“Why haven’t these changes been made? We’ve been talking about them for months?”
That’s a cry familiar to many a senior manager. It has become a truism that a leading cause for the failure of change initiatives is poor communication. But it is not for lack of trying. Very often management has spent a great deal of time on communications as it relates to vision and strategy. However, management spends little or no time on communication as it relates to the individual. In other words, managers devote too much time appealing to the mind, but little to the heart. When it comes to change, you cannot have one without the other.
Touching the Heart For example, take the anti-smoking campaigns. For more than 40 years, the Surgeon General has been telling us how smoking causes lung cancer and contributes to emphysema and heart disease. Strong reasons to quit, of course, but such messages fall on deaf ears to some. Young people perceive themselves as immortal; dying of lung disease is not something they can comprehend, unless it strikes a relative. More effective anti-smoking messages talk about how smoking stains your teeth, gives you bad breath and even interferes with healthy skin. Pretty minor side effects — unless you’re a teenager and personal appearance is paramount. Such communications strike an emotional chord and they do well.
Populist politicians from Franklin Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan knew how to appeal to emotions. They understood how to wrap their initiatives inside concerns to individuals and families. They could break down policy language into how it would have an impact on a constituent’s pocketbook, personal security or retirement benefits. They augmented their appeals with real-life stories.
Such lessons from advertising and politics should be taught to corporate managers who must push their heady change initiatives with heartfelt appeals. Prior to any change, managers must link emotions to the intellect. Change for the sake of change is never good, but so often organizations spin through change initiatives like dealers at the roulette wheel.
Senior managers push for change because they encounter a roadblock or sense a lack of momentum. Rather than probe for a fix, they wave their arms and push for change — big changes. These managers confuse the motion of change with purpose of change. In reality, the effort is wasted motion, draining energy and resources. In the long run, such churnings deplete enthusiasm and breed apathy. Therefore, senior leaders must first provide solid reasons for change initiatives, and then use their communications to drive the process. Here are some things to consider:
Relate the WIFM (What’s in It For Me) People evaluate with their intellect, but often choose with their hearts, i.e., the cognitive versus the affective. Managers must structure their appeal in this way. Consider a three-step process:
State the benefits to the organization. Speak of how this change will improve competitiveness as well as long-term stability. One, address the hardships. Change is seldom pleasant. It puts us out of our comfort zone. Managers must be realistic and not gloss over this aspect. If they do, they cheapen their credibility; their case for change gets lost in corporate palaver. Two, talk up the benefits. Emphasize what change will mean to individuals and teams, specifically noting benefits that relate to personal destiny. People want to know that they have some control and so if the change initiative relates to increasing autonomy and spans of control, stress it. If the initiative will do just the opposite, then promote the benefits of tighter control in terms of work flow and customer satisfaction.
Sell the benefits The root of salesmanship is persuasion. And with any transformation, you need plenty of persuasion to succeed. When managers communicate change, they must do so with a note of enthusiasm and hint of passion. Talk about how the new change will affect the daily grind. While there is always pain in change, look for jewels that exemplify the gain both short and long term. For example, in a sales reorganization, play up what it will mean in terms of selling to more people or fewer but more select customers. Include comments on incentives. Also, emphasize what the change will bring in terms of opportunities for personal development and promotion.
Praise individuals. Who is doing the real change? Very often it is not the senior leaders; they are busy masterminding the entire process. The real change comes in the trenches where the real work is done. Companies must find ways to find examples of how people are changing and what impact such change is having on the work flow as well as customer satisfaction. Play up those stories in company newsletters and websites. At the same time, leaders can feature those stories in their speeches and meetings throughout the company. Such stories not only recognize individuals and teams, they mark progress with the change initiative. It is also appropriate to include metrics that quantify the improvement; again this contributes to momentum but appeals to our logic that values sound strategy and planning.
Balancing Head and Heart Too much emotion, of course, can be harmful. Throughout our history, unscrupulous politicians in particular, have appealed to the dark side of emotions to promote agendas of bigotry and separation. Ku Klux Klan rallies featuring fiery crosses are full of symbolism and rhetoric, though hardly something to be emulated.
Likewise, managers who play upon fear in the workplace as a means of effecting change are short-sighted. Such ploys pit one person or one department against another, and in the long run do more harm than good. Furthermore, too much emotion, especially when there is a lack of good reason and logic, is not only soppy, it is ineffective. It softens resolve and over time actually turns people off. How many lost puppy-style stories can we endure?
Appeals to the heart do have a noble purpose. Mother Theresa was forever putting herself forward to find support and resources for her mission to care for the “poorest of the poor.” And while she received money and attention from the rich and famous she also received donations from people who had little or nothing for themselves but felt compelled to give something. She lauded such folks in her communications as examples of giving from the heart even when it hurt. In doing so, she put a face on her appeals but she also trumped the better side of humanity making us all feel better in the process, as well as more disposed to helping her cause. Managers, like politicians, who can touch people will have a much greater opportunity to make the case for transformation and thereby effect meaningful change.
John Baldoni is a leadership communications consultant who works with Fortune 500 companies as well as non-profits including the University of Michigan. He is a frequent keynote and workshop speaker as well as the author of six books on leadership; the latest is How Great Leaders Get Great Results (McGraw-Hill). Readers are welcome to visit his leadership resource website at
www.johnbaldoni.com.