Leading Meaningful Change is for leaders, managers, and anyone who is interested in or already leading and managing a short change, a transition, and/or a larger transformation (I use the word “change” throughout the book when the concept cuts through all three levels).
The book provides a complete framework of principles and a four-stage process to help you go beyond developing plans and tactics to lead and implement changes in processes, technology, policies, procedures, and organizational culture. In going beyond, I show you how to create and participate in change experiences that capture the hearts, minds, and souls of the people you lead, work with, and serve. The Leading Meaningful Change (abbreviated henceforth as LMC) Framework and Process are human and engaging and will motivate your organization and community to work together toward a higher purpose and achieve results that are greater than any single person’s contribution.
The feature character in LMC is You and your Use-of-Self. In this regard, this book is a sequel to Triple Impact Coaching: Use-of-Self in the Coaching Process (2006), which I wrote with Edith Whitfield Seashore, one of the luminaries in the field of organizational development and my mentor. The book in your hands elaborates on the evolution and continued importance of mastering Use-of-Self as a key leadership competency in today’s hyper-connected world. This book will help you reflect on and master your Use-of-Self as you lead and manage teams, work in networks of teams, and collaborate and partner with others to make a positive impact in your organization, in your community, and on this planet.
Over my years of consulting and teaching, I have learned that a meaningful change journey is not static. It is a dynamic and continuous learning process that ebbs and flows depending on one’s relationships and interactions with the people involved in or impacted by the change process. At the core of the change process is the Use-of-Self. It is the only thing you can control.
In this book, you will explore the roots of and the inspirations that have influenced and matured the Use-of-Self foundation for leading meaningful change. The original keys to Use-of-Self—feedback, choices, reframing, and power—will be revisited and updated to be more responsive to today’s complex world, digital workplace, social media, and virtual working relationships. I provide real-life examples and advice from leaders and managers who have successfully applied these keys in their face-to-face and virtual interactions and in how they have learned to develop others to lead meaningful change.
The distinctive word in my book title, Leading Meaningful Change, is “meaningful.” There is a clear reason for this. People generally do not like or accept change that is done to them without their participating in the planning for it, having prior knowledge of it, or being asked for their consent that the change will improve their situation. People are most engaged when they are involved in the change process. That is when the change becomes meaningful for them and they know they can make a difference.
I came to recognize the power of the phrase “capturing the hearts, minds, and souls of the people” when I was working with the senior management team at the City of Ottawa (a case study that I will discuss in chapter 7). I asked each member of the team, “What does leading meaningful change mean to you?” Consistent in all of my interviews was some type of reference to the change process having a “magic sauce”—an inner motivation that occurs when people are inspired to be part of the change. The Ottawa city leaders shared with their teams the purpose, vision, and values that would guide the change journey they would all take together. They created a plan that had meaning for people. This sentiment was captured in a single phrase by the city manager, Steve Kanellakos, who said, “When you are successful leading meaningful change, it means that you have captured the hearts and souls of the people. They believe in a higher purpose, something greater than their own single contribution.”
Why must we be concerned about the hearts and souls of people and not just their minds? I believe the answer is increasingly evident. People want and can easily seek connection with others. They are craving meaning in their jobs, better work/life balance, and more shared power. They are concerned about improving society and ensuring the health of the planet. For some people, the word “soul” has a spiritual connotation that calls on them to make a positive difference in the world, working toward a higher purpose. For others, “soul” evokes a strong emotional reaction that reminds them to treat people as human beings, not just as employees, clients, or subjects in the change process. Having soul is a reminder that we are not alone. We are connected to each other and part of a larger community, society, or universe. When we lead change, we must work for the benefit of everyone.
The key to leading change that appeals to hearts, minds, and souls is to make the change meaningful. How do I define this? In my view, meaningful change
In this book, you will learn about the LMC Framework, composed of seven principles, and the LMC Process based on four stages—alignment, integration, action, and renewal—to ensure any change effort, no matter how complex or large, is effective and successful. You will hear from leaders and managers who share their stories, experiences, and favorite tools that helped them capture the hearts, minds, and souls of people they lead, work with, and serve. LMC is a journey that calls us to take care of and pay attention to all souls on board, including our own.
