CHAPTER FIVE

CHANGE MASTERY

Leading with Agility

The north shore of Lake Superior is really an awesome sight. The lake is an inland sea—by surface area, the largest body of fresh water in the world. Cool, fresh pine scents the air. Black, rocky cliffs form an imposing backdrop as they disappear into the water’s edge. Waterfalls tumble down, and rivers rush to their destinations. As calming and refreshing as Superior is, she also is dangerously unpredictable. At a moment’s notice, her calm temperament can become a raging force, swallowing huge ships whenever she pleases. Remember Gordon Lightfoot’s song about the Edmund Fitzgerald? The Edmund Fitzgerald was one of Superior’s victims.

Growing up in Minnesota, from a young age I received serious warnings about the Great Lake from my elders: “You can only survive the cold water of Superior for four or five minutes.” Despite all the warnings, in an adventurous spirit, I decided to swim the lake.

Donning my wet suit (I’m not completely crazy), I entered the water. As I dove in, the cold water overwhelmed me. It felt breathtakingly, bone-achingly cold. In the first couple of minutes, I believed all the advice of my upbringing. I was sure I could not handle the cold. Then the water in my wet suit started to warm up, and everything changed. I became intensely aware of being the only human in this huge, watery mass. As I swam near the shore, I closely watched the spears of light passing through the gentle waves. When I swam further into its depths, the blackness of unbelievably deep drop-offs appeared and revealed the lake’s immensity. After a short distance, new underwater cliffs and rock formations came into view. Swimming from point to point, I met with an odd mix of feelings. Ecstatic one moment and fearful the next, I sensed that all my emotions were possible and heightened as I explored this first-time experience.

The cold water kept my heart rate so slow I could go on and on without difficulty. As I progressed, I had the distinct sensation that the lake was choosing to be cooperative with me. Yet I was aware of the tentativeness of the welcome. If she tired of my adventure, I would be history. I was immersed in the body of the lake, and she was accepting my presence, for the moment.

After about three quarters of a mile down the coast, I decided not to overstay my welcome, and I turned back. As I feared, the lake grew impatient. Her waves, which moments ago swelled gently, now rolled harshly and threateningly. Because of the steep cliffs along the shoreline, there was no exit. An enjoyable swim was becoming a dangerous dilemma. All I could do was stay relaxed, tolerate the turbulent, changing waters, and keep my destination in sight.

Fortunately, I reached the shore minutes before the lake decided to “wake up.” Exhilarated and thankful, I walked up the cliffs. Passing an old-timer along the way, I noticed him staring at me in disbelief. Irritated, he snarled, “You know, a fella could get killed doing that!” He looked astonished as I responded, “I know. But isn’t it wonderful to be alive?”

UNCOVERING THE LEARNING AND GROWTH CONTAINED IN CHANGE

Our lives are much like swimming in Superior. We dive into the water, and we never really know what is going to happen next. We operate under the illusion that life remains constant, but in reality everything is always changing. From breath to breath, we exchange so many atoms that we change the makeup of our physiology in a moment. In the course of one year, 98 percent of all our atoms are exchanged for new ones; we are literally new people each year. Our lives are an endless flow of change.

Although it may be true that we can’t “step into the same river twice,” as Heraclitus said, once we step in, we are part of that river’s flow. Since birth, we have been swept up in a raging, constantly changing, never-ending flow of experience. Sometimes we love the flow of life; sometimes we hate it and resist it. But because the flow of the river is constant, we have no choice in the matter. We have to change. It is part of the price of admission to life. Every moment, our cells are changing; our thoughts are changing; our emotions are changing; our relationships, our marketplace, our finances are changing. Change is endless and relentless.

We have no choice in the matter except for one aspect— mastering our ability to adapt and to learn. Most leadership research illustrates that as we go up the executive ladder, we need to become increasingly comfortable with uncertainty and sudden change. As leaders, we must have the “integrative ability” to weave together and make sense of apparently disjointed pieces, crafting novel and innovative solutions. At the same time, we need to have the self-confidence to make decisions on the spot, even in the absence of compelling, complete data. The qualities needed at the top—courage, openness, authentic listening, adaptability—also indicate that leaders need to be comfortable with and able to embrace the “grayness” that comes from multiple points of view coming at us at once. In other words, we have to master our adaptability mentally, emotionally, strategically, and impersonally.

