embracing and leading change
TRANSCRIPT
Bret L. Simmons, Ph.D.
www.bretlsimmons.com
Carson Valley Leadership Program
April 21, 2015
Embracing and
Leading Change
What do you want
to learn today?
Leadership
The Process of Leadership
Assume responsibility for the choice
to engage with others and use your
influence to pursue substantive
changes that advance a shared
purpose
The Process of Leadership
Assume responsibility for the choice
to engage with others and use your
influence to pursue substantive
changes that advance a shared
purposeWhat is the hardest choice you have to
make when you participate in this
process?
Change
For anything to change, someone has to
start acting differently. Can you get
people to start behaving differently? (p.4)
Change Metaphor
Rider - Rational
– Deliberates,
analyzes, looks into
the future
– Provides planning
and direction
Elephant – Emotional
– Feels pain and
pleasure
– Provides the energy
Direct the Rider
Follow the bright spots:
Investigate and clone the successes
Destination
postcards:Shows the Rider
where you are
headed and the
Elephant why the
journey is
worthwhile
Change is easier
when you know where
you are going and why
it is worth it
Script the critical moves
Be specific about the behavior you want to change
Direct the Rider
• What looks like resistance is
often a lack of clarity
• Clarity dissolves resistance
Motivate the Elephant
Find the feeling
Motivation comes from
confidence. The
Elephant has to believe
that it’s capable of
conquering the change
Shrink the change:
Break down the change until it no longer spooks the Elephant
Sense of progress is critical
Make change a matter of identity, not consequences
Who am I? What kind of situation is this? What
would someone like me do in this situation?
Grow your people
Encourage a growth
mindset by praising
effort rather than skill
Growth Mindset
• Talent is NOT fixed unless you
believe that it is. Treat talent as
something almost everyone
can earn, not that just a few
people own.
• Everyone can learn to work
smarter
20
Motivate the
ElephantChange is hard because people
wear themselves out. What looks
like laziness is often exhaustion
Shape the Path
Tweak the environment. When the situation
changes, behavior changes
Build Habits
Supportive habits that are easy to embrace
and advance the new behavior
Action Triggers: Decisions you make to
execute a certain action when you encounter
a certain situation
Checklists help educate
people about what is best
by showing then the right
way to do something
Rally the HerdBehavior is contagious; help it
spread
Shape the path
What looks like a people problem is
often a situation problem. When
you shape the path, you make the
change more likely, no matter
what’s happening with the Rider
and the Elephant
The law of
crappy systems
trumps the law
of crappy
people
28
Application
Identify a change that is happening
right now at in your community or at
work. Discuss ways that you can
direct the Rider, motivate the
Elephant, and shape the Path to
help improve the success of this
change
Reciprocity Style
Taker, Matcher, or Giver
Takers view success as attaining
results that are superior to others
Matchers see success in terms of balancing
individual accomplishments with fairness to
others
Givers characterize success as
individual achievements that have a
positive impact on others
How you give determines if
you will achieve long term
success or languish at the
bottom
Concern for Other’s
Interests
LOW HIGH
Concern
for
Self-
Interest
LOW Apathetic Selfless:
Self-
sacrificing
givers
HIGH Selfish:
Takers
Otherish:
Successful
Givers
Application
How can you improve the citizenship
behavior in your community or
organization?
Discuss ways you can direct the Rider,
motivate the Elephant, and shape the
Path to create more otherish givers in
your organization.
Questions?