Thanks for the kind words and your comments. Best to you…

Thanks for the comment Mike.

Hi Tanveer:

Thanks for your comment. In general, I concur with your advice. However I do have one caveat of note: those regardless of segment which possess strong influence. It is quite possible to have a dissenting voice with great influence, which if not properly addressed, could adversely impact the change initiative. Thanks for sharing Tanveer.

Mike…

If I could, I’d like to expand on your second point about leading change, specifically to communicating with the different personality types about the impending change in terms of getting everyone engaged and on board.  I agree with you that it’s important to identify the advocates and critics early on; however, I would suggest in terms of communication, a leader’s added focus should be on empowering the advocates, encouraging their enthusiasm for the measures while limiting response to the critics to acknowledging their concerns but not necessarily addressing them unless there’s some legitimate concerns that would benefit the change (as most of us know, more often than not, these critics tend to be critical without necessarily offering any alternatives to address their concerns)

This will allow leaders and advocates to turn their attention to what tends to be the larger segment of any group – the “neutral bystanders” or fence-sitters who most likely are more concerned with the here and now while waiting for these changes to take effect.

This way, leaders and their team of advocates can draw this segment of employees into alignment with their plans and with the large segment of the team on-board, it becomes easier at this point to shift focus back to the critics and help them to see the value behind making these changes.

By adjusting depth of focus during this process of leading change, as opposed to offering equivalent attention to each subset, leaders will have an easier time advocating and pushing forward change in their organization and teams.

I agree with your thoughts Mark. Change is only a new concept to the intellectually dishonest, or to those who have attempted to avoid it or undermine it. Thanks as always for the great insights Mark.

Thanks Keith – love your mantra. I especially appreciate your thoughts on communication and story-telling. Thanks for sharing these great insights Keith.

Thanks for the comment Ron. I agree with your caution to beware of those seeking change for the wrong reasons, and/or not possessing the the skills to finish what they start. Thanks for stopping by Ron.