Dr. Daniel Vasella, Chairman and CEO of Novartis for seventeen years, was named “the most influential European business leader of the last 25 years” in a poll of Financial Times readers and one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world. He told the graduates at Mumbai’s Indian School of Business, “Be comfortable with seemingly contradictory situations, feelings, and actions. You will of course encounter many people who cannot deal with ambiguity, people who always want simplicity and clarity. So, you as leaders will have to create the clear direction for them.”

Based on a multiyear study by the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), the number-one issue facing senior leadership is “Dealing with Complex Challenges.” This finding has many connections to our own research findings that the most important competency in shortest supply today is “Dealing with Ambiguity.” CCL defines complex challenges as problems with these characteristics:

• Lack a clearly defined solution

• Remain beyond an individual’s or single group’s ability to overcome

• Have significant strategic, cultural, environmental, and marketplace impact

• Create a paradox of reflection and action

• Render traditional solutions ineffective

• Demand flexibility and agility as challenges shift seemingly overnight

Five leadership skills are required to navigate complex challenges:

• Collaboration rather than heroics

• Building and mending relationships

• Participative management

• Change management and adaptability

• Risk taking

Learning to be open to the potential lessons contained in all change is no small task. Quite often we are dragged “kicking and screaming” to every lesson. As my colleague Janet Feldman likes to say, “People change more often because they feel the heat than because they see the light.”

Glenn, a senior executive in a fast-growth, medium-size company, was about to feel the heat. He was extremely bright, with a Ph.D. in a technical discipline. His intellectual prowess was exceptional, but his emotional and interpersonal skills were not as highly developed. As he advanced through the growing organization, these liabilities became more prominent. Unfortunately, Glenn never really comprehended the importance of developing agility in these areas. Despite honest feedback, professional assessment, and coaching, he just wasn’t ready to grow. Because he didn’t see the light, the heat overcame him, and he was terminated.

Glenn had never “failed” at anything in his life; the shock of this change was dramatic. For the first time, he was truly vulnerable. As William Bridges would have described it in his insightful writing on change, Glenn was “between the ending and the new beginning.” He was in the “journey through the wilderness.” He was finally ready to learn about his style and personality. For the first time, he committed to an action plan to transform his leadership approaches. Within months, he purchased his own business and created a new life. He succeeded because he was open to the purposeful learning contained in the change process.

Learning Agility is a key to unlocking our Change Mastery. In fact, research studies by CCL, Mike Lombardo and Bob Eichinger of Lominger, Robert Sternberg and his colleagues at Yale University, and Daniel Goleman all point to Learning Agility as being more predictive of long-term potential than raw IQ. Learning Agility is a complex set of skills that allows us to learn something in one situation and apply it in a completely different situation. It is about gathering patterns from one context and using those patterns in a completely new context. Learning Agility is the ability to make sense and success of something we have never seen or done before. In short, Learning Agility is Change Mastery—the ability to learn, adapt, and apply ourselves in constantly changing, first-time conditions.

With the Korn Ferry Assessment of Leadership Potential (KFALP), it is possible to measure Learning Agility across five dimensions: Mental Agility, People Agility, Results Agility, Change Agility, and Self-Awareness. While results vary between different groups, quite often the Core Development needs fall into two areas: People Agility and Change Agility. The core skill needed for People Agility? Listening. The Core Development need in Change Agility? Bringing clarity to ambiguity. Another study yielded similar results, correlating high engagement with the combination of Learning Agility, empathy, tolerance for ambiguity, and a social leadership style. Executives with this combination of traits were more likely to be engaged than those with other combinations. As my colleague Bob Eichinger likes to say with his characteristic wit and wisdom, “There are ‘just’ two problems left to solve in business: PEOPLE and CHANGE!”

Jim was a tough, crusty executive from the “old school.” He was extremely bright and got exceptional results, but he also “bored holes” right through people in his drive for excellence. If someone didn’t meet Jim’s expectations, he would rant and rave. Fewer and fewer people wanted to work with him. His lack of People Agility and Change Agility was starting to limit career progression.

When Jim was referred to us for executive coaching, I wasn’t hopeful. I knew his reputation and doubted he was open to change. After several sessions at our Executive to Leader Institute, he was rapidly peeling away layers of self-understanding. To my surprise, he was eagerly open to growth. He didn’t intend to impact people negatively; he just didn’t know how to get results differently. Years of parental modeling combined with a history of patterning himself after an extremely demanding, insecure boss had set his conditioning in place. Underneath the surface was a caring, sensitive, character-driven person. His family life and personal life were clear evidence of his inner being. Once he found congruence between his inner life and outer life, he engaged in his change journey in a much more authentic and passionate way.