The book is divided into two parts.
Part 1 of the book presents the elements of the LMC journey over seven chapters, including a detailed case study.
Chapter 1: The Main Character in Leading Meaningful Change Is You: Use-of-Self in the Change Process
This chapter discusses the single most critical element and the main character in leading meaningful change: your Use-of-Self. This chapter will
Chapter 2: Six Keys to Guide Your Use-of-Self in the Leading Meaningful Change Process
Developing Use-of-Self is a lifelong learning process. This chapter will explain the six keys to guide your Use-of-Self in the LMC Process, with examples and exercises to help you lead meaningful change. The six keys are:
Chapter 3: The Leading Meaningful Change Framework
This chapter begins by explaining the seven principles of the LMC Framework that form the foundation of any change journey. These principles are necessary to guide leaders through the LMC Process. They are:
Chapter 4: The Four Stages of the Leading Meaningful Change Process
In this chapter, I explain the LMC Process that I created and use in my work, consisting of four stages to guide you through a change journey. This process is multifaceted and comprehensive, ensuring that you can lead and manage meaningful change and your Use-of-Self throughout the entire journey.
Also in this chapter, I present tools to evaluate each stage of the LMC Process, the Change Leadership Challenge Exercise, and the Master Change Plan template that you can use to map your change journey.
Chapter 5: Maximizing the Power of Teams
Teamwork is an essential ingredient to achieve the goals of your change effort using the LMC Framework and Process. We will explore the challenges and complexities of building cohesive teams. I will also define ten guidelines for the formation and operation of cohesive teams. A case example illustrates the concepts.
Chapter 6: Tools to Foster Teamwork, Collaboration, and Partnerships in Leading Meaningful Change
This chapter will delve into a number of specific activities that I use to foster teamwork, collaboration, and partnerships. Exercises are provided along with two case examples of how a university dean and a not-for-profit community theater director used the concepts of this book to leverage the power of teams as they led meaningful change efforts in their organizations.
Chapter 7: Case Study: City of Ottawa—One City, One Team
As the new city manager at the City of Ottawa, Steve Kanellakos was tasked with improving the delivery of city services and creating long-term sustainability throughout the corporation. Based on his previous experience and tenure with the city, he knew that he needed a plan to transition to his new role and build a cohesive senior leadership team. Together they developed a strategy to lead this meaningful change that went beyond tactics to capture the hearts and souls of the people they led, worked with, and served.
This chapter is a case study covering this leadership team’s journey through the first two years (2016 to 2018) of leading a city-wide transition and culture shift to adopt the mindset, values, and behaviors of “Servant Leadership” as the new guide to their day-to-day work. It provides the background and context for this change, a summary of their approach through the lens of the LMC Process, and an overview of how they created a cohesive leadership team that inspired people across the corporation to embrace the shared purpose they called “One City, One Team” and achieve results that were far greater than any single contribution could produce.
The toolkit is designed to help you put into practice the concepts presented in part 1. Please customize and adapt them to reflect your context and advance your work to lead meaningful change. This toolkit lists the exercises covered in each chapter, plus provides ten additional exercises that you can do as you go about any change in your organization.
Leading Meaningful Change is based on my observations and work over more than two decades with numerous change leaders and managers who worked on large-scale and complex organizational changes. The LMC Framework and Process presented in this book are based on three studies that focused on change leadership. This research confirmed that the concept of Use-of-Self has endured over time and continues to play an important role in leading meaningful change.
But the research also revealed that we need to go beyond plans and tactics to create meaning for people throughout any change journey and take into account the new trends that are reshaping our workplaces, society, and cultures across the planet. These trends are moving us to become more attentive to our human needs, including the need to
Leading Meaningful Change is responsive to these trends. It incorporates new concepts, tools, and approaches to help you validate your work, celebrate your successes, and develop strategies to address your current challenges and future change journeys.