Kick-start the Year with Changing Your Change Management Approach

Companies are getting hit with chaos from every angle: tech shake-ups, economic rollercoasters, and geopolitical instability. It's ramping up the pressure on bosses to level up their transformation and how to manage change; change is getting complex and way more make-or-break for success. From our hands-on experience with small enterprises, startups, big listed companies, and government-linked groups, we've discovered some "golden rules" for redesigning organizations to thrive in this ever-changing world. Let's dive into how leaders can step up and totally rethink change management to navigate the storm.

While managers and their teams are constantly feeling the strain due to constant disruption, things aren't slowing down anytime soon. With more than 15 years working and consulting top execs, we've learned leaders go to juggle multiple makeovers at once and get good at "reinvention" – the next-level change. It still focuses on the usual three steps: 1. Execution (getting everyone on board with new tools, processes, or behaviors), 2. Mobilization (psyching up the crew for what's coming), and 3. Transformation (making those new ways stick for good). To do it differently while ensuring success it will require embracing "creative destruction" to dream up fresh ways to create value, plus handling ever-shifting strategy and culture vibes. Forget the rigid and structured playbooks from old-school change methods—these approaches need to improve and learn from failures as you go.

If you're a top executive driving big changes, your win depends on the killer team around you. Our top tip from building winning teams? Know your strengths and hire folks who fill in your blind spots. Always hire someone better than you.

While some top executives are kicking off the year by pushing their teams to crush performance despite all the change and cutthroat competition, it is high time for them to check their own day-to-day effectiveness. Time to upgrade their personal playbook when tackling corporate transformation and overhauls, new strategies, or organization redesigns; look at how one should pick their priorities (impact to bottom-line vs ease of implementation), use their time wisely, pick relevant, urgent and important roles, and sustain their energy and effort. Leaders who can keep tweaking their own style get more done and lead change like pros. Like the saying goes, “Leadership by example goes a long way, while leadership by taking new approach to changewill get you there…”