BREAKING OLD PATTERNS AND OPENING UP TO CHANGE

Positive change requires letting go of old patterns and taking a fresh approach. It demands going beyond our preconceived ideas. A story about the relationship of a teacher and student illustrates this principle. A student who thought he had it all figured out would visit his teacher each day for private lessons about life. Despite the teacher’s attempts to share her life experience, the student always resisted.

One day the teacher took a different approach. When her student arrived, the teacher asked him if he would like some tea. The teacher then proceeded to set the tea table and brought in a huge pot of piping-hot tea. She filled the student’s cup, but once the cup was full, she continued to pour. Tea overflowed. Covering the table and streaming onto the beautiful carpet, the hot tea ruined everything. The student was shocked. He jumped from his chair and started screaming at the teacher, “Stop! You must be crazy! You’re ruining everything! Can’t you see what you are doing?” The teacher continued her pouring as if the student wasn’t present until the entire teapot was empty. Only then did she look calmly at the student and respond, “If you want to receive my tea, you must keep your cup empty.”

Like a wise student, we can gain insight only if we are open to change. How often have you taken a detour in traffic and discovered a new, better route? Perhaps you have lost a job or relationship, only to connect with a better situation later. How many times has your once favorite restaurant closed, and you discovered a wonderful, new restaurant to replace it? How many difficult or unpleasant experiences end up being the most instructive? Change is always our teacher, pointing in new directions, suggesting new options, and testing our potentialities. Change challenges our current reality by forcing a new reality to rush in. If we’re open to it—if our cup is empty— new possibilities flow into our lives. If we’re not open to change, we respond to it like an enemy we have to fend off.

Unfortunately, resistance is a losing battle because change is a relentless opponent. When we resist change, what is the hidden dynamic? We are usually attempting to defend ourselves from the fear of loss. We fear that we will not survive the change without something familiar being lost. This is an accurate perception. We will lose something. However, we will also gain something. It may be something better, if we are open to the purposeful learning present.

One of the most lucid descriptions of how the change process feels comes from Danaan Parry in Warriors of the Heart:

Sometimes I feel that my life is a series of trapeze swings. I’m either hanging on to a trapeze bar swinging along or, for a few moments in my life, I’m hurtling across space in between bars.

Most of the time, I spend my life hanging on for dear life to my trapeze-bar-of-the-moment. It carries me along at a certain steady rate of swing, and I have the feeling that I’m in control of my life. I know most of the right questions and even some of the right answers. But once in a while, as I’m merrily (or not-so-merrily) swinging along, I look out ahead of me into the distance, and what do I see? I see another trapeze bar swing toward me. It’s empty, and I know, in that place in me that knows, that this new trapeze bar has my name on it. It is my next step, my growth, my aliveness coming to get me. In my heart-of-hearts, I know that for me to grow, I must release my grip on this present, well-known bar to move to the new one.

Every time it happens to me, I hope that I won’t have to grab the new bar. But in my knowing place I know that I must totally release my grasp on my old bar, and for some moment in time, I must hurdle across space before I can grab onto the new bar. Each time I am filled with terror. It doesn’t matter that in all my previous hurdles across the void of unknowing, I have always made it. Each time I am afraid that I will miss, that I will be crushed on unseen rocks in the bottomless chasm between the bars. But I do it anyway. Perhaps this is the essence of what the mystics call the faith experience. No guarantees, no net, no insurance policies, but you do it anyway because somehow, to keep hanging on to the old bar is no longer on the list of alternatives.

And so for an eternity that can last a microsecond or a thousand lifetimes, I soar across the dark void of “the past is gone; the future is not yet here.” It’s called transition. I have come to believe that is the only place that real change occurs. I mean real change, not the pseudo-change that only lasts until the next time my old buttons get punched.

So, if change is so great, why do we fear it? We fear it because change always involves both creation and destruction. As something new is created, something old is destroyed. The bud is destroyed as the flower blooms. The chrysalis is destroyed as the butterfly ascends. Our hesitation comes as we face the prospect of replacing the familiar with the unknown. An existing product fails, and a new one is conceived. A job is lost, and a new career begins. At the junction of those two realities, most of us retreat. Usually, it is only after change is thrust upon us that we accept it, because only then do we realize our life may actually be better.

