Most business schools, management books and articles, when dealing with the subject of
"change management," provide advice for executives who find themselves in the position of having to "cope with" change---a reactive process. The savvy owner/entrepreneur, however, understands that it’s the proactive approach---the willingness to actually create change---that separates the innovators from the followers in today’s fast-paced business environment. A true leader’s challenge is to manage the future, not simply to predict it.

It’s the only way to survive in a dynamic marketplace. In our organization, we all recognize that we face a choice---to either stand in the gallery and watch the tournament or get out on the course and help determine the outcome. We live by a few simple precepts regarding the whole notion of change management.

Companies are going to undergo change, voluntarily or not. Living through the process of change is not a question of choice, or of "if," but of when and how. There’s no running away from it. You, as the leader of your enterprise, must decide whether to stand by or to get out in front of the process, by actually creating change. "But I can’t predict the future," you may counter. No leader is lucky enough to possess a crystal ball that will map out exactly what tomorrow will hold, but we can all recognize and communicate the fact that there will be external threats and opportunities. One of our greatest challenges as leaders is to help the rest of the organization realize that the world around them is changing at breakneck speed. Together, you and your people must use the best tools you have available to anticipate, for example, how advancing technology will affect and change your business; or whether your company’s world is becoming smaller as a result of consolidation among your customers or suppliers.

An artificially-created sense of urgency can jump-start positive change. Somebody in the company---and it’s usually the person staring back at you in the mirror---needs to draw a mental picture of the serious consequences of inaction, even if the operation is humming along, making money and expanding its market share. The picture must be clear enough to create immediate understanding throughout all levels of the organization. One of the challenges that comes along with the privilege of playing the leading role is developing the ability to "tell the story," of the company’s past victories and of the challenges it will face in the future. Some leaders create urgency, for example, by talking about the great strides being made by the competition, or the rapid changes seen in the markets the company serves. Others choose to take symbolic steps to wake the organization up, by staging offsite brainstorming sessions, enabling the person at the top as well as all key employees to look at the company’s performance in new ways.

Defining a mission that is inspiring and worth achieving can energize employees to prepare for change. How will you craft such a mission? More importantly, how will you connect that mission to your people at a level that is important to them? One tried and true method, or course, is to make it a factor in their compensation. Even more
effective is the practice of including employees in the change management process, and making yourself, as leader, a vulnerable member of the team. Assigning work that requires and rewards interdependency can yield great dividends during the process of change.

Set goals that challenge your employees’ abilities. Without ambitious targets, the company will never achieve its mission. Setting your expectations at a high level communicates to your employees your confidence that they have what it takes to help move the company faster and farther along the path of positive change. You can,
in a very concrete way, help employees overcome barriers of doubt and fear by demonstrating to them personally what you mean. Example: if front-line managers complain about how impossible it is to obtain new business, go out and establish a new customer relationship yourself, and tell your people the story of how it can be done. Involve yourself as a member of the team, not simply an armchair general.

Know the difference between "playing not to lose" and "playing to win." Enlist your key people to help energize the entire organization. The marketplace is dynamic, not static, so you must communicate, communicate, communicate---create continuous internal discussion about your products, markets and technology and what
each person in the company can do to capitalize on changes in the environment, not capitulate to them.

Don’t wait for a crisis to provide the motivation to set change management in motion. Take a hard and ruthless look at the status quo and ask yourself, and your people, the most important question a good change leader can ask: "If we were to go into this product line/service/territory/venture now, knowing what we know, would we
go into it in the same way we are currently doing it?" Ask the question even if the product or service has been successful. The answer, once you think about it for awhile, just might surprise you.

If it’s "No," or even "Maybe," then it might be time to consider an overhaul of that aspect of your business. Be honest with yourself: when a product line is old and declining, aren’t you wasting resources if you are committing your ablest people, your hard-earned dollars, to shore up a rotting pier in danger of washing away and carrying these assets out to sea with it? Evaluate the opportunity cost: couldn’t that brain power, that money, be put to more effective use with a new idea that has the potential to contribute to performance and produce long term results? Don’t waste resources in the stubborn service of doing things as they have always been done.

Finally, work to make sure that your change management strategies are built around commitment instead of compliance, to ensure that the process will result in long term benefits instead of force-fed, half-hearted cosmetic efforts.

When seeking to drive cultural change, never forget that a value is only a value when it is voluntarily chosen. Identify those on your staff who can act as natural " carriers" of new ideas and practices. You know who they are: the employees who carry ideas, support and---most importantly---positive stories throughout your organization.

Finally, remember that being a leader of change takes courage, but after all, by becoming an entrepreneur, you already demonstrated your courage at least once. Get in the habit of doing it again…and again. When the train’s leaving the depot and moving down the tracks, make sure you and your company are on it, not left behind
at the station.



.