By Kelley Reynard

Change is the only constant in our world, and it is a notion extremely important to organisations because without change, businesses will lose their competitive advantage and fail to meet the needs of their clients and customers. The concept of change management is not foreign in today’s fast-moving environment, and it is something at the forefront of leaders’ minds. However, research from McKinsey and Co revealed only 30% of change management programs to be successful. So why do a whopping 70% of change initiates fail? Research reveals employee attitudes and manager behaviour to influence these statistics.

Nate Boaz, principal in McKinsey’s Atlanta office, and Erica Ariel Fox, founding partner at Mobius Executive Leadership, lecture in negotiation at law school, and senior adviser to McKinsey Leadership Development, explain how knowing yourself and understanding what makes you tick, can profoundly impact the success of organisational change programs.

Many organisations undergo change through the implementation of new policies and procedures, advances in technology, and new systems and processes; in other words, technical and scientific changes. These changes are significant to the achievement of certain goals and outcomes for the organisation, however, the authors put forth that a new change strategy will fall short if it fails to address the underlying mind-sets and capabilities of the people who will execute it. When companies solely focus on the outcomes achieved and the bottom line, they are only looking outward. They are simply focusing on the technical aspects of the new solution instead of appreciating the adaptive work the people must do in order for the change to be successful. Another common mistake organisations make is focus too heavily on the training of skills and technical knowledge to implement the change. Unless reinforced on a consistent basis, training rarely translates to new skills outside the classroom or the 2 day workshop employees undertake. Although the outward efforts organisations perform can be destructive to the success of the change management initiative, they are not to be dismissed altogether. Combining efforts that look outward with those that look inward (examining your own individual modes of operating to learn what makes you tick) is a way of linking strategic and systemic intervention to genuine self-discovery and self-development of leaders.

Developing self-understanding allows you to examine the reasons why you say certain things, how your beliefs, values, and past experiences influence your thoughts and actions, and the realities that operate within your heart and mind. It is crucial for those who want to be inspiring, motivating, and effective leaders, to look at their internal experiences to understand their motivations and inner drives. As a leader, knowing your profile, which is the combination of your habits of thought, emotions, hopes, and behaviour in various circumstances, is important in recognising the impact you have on others. Being perceptive of the drivers of your actions is equally important to understanding the real-time perception of a wide range of inner experiences and their impact on your behaviour. One leader who has invested heavily in developing these skills, explains ‘this kind of learning expands your capacity to lead human change and deliver true impact by awakening the full leader within you’.

Further, it is known that individuals can improve themselves in many ways to drive more effective organisational change. Being in tune with what’s happening on the inside means you are able to lead yourself as well as others. People who communicate with others in rude tones, become annoyed, frustrated, or judgemental in the moment are not in tune with themselves. Have you ever experienced a time when communicating with someone and thought ‘they are so rude when speaking to other people and come across as very direct and abrupt when interacting with others?’. This person is an example of someone who is not in tune with what’s happening on the inside. When you are able to notice your ‘inner state’, and understand how your choices impact your behaviours, you can learn to adapt your style to communicate effectively with other people. When you are acutely aware of yourself, you will also be in tune with others. This rings true for organisational change programs; the leader’s eyes will be open and better able to spot obstacles to organisational change.

Boaz and Fox conclude that learning to lead yourself requires you to question some core assumptions too, about yourself and the way things work. This often means leaving your everyday environment, or going outside your comfort zone to experience trials and adventures. The integration of looking both inward and outward is a very powerful formula for creating long-term, high-impact organisational change.

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself” – Leo Tolstoy, Russian novelist.

If you are interested to learn more, and understand the case studies Boaz and Fox discuss, please click the following link to access the full article http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/leading_in_the_21st_century/change_leader_change_thyself