DEVELOPING PRESENT-MOMENT AWARENESS TO DEAL WITH CHANGE EFFECTIVELY

Even though the only “place” we can handle change is in the present, most of us live our lives in the past or the future. Until we learn to live our lives in the flow of the present, we can never really deal with change effectively. At the most fundamental level of our lives, there is only the present moment. When we worry about keeping things like they were in the past and avoiding some new, unknown future, we limit our ability to influence our success in the present. If our awareness is cluttered by the static of the past and future, we can never truly focus on the now. As a result, we can never perform to the height of our abilities, particularly in the midst of dynamic change.

We need to become focused on the now, like a professional athlete with single-minded devotion to a task in the midst of dynamic competition. As we build our focus in the present, we begin to gain confidence that we can handle and learn from whatever comes our way. It’s an inner confidence that we can deal with real change—unexpected change—not just the run-of-the-mill type of anticipated change. In Head, Heart and Guts: How the World’s Best Companies Develop Complete Leaders, David Dotlich, Peter Cairo, and Stephen Rhinesmith quote Bill Weldon, past Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson: “Sometimes a leader must be able to endure chaos and appreciate it in order to discover the right thing to do.”

Learning to cultivate this centered, present-moment awareness takes practice on a day-to-day level. We can begin with mundane levels of change and then build our change capacity to higher more dynamic levels, much like an athlete does in training. Several months ago, I was returning from a conference in New York City. Like most conferences, it was a combination of learning, inspiration, good and bad speakers, not enough sleep, and uninspired hotel food. Needless to say, I was ready to return home. My flight back to Minneapolis went smoothly. I arrived at the gate fifteen minutes early, and my baggage was the first off the plane. Everything went like clockwork. I had “found time” on my hands. My colleague and I had agreed that she would pick me up at the airport after her appointment at a client’s offices nearby. We would have lunch and catch up with each other and the business. So I went to the curb and waited. What was I going to do with this newfound time in my life?

As I waited near the passenger pick-up area, I could still feel the buzz of New York City in my head, and I could sense the same on-edge energy around me. Every person who was waiting seemed to be in an irritable mood. One guy repeatedly pounded his fist on the trunk of an arriving car so his spouse would open the trunk latch. Another, with his smartphone plastered to his cheek, hurled his bags into the back seat and began shouting orders at his companion. As I was observing the scene, I said to myself, “This is no way to live. I’m going to make sure my colleague feels appreciated when she gets here. I’m going to wait patiently.”

Maintaining this patient attitude was fairly easy for the first half hour; after all, I had arrived early and had gained a half hour in my life. But when the second half hour began, I was starting to feel those primordial “time is of the essence” rumblings. Catching myself regressing toward the early stages of behavioral evolution demonstrated by my “curb mates,” I affirmed, “I don’t care it if takes an hour. I’m going to be kind, and in the meantime I’m going to extract whatever learning I can from the present moment.” As an entrepreneur and creative type of person, I frequently live my life in the future. I am thinking of the next new program we’ll design, the next keynote I’ll make, or the next client I’ll meet.

However, standing there in the midst of this curbside scene with anxiously waiting people and a crush of cars jockeying for position, I truly became aware of what it was like to be in the present. My commitment was so complete that it changed my perception of the situation. Letting go of my rigid time focus and my tendency to focus on the future, I started to notice things in the present. The air was fresh, crisp, clear. I noticed how excited the children and dogs in the approaching cars were as they came to pick up moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles. Even though the people they were picking up were sometimes grumpy, it didn’t matter to the kids or animals; they were in the joy of the present. I started to feel good. I was unwinding and relaxing. I was dealing with change on an everyday level.

Eventually my colleague phoned. Her client meeting had run slightly long, midday traffic was a bit snarly, and she regretted the delay. When she did arrive, in keeping with my commitment, I approached her car smiling and buoyant, gave her a warm greeting, and said, “Thanks,” before she had the chance to apologize for running late. As we headed to a nearby restaurant for lunch, she asked me how the flight was. I said with all sincerity, “The flight was fine, but the last hour of waiting was really terrific. I got some great insights about being present.” Her eyes widened as she glanced quickly from the merging traffic and with her sharp, tongue-in-cheek wit, said, “We really need to get you back to the office. You’ve been away too long!”

How often does our inability to master those everyday situations cause unnecessary stress, tension, loss of productivity, and ineffective relationships? The ability to cope with large and small changes not only improves the quality of our lives; it also greatly enhances our effectiveness.

