It Doesn’t Matter What You Say…
How do you successfully manage change or launch new products or services?
Three weeks before the workshop, I got one of those phone calls.
I was launching a course on Executive Presence and the participants loved it. Each one said that while it was humbling and challenging, it also made an immediate difference in their communications and overall presence.
This course was part of a leadership curriculum I was creating for the senior leaders of the company - who frequently raised a skeptical eyebrow that they had anything to learn. Finding willing participants was as interesting as finding someone to volunteer for a root canal by a dental student. Each week I fielded questions about whether the learning experience was worth time away from their jobs.
Which is exactly what David said to me when he called. “I don’t mean to be a jerk,” he said. But I don’t really see what I am going to get out of this training. I give presentations all the time. What am I going to learn when I am already good at this?” I listened as David bounced between defensiveness and curiosity as he tried to make his case.
“David, I can tell you ten things I know you will get out of this experience,” I replied. “But I’m not going to. Instead, I want you to call Phyllis. She went through the course two weeks ago. Ask her whatever you want about it and base your decision on that. If you decide you want to cancel after talking to her, let me know and I will remove your enrollment without a penalty fee.”
David must have been convinced I was going to tell him to attend because he sat silent. After ten seconds he repliedin a voice dripping with doubt, “OK, I’ll call her.”
Three weeks later, I walked into the conference room where the training was being held and came face-to-face with a sheepishly smiling David. I headed straight for him and asked, “Now you’ve got to tell me – what did Phyllis say to you to convince you to come here today?”
He started laughing and said, “She said ‘Just go. She wouldn’t give me any details or help me understand what to expect. But she seemed so confident, and I trust her opinion. So, I took her advice.”
That is the moment I realized that it didn’t matter how I described these leadership courses. What mattered is what others said about it. At the end of the session, I asked David what he thought, and he said, “Phyllis was completely right. I don’t know that she could have said anything to prepare me, but I learned so much. It was completely worth my time.”
Circles of Influence
Momentum is built in a launch or change not from what the leader says, but from the first, second, and third followers. It’s the people who share their experiences as a peer or respected colleagues that make you pay more attention. Their credibility and perspective feel more meaningful than the standard copy, corporate speak, and party lines used in communications. It’s these circles of influence that make a project successful, sell products, or even help someone develop new skills.
Every time an organization is planning a notable change, hours and days are spent on communications plans, what will be said and who will say it. These mostly focus on top-down communications. I know, I worked on a lot of them. And while it’s helpful to hear the CEO lay out the vision and why things are changing, it’s too far removed from the employee and their day-to-day. If you want to help people embrace something, you need to engage these circles of influence.
When you are buying something online and are trying to decide between products, you look at the reviews and comments. The first clicks go to the five- and one-star ratings to see the extremes of what people experienced. As you look at restaurants to make a reservation, you check out reviews to see if there are any recommended favorite dishes or comments on the dining experience. Your friend sends you a list of “must-see” items for the city you are traveling to next week. Scrolling through Netflix, you glance at the “trending now” section to see if there is a movie or show that catches your attention.
These are moments that leverage circles of influence. People and perspectives that help broaden and shape your thinking. We live in this world of curated feedback and perspectives that influence our decisions many times throughout the day. The same is true at work. This already happens informally at the modern-day “water cooler:” emails, calls, texts, and instant messages share experiences that influence daily thinking. The key is to authentically and intentionally harness this.
Identify, Listen, and Leverage
Identify circles of influence by looking for common groupings of employees. New hire cohorts, employee resource groups, functional groups, leaders promoted at the same time, culture groups, offices in specific cities or geographies, training programs – wherever employees are naturally coming together for a reason. Find groups that naturally interact and figure out what that group shares in common.
Start by listening. Ask them questions and be curious to understand their perspective, frustrations, and hopes for your topic. You can’t effectively leverage their voice if you don’t understand it. They won’t help influence if they don’t feel heard and understood.
Leverage these groups to test concepts, provide feedback on plans, participate in rollouts, and share their stories about their experience. Their stories will build trust and demonstrate what is being reinforced and encouraged. Equip them with tools and messages to create influence within their group. Conversations and influence are always happening, your goal is to do it together to help get the desired outcome.
As for that Executive Presence class? It’s been running for 10 years. I left the company many years ago, but it is still one of the most sought-after, highly rated courses. Thanks in small part to David and Phyllis.
Interested in how to use storytelling to drive organizational change? Start a conversation.
***
Want to receive more articles like this one? Sign up for Brain Food here.
Follow along with my process of publishing my book or catch up on previous book writing blog posts.
