In this discussion, we explore the benefits and challenges of a Guiding Coalition in supporting organizational change. Answer the questions below as you think through this topic:

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WHY IT MATTERS • Support of the initiative is the most important requirement for change

• Understanding the different levels of buy-in across your organization helps you focus your attention accordingly

• Swiftly addressing resistance provides insight into key areas of concern and expands buy-in across the organization

• Understanding different ways to address resistance enables you to select the best course of action and to be candid and professional with the few resisters

WHAT IT MEANS Effective change leaders know that engagement and support are crucial components of any initiative. This means generating buy-in and passion around the initiative, helping people move out of their comfort zones and embrace new behaviors. Resistance is a natural by-product of change: everyone is instinctively hesitant about altering their ways, especially when change is imposed on them. Effective change leaders proactively address this issue, so that a small number of resisters do not derail the broader effort.

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JACK QUOTE PAGE

“Pick your change partners wisely…Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can, or even have to convince every last person to support change, and don’t let the negative polluters poison the well.” Jack Welch

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MOBILIZING COMMITMENT In a world as complex and fast-moving as the one we live in today, no leader can drive change alone. Regardless of intelligence, power, or charisma, one person cannot foresee the thousands of changes that need to be made to transform an organization or touch and motivate all the people who must be part of it. The success of a major change initiative hinges on leaders who can mobilize the necessary commitment from key people throughout the organization.

In Leading Change, John Kotter (1996) talked about creating the “guiding coalition,” a powerful, credible group of leaders who will shape, champion, and drive the change effort. He also warns of the pitfalls of the isolated CEO and of a low-credibility committee, typically made up of hardworking staff people, a senior line manager who isn’t that engaged, and a handful of consultants. He ex- plains that an effective guiding coalition must have position power, expertise, credibility, and lead- ership.

Trust and a common goal are the cement that holds the guiding coalition together. Neither of these happens overnight. For a diverse group of leaders to align around a common goal may take weeks or months of patient, diligent persuasion. Likewise, trust—especially among people who may be coming from competitive functions or countries—must be carefully nurtured. For these reasons, egomaniacs and “snakes,” as Kotter calls them in his book, are almost never the people you want on your guiding coalition.

We agree that the guiding coalition is an essential starting point and cover it in this lecture. Howev- er, our experience is that the early commitment of key individuals throughout the organization, not just at the top, is also important. We will provide tools for identifying and leveraging these people in the rest of the lecture.

REACHING DEEPER INTO THE ORGANIZATION Beyond the guiding coalition, you can think more broadly about who else’s commitment you need to be mobilized in order to win hearts and minds and spread the word about the change initiative. You will want to think about key functions or locations that are so central to the organization’s identity or competitive advantage that they have their own center of gravity. If people in this area do not get with the change program, they hold others back; conversely, if they do, their momentum pulls others forward. Can you imagine a significant change at Apple that did not, at its heart, include the product designers?

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Consider including respected thought leaders in the organization as well. They may be experienced people with unique and valued functional expertise or rising stars who have captured attention for their competence or brilliance. They may be behind-the-scenes types who have quietly built the organization’s intellectual capital.

There will also be people who, by virtue of their personality traits, can be disproportionately helpful in spreading the word about a change effort and getting others on board. In his popular book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000) applied insights from epidemiology to social and product trends. He identified three types of people as being central to the viral spread of an