BRIDGING THE PARADOX OF IMMEDIATE FOCUS AND BROAD AWARENESS FOR LEADING DURING TURBULENT TIMES

The most effective people we have coached over the years have been able to straddle an important paradox. They could sustain a sharp, localized focus in the present moment while also maintaining a broad, visionary context. Being able to maintain a sharp focus and broad comprehension simultaneously is one of the most important qualities for both leadership effectiveness and dealing with change. It reminds me of how I felt in Lake Superior as the waves were kicking up. In order to cope, I had to relax and focus on the quality of my swim stroke while at the same time keeping the goal clearly in mind. Too much attention on one or the other, and the results could have been disastrous. Effective people can bridge these two realities as they navigate through change. Admittedly, doing so can be a real challenge when dramatic, unexpected change brings us to our knees.

Walter was a highly successful CHRO for a global financial services company. His career had been a steady progression through the organization. He wasn’t flashy. He was solid, reliable, and responsible, and he got results. He had been loyal to the organization and was totally dedicated to it. When the organizational dynamics rapidly shifted, he didn’t fit anymore. He was totally shocked and devastated. Walter conducted a long, tough job search, which took its toll on him and his finances.

Eventually he found a new job and sat down with me to celebrate. To my surprise, he couldn’t say a word; all he could do was sob deeply and gasp for air. I knew he was happy, but this was extreme. Once composed, he said, “Kevin, I probably should have told you this before, but I was so ashamed. I almost took my life two months ago. I went into my garage, sealed off all the doors and cracks, and turned on my car. As I sat there intending to end it all, a mentor’s wise advice flashed through my mind: when times are really tough, focus on what’s important to you, where you want to end up, and on the people you love. I thought of my daughter and everything I still wanted to do with my life. I flew out of the car and got into the fresh air just in time. I’m so emotional today because I didn’t just get a job; I got my life.”

I am always inspired by these reminders of how our purpose, values, and loved ones are the rudders that help us navigate the raging whitewater of change.

LEARNING TO TRUST OURSELVES AMID DYNAMIC CHANGE

Sometimes even our purpose and values aren’t enough to get us through change. At times, things are moving so rapidly that all we can do is trust. Some years ago, I was driving about fifty miles per hour in a rainstorm on an interstate highway. As I drove through this blinding rain, I was listening to an audiotape about trusting yourself during tough times. Little did I know how relevant the tape’s message was going to be. A moment later, I heard something hit my roof and realized the fancy, long windshield wiper—my one and only wiper blade—on my fancy new car had flown right over the top of my vehicle. I could not see a thing.

Naturally, I started to panic. Then I heard this reassuring voice on the tape encouraging me to trust myself. So I did. I trusted my intuition and navigated my way off the freeway. I’m still amazed that I didn’t crash. When I got back to the office, I told a colleague about what had happened and my amazing “trust experience.” She advised, “Trust me and get rid of that stupid car!” In times of rapid change, trusting ourselves and our intuition may be our only guide. If that doesn’t work, at least buy a car with two wiper blades.

In the business world, maintaining trust through turbulent times can be very challenging, particularly when coming face-to-face with failure. At Toro, trust is the bridge to a “freedom-to-fail” environment. Ken Melrose, former CEO of Toro, shared with me a real-life story of a Toro team that failed in its attempt to save the company time and money by making a new metal hood for a riding lawn mower. Unfortunately, after considerable investment, the project failed.

A short time later, Ken called the team to his office. As they gathered outside, they feared the worst. However, when they entered Ken’s office, they were completely surprised to be greeted by a celebration, with balloons and refreshments. Ken shared with them, “Most innovative ideas don’t work out. We need to keep trusting, creating, risking, and celebrating the good ‘tries,’ particularly when things don’t work out.” Rooted in the CEO’s authentic embodiment of trust and Change Mastery, this “Go for it” attitude spread throughout the company, infusing everyone with energy, confidence, and the genuine permission to innovate.

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AS MEASURED BY OUR ABILITY TO ADAPT

Adaptability may be the most crucial quality for effectively dealing with change. I’m sure it’s not an exaggeration to say that our personal and professional effectiveness is in direct proportion to our ability to adapt to change. Even the evolution of our species can be measured by its resilient ability to adapt. In The Guardian, Buckminster Fuller wrote, “Everyone is too specialized now. We couldn’t be getting ourselves into worse trouble since we know that biological species become extinct because they overspecialize and fail to adapt. Society is all tied up with specialization. If nature had wanted you to be a specialist, she’d have had you born with one eye and with a microscope attached to it.”

