If I had a dime for every time I took the road most traveled, I wouldn’t have enough for a cup of coffee. Call it stubborn (as my mother would say) or simply leading with the childlike curiosity of asking “why,” my life is rich by traveling the road less traveled.
But how do you help your team deal with both the successes and failures of traveling adventurously?
Leadership requires you to lead people down the path of changing, evolving or growing. What I find missing is we rarely give leaders a compass to know what to do once we’ve come through to the other side; the aftermath.
Aftermath: the consequences or aftereffects of a significant unpleasant event.
When you think about “high fiving” your team for a job well done, did you ever pause and reflect on the impact of that change with your team? Sure we help people get ready for change, navigate change, but how much do we spend with them addressing the aftermath of change?
The answer is simple – not enough. Leaders often don’t take the time because like squirrels, we’re off chasing another nut. The problem is you’ve left your team feeling somewhat deflated because you haven’t taken the time they need to evaluate the impact of change. After any transition your people need time and feedback to stabilize the new state of being before chasing the new nut.
Leadership in action
We had an aggressive requirement to get 100 people through problem solving training across 8 plants and like most operations, we executed flawlessly. However, we left people in shambles because we had conducted the training, yet people were not given time in the day to practice their craft. We achieved the goal, but the aftermath did not get us any closer to where we needed to be. We needed to be critical thinkers to resolve issues and prevent them in the future. I see this over and over again when we “high five,” yet we are no closer to improving the experience of having issues or repeat issues. That is why leaders are so often “off track” and unsustainable.
Navigating the aftermath of this change, we debriefed the experience. We agreed the training itself was good, but how we delivered the training was all wrong. We went back and created a Problem Solving 2.0 to create critical thinkers vs. checking the box on training. We kept what was good in the training and added new experiential learning elements to enable learning. We also took our time vs. being pressed by the higher leadership because checking the box would yield a bad result and going down a different path would leave a lasting impact. We later saw a significant improvement in both internal and external problems.
Leadership requires a different way of thinking and managing the aftermath of change is new muscle we need to develop.
Here are three things you need to do to manage the aftermath of change:
- Check in and ask how is everybody feeling
- Leverage the Feedback model from The CEO’s Compass and ask them to think about:
- What should we continue (what went well)
- What should we start doing (what should we do to enhance the outcome we achieved)
- What should we change (what should next time so we don’t detract from the outcome we want to achieve)
- Does this change lead us closer to our outcome? (gut check to assure everyone is still aligned and keeps them in a reflective mode)
My challenge to you is this: Think about a recent change in your organization and could you use these tips NOW to help your team regain it’s confidence in the aftermath of a recent change?
Let me know how you applied these tips.
I see and feel the leader such as yourself who is going through major changes in their organization. When we meet, you are keenly aware of a need for a different approach and see the value in an external set of eyes. If this is you, I truly want to learn more about what you do first. Let’s book a call
Resources
The CEO’s Compass: Your Guide to Get Back on Track – If you’re that leader who feels in their gut something is not right, let’s talk. If you “high fived” your team after a major project, only to feel in your gut it’s not right, think about this resource. A recent acquaintance said after they read the first chapter, they put down the book and had to think about their situation. This could be the resource for you.
Good Reads
Unlock the Sales Game by Ari Galper
Oh my! I have been following the guru’s when it came to extending my offers and I had it all wrong! I’m excited to have met the author and we’ll be recording an interview on the Drop in CEO Podcast. You got to read this and realize your gut was right all along when it came to selling!
Good Music
Sometimes I procrastinate on my weekly social media blogs and while my copy editor patiently awaits my content (shout out to Amanda Lund!). I use music such as this to get me in flow and squeak in my content under deadlines.
Good People
I usually post from past episodes, but this week I’m doing something differently. I really, really want you to put a note on your calendar to listen to my solo episode on Friday. I feel for certain people it can be life changing and I’m honored to share a story from my life and how I am transformed because of it.
“I hope you are inspired to not live a life of what could have – of being just so close, but living one with a purpose and moving forward down a road that you know who you can be.” – Deborah Coviello
Listen and subscribe now: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-drop-in-ceo/id1498953914