is more connected with and more approachable with adapting to change. And for many of the individual contributors out there who might be listening to this although for the most part it's leadership figures that listen to this, but if there are individual contributors listening to this then one of the things that comes with having a greater propensity to adapt to change is you are typically given more authority and responsibility, meaning promotions, and with promotions generally comes more pay Generally I mean not always and you can advance yourself in your career typically more effectively.
Speaker 1:When you are an individual who is willing to take change on board. And, moreover, if we're staying on the old soapbox here, when you adopt this character or this characteristic, I should say, and you are the person who is maybe not looking forward to, but at least willing to receive change, and you are the person, or you become the person who, when change is warranted, you can train your mind to look forward to the benefits that might come from making that change. To the benefits that might come from making that change, then I would argue, based on what I've seen in the transformations people have done during my engagements with them, is that life feels more rich and it feels less pressured, you're able to see, okay, yeah, I mean it'll be uncomfortable for a while, but I can do this. You know, I build self-confidence as well, and these are all things that I think carry over across one's life and it had tremendous carryover benefit and that have tremendous carryover benefit so that even your personal life can feel much different and much improved for your ability to adapt to change in the professional setting. So hopefully this has tossed around some ideas for you around how to use metaphor or analogous learning to better yourself.
Speaker 1:And if you are the individual that is in charge of hiring whether it's for the team or the company or what have you then how is it that you might use some of these concepts to really think about okay, where are we headed? What skill sets do we need, what experience do we need? And, at a more foundational level, what mindset is going to be best for this company? And how do I bring more people into this organization that are going to be willing to embrace change bring more people into this organization that are going to be willing to embrace change and how do I ensure that they show me that they are that kind of individual? So, if this is helpful. I would love it if you would like subscribe, follow, share, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, or don't, it's totally up to you. And, of course, until next time, take care of each other.