Many people live like they are observing life through the fixed gaze of a microscope. The most fatal obstacle to an effective life is a fixed, unyielding point of view. If we view life in a single-dimensional manner, we will always be disappointed and frustrated. With such a rigid, fixed view, life will never “live up” to our limited definitions. Our lives will be shattered at the first unexpected experience. Because life is growth and motion, a fixed, inflexible view is the greatest threat to effective leading and living. As Arnold Toynbee said in Cities on the Move, “The quality in human nature on which we must pin our hopes is its proven adaptability.” If we hope to be more effective leaders, we must pin our hopes on our ability to deal with all life throws at us by changing, adapting, and growing.

BECOMING THE CEO OF CHANGE

Change is usually seen as something happening “out there”: the world changes, products change, competition changes, systems and processes change, and technology changes. While I was coaching a CEO on a major change initiative, he hesitantly said to me, “Let me get this straight: You mean to say that I’m going to have to change?” All significant change begins with us. As Peter Block writes in Stewardship, “If there is no transformation inside each of us, all the structural change in the world will have no impact on our institution.”

Korn Ferry Institute researchers James Lewis and Stu Crandell reported findings from a study of 267 C-suite executives, who were evaluated to determine which competencies were most prevalent among highly engaged executives, as compared to their less engaged peers. Two differentiated competencies (out of thirty-eight) emerged and appeared in all five of the industry sectors studied. “Manages ambiguity” and “being resilient” were the two critical competencies exhibited by the most highly engaged executives. In short, the most change-agile leaders tended to be the ones who were most engaged in our volatile, unpredictable, complex, and ambiguous world.

A powerful societal shift is happening around the globe and supporting this change-agile paradigm. The “BNP Paribas Global Entrepreneur Report 2016” cited a study led by Scorpio Partners and referred to this trend as “The Emergence of the ‘Millennipreneur.’” The generation born between 1980 and 1985 is creating companies in the new economy and in traditional sectors at a rate more than 200 percent faster than the baby boomers did at a similar age.” Change Agility and the ability to navigate ambiguity are increasingly becoming the preferred traits in leaders. A new generation of transformative leaders is converting ambiguity to agility, complexity to clarity, resistance to resilience, chaos to creativity, and employment to entrepreneurship. From the vantage point of Change Mastery, we all are on a journey to become the “CEO of Change” in our lives, our careers, and our organizations.

CHANGE YOURSELF … CHANGE THE WORLD

David Prosser, retired Chairman of RTW, shared with me how he went through his own change process and reinvented himself:

Twenty years ago, I was sixty years old, and by all external measures I was very successful. While standing outside my lake home in suburban Minneapolis, I looked around me, and I noticed, as if for the first time, my huge home with my expensive Mercedes parked in front. In a moment, it dawned on me that despite all this external stuff and success, I wasn’t happy.

I knew then and there that I needed to transform myself to transform my life. Over the next few years, I committed myself to personal growth. My personal work culminated in the realization that I wanted to serve people by making a difference in the world. This reinvention of myself eventually led me to found RTW, which is committed to transforming workers’ compensation systems in the United States. If you want to change the world, start by changing yourself. Then go out and change the world.

Terry Neill said, “Change is a door that can only be opened from the inside.” Yet I know many leaders who, despite enormous competencies and skills, do not make the connection between their own growth and transformation and that of their organization. Transformation is not an event but an ongoing process of knowing who we are, maintaining a clear vision of what we want to create, and then going for it. The same holds true for organizations. Change yourself; change your organization; change the world.

CHANGE INITIATIVES RARELY SUCCEED

Most research on personal or organizational change is not pretty. Indeed, most initiatives— between 50 percent and 75 percent—do not succeed. Just look at these arguments for failure: A.T. Kearney found that 58 percent of all mergers fail to reach their goals, and 77 percent add no value. Vantage Partners found that 70 percent of all strategic alliances fail, and Arthur D.

Little found that 67 percent of Fortune 500 quality initiatives yielded no significant quality improvements. According to the Hoover Institute, 66 percent of venture capital start-ups failed to return the original investment.

The picture doesn’t get any brighter on the individual level, where research shows that 50–75 percent of smoking cessation or weight-loss programs don’t succeed either. The conclusion? Change is tough. The critical follow-up question: Why do more than 25 percent work?

