The Practical Application of Change Management
Motivation is a key concept in change management, primarily because if managers want employees to embrace a change in the workplace the right incentives are required to inspire workers to “buy in” to the change (Heath & Heath, 2010; Symbolic Framework, n.d.). As Wells (2012) points out, one of the best motivators is a leader who is willing to engage in self-leadership—i.e., a leader who demonstrates to his workers how to embrace change by embracing it himself. Other types of motivation exist, however: Grenny et al. (2013) identify intrinsic and extrinsic motivators as pivotal in moving employees (knowledge, praise and self-empowerment are all examples). In short, to get employees to drop resistance to change, managers must find the right ways to motivate. This paper will provide synopses of three sections of each of these three books, synthesize the information, and provide an opinion from a manager’s point of view on how best to practically apply the lessons.

Grenny et al. (2013) focus on personal motivation, personal ability and social motivation in chapters 4 through 6 of Influencer. They show that when it comes to change, people hesitate because it is something foreign to them: it is new, unknown, uncertain, and often unpleasant. Yet doing the right thing typically requires hard work and discipline. To make the grade, one has to study; to win the race, one has to train; to get rid of the Guinea worm, one has to avoid doing the one thing that brings relief (Grenny et al., 2013). Personal motivation is key to bringing about change: people have to become personally driven to do the thing they do not want to do—otherwise there will never be a committed “buy in” among groups. When people cannot do what they need to do, that is when a manager (or influencer) must help them to do what they cannot achieve on their own. Support systems are vital in change management environments, and every victory, no matter how small, has to be celebrated so as to boost morale and increase the sense among followers that the thing they thought they could not do is actually possible and within their ability. Manager can provide support for motivation, as the Symbolic Framework (n.d.) points out: “Managers who strive for quality understand they must involve employees, build on what organizational members share, and teach new members how to behave” (p.11). Emotional and social intelligence is required of the leader, because there will be social and emotional challenges along the way—but these can be overcome by enlisting the right people to provide motivation and social support: these people are like infantry supports for the change manager; they have the same vision and values, and they are also respected and valued among their peers, who are more willing to embrace change if they see their social peers doing so.

This is the essence of what Wells (2012) shows as well. Wells (2012) first begins by arguing that the best way to effect change is to lead from within—be the change that one wants to see happen. Talk is cheap: what matters to people is action. A leader who demonstrates his own willingness to be the change is one who is more likely to have success in getting others to be the change as well. At the same time,...…willing to see for themselves how things stand—and they must be willing to interact with the workers because all change starts and stops with them. This aligns with the Symbolic Framework (n.d.) , which holds that “top managers can set the tone for a culture and for culture change” (p. 11). They are the leading lights—the guides pointing the way.

My personal opinion of these three sections from these three books is that they all basically reflect the same points. Each one makes the point in a different way but in every case the same lessons are being taught. Leaders have to be willing to listen to their workers; through listening comes understanding, and through understanding comes the solution—the change that is needed. To get to that change requires more than just a blue print. It requires patience, consideration, support and celebration. Workers want to be involved and considered and if their input is not obtained, expect resistance. Leaders should put themselves in their workers’ shoes to understand what they are thinking and doing before they set about making any changes at all. However, leaders are leaders for a reason, and at the end of the day they are the ones who have to take a hard look at things and call it as they see it. These three books show that a leader must unite his soul to those souls of his workers and together they must stitch themselves to the soul of the organization: in doing so, they can create a new culture, and in that new culture is the change that lays waiting.