As we have seen, Learning Agility is a core factor. In addition, the underlying architecture of agility—our neurophysiology—is fundamental. David Rock, management consultant and author of Quiet Leadership, and Jeffrey Schwartz, research scientist and author of The Mind and the Brain, coauthored an article, “The Neuroscience of Leadership,” published in strategy+business magazine. The article sharply connects the latest research on the brain with leadership imperatives, especially for effecting successful change initiatives. In fact, Rock and Schwartz go so far as to say, “Managers who understand the recent breakthroughs in cognitive science can lead and influence mindful change: organizational transformation that takes into account the physiological nature of the brain and the ways in which it predisposes people to resist some forms of leadership and accept others.” The authors identify three reasons change initiatives fail:

1. Change resistance is real; it makes people physiologically uncomfortable and “amplifies stress.”

2. Typical, outside-in behavior models don’t work for the long term, because they rely on external rather than internal drivers.

3. Trying to persuade people to embrace change through outside-in communication initiatives or presentations is not compelling and engaging enough for people.

Based on neuroscience, the authors identify four key imperatives for successful change:

1. Focus people’s attention on the new idea, and help them map a clear vision of what their world will look like from the inside out.

2. Create an environment in which talking about and sharing this vision is part of the everyday experience.

3. Give people space for reflection and insight to digest the change possibilities from the inside out.

4. Keep reminding people what is important; leave problems in the past and focus on identifying and creating new behaviors and solutions.

Rock and Schwartz maintain that our brain is not hardwired. It changes. We physically change our brain, make new neurons and connections. This contention is validated by the work of other scientists, including Jon Kabat-Zinn, research scientist and creator of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program; Richard Davidson, neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin, who has studied mindfulness and regulation of attention; and Daniel Goleman, whose recent work has been on the critical capability of leaders to direct attention by learning first to focus their own attention and to develop three important types of awareness—self-awareness, awareness of others, and awareness of the broader world. This body of work demonstrates that as leaders we can increase—physiologically—our adaptability to change, and as a result stay more open and engaged as we focus and navigate the change that we want to bring about.

Through thirty years of helping leaders, teams, and organizations navigate change, we have codified seven Change Mastery shifts on which we can focus our attention to increase our Change Agility:

SEVEN CHANGE MASTERY SHIFTS

• Change Mastery Shift 1: From Problem Focus to Opportunity Focus

Transformative leaders tend to perceive and pursue the opportunities inherent in change.

• Change Mastery Shift 2: From Short-Term Focus to Long-Term Focus

Transformative leaders don’t lose sight of their long-term vision in the midst of change.

• Change Mastery Shift 3: From Circumstance Focus to Purpose Focus

Transformative leaders maintain a clear sense of purpose, value, and meaning to rise above immediate circumstances.

• Change Mastery Shift 4: From Control Focus to Agility Focus

Transformative leaders understand that control is a management principle that yields a certain degree of results. However, agility, flexibility, and innovation are leadership principles that sustain results over the long haul.

• Change Mastery Shift 5: From Self-Focus to Service Focus

Transformative leaders buffer their teams and organizations from the stress of change by managing, neutralizing, and/or transcending their own stress to serve the team’s needs more effectively.

• Change Mastery Shift 6: From Expertise Focus to Listening Focus

Transformative leaders stay open and practice authentic listening to stay connected to others and to consider multiple, innovative solutions.

• Change Mastery Shift 7: From Doubt Focus to Trust Focus

Transformative leaders are more secure in themselves; they possess a sense that they can handle whatever may come their way; their self-awareness and self-trust are stronger than the potential threats of change.

MEASURING OUR ABILITY TO DEAL WITH CHANGE

Managing change is a hot topic today. Leaders at all levels of the organization are being challenged to perform like no other time in business history. How well do we prepare our talent to be up to the task? Certainly, most training in change management and process improvement is valuable. But are we really preparing leaders and all employees to thrive in change? Are we helping people develop the inner resilience required, or are we throwing them into the lion’s den of change and hoping they will somehow survive?

With the rapid changes in our digital age, the old-world “survival of the fittest” mentality is becoming obsolete. The whole idea of “fittest” needs to be redefined. No longer a measure of physical prowess or power, it needs to be reconsidered in terms of survival of the most aware, the most willing to learn, or the most flexible—mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. The emerging paradigm for success in the coming years will shift from the concept of external exertion to one of internal mastery. Survival of the most aware and most adaptable is becoming the true underlying foundation for lasting effectiveness. Are we gaining mastery from the inside out to withstand the tumult of change, or are we reacting and defending ourselves against every change that comes our way?

If our fear of loss exceeds our personal coping strategies, we will be overwhelmed and therefore ineffective in dealing with change. It all boils down to accessing the Learning Agility within us. Imagine how bold and wonderful our lives would be if our purpose, vision, and resilience were so strong that fear did not have a hold over us. Outstanding leaders, like Franklin Delano Roosevelt, understand this dynamic: “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” These words are spoken from a place of true character—a place of unshakable inner conviction, strength, and awareness. They are not merely a cleverly crafted phrase but an expression of a deep, character-driven leader. Imagine your life totally free of fear. You would harbor no financial fear, no fear of failure, no fear of loss—no fear whatsoever. How would you live? How would you change? If you could not fail, what would you do?

SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF CHANGE MASTERY

1. Be Open to Learning: When we resist change, all our energy is bound up in the effort to maintain the status quo. In this restricted state of awareness, we miss the lessons within and around us. There’s no need to deny the challenges you are experiencing. Encourage yourself to open up consciously to the learning hidden in changing circumstances. Grow with the flow … and grow within the creative tension of change.

2. Practice Present-Moment Awareness: In the midst of change, we often cope by escaping mentally and emotionally to the past or future. As a result, we rarely live in the present. Imagine an athlete preoccupied with the last play or the next competition instead of the play at hand. Would he or she be successful? Developing focus on the present moment allows us to begin to “connect up” a series of present-moment successes into a lifetime of effectiveness. Think about it: Isn’t the present moment our only shot at success?

3. Integrate Immediate Focus and Broad Awareness: Paradoxically, highly effective people have learned to integrate a localized focus with a comprehensive awareness. They zero in on the present moment without losing the broader sense of their vision and purpose. Being deeply focused yet simultaneously aware of the meaningful context of our lives is one of the keys to enduring success. Many successful people describe their broad, purposeful awareness as being like a screen on which all the focused, localized events of their lives are connected in a meaningful way.

4. Trust Yourself: Sometimes the “G-forces” of change are so intense that all we can do is sit back, hold on, and trust that everything will work out. Developing our inner ability to trust is crucial as we hurl through the air between the potent forces of creation and destruction. As André Gide wrote, “One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.” The essence of Change Mastery is self-trust that serves others.

5. Develop Resilience through Mental / Emotional Stretching: Our current state of development or personal evolution can be measured directly by our ability to adapt. Our life shrinks and expands in proportion to our personal flexibility. To “limber up,” start stretching yourself in the mundane, everyday events of life. How are you adapting to the slow traffic? How are you reacting to being late for an important presentation or being open to someone else’s “unusual” style or background? What is your response to trying something new?

Gradually increase your emotional/mental/spiritual flexibility to make yourself more agile for life’s major events. Follow the same principles used for physical training: stretch, don’t strain—nanometers of daily progress are sufficient. As we regularly practice this type of training, our elasticity may be experienced as a calm and centered sense of self in the midst of unpredictable events. Follow the advice of Benjamin Franklin: “Be not disturbed at trifles or at accidents, common or unavoidable.”

6. Remember That All Significant Change Begins with Self-Change: Recently, a CEO of a global organization asked us to both facilitate leadership development for his top people and help them get a deeper, more intimate sense of their highest-potential talent. We have a program called LeaderSuccession that intimately involves the CEO, CHRO, and a small group of six people, who experience profound leadership development from the inside out and the outside in. When this CEO asked if he should be there to “kick it off,” we said, “Absolutely not. You need to be there for the entire three days.” While he hesitated to invest the time, he was extremely glad that he did.

During this experience, the top talent built new self-awareness, learned teaming skills, mastered coaching others, got insights into their own leadership challenges, and understood the powerful balance of personal power and relational power. Also, the CEO got to intimately know some of his key talent for succession preciseness. But the biggest, most unexpected benefit was the CEO’s own growth and development. Presumably, he was there to “observe.” To his credit, he shifted from observation to co-learning, and he was the most surprised to find that he accelerated his own progression. Additionally, he modeled the open, developmental behavior he wanted to see in others. If you want to develop your people, be the development you want to see.

7. Take the Leap: Accept the fact that you will naturally feel some hesitation and anxiety when facing the trapeze bar of change. Learning to see beyond the fear of loss and into a more purposeful vision gives us the courage to take the leap. When faced with going to “a new edge,” think of the bold inner confidence expressed in this Zen poem:

Ride your horse along the edge of the sword,
Hide yourself in the middle of the flames,
Blossoms of the fruit tree bloom in the fire,
The sun rises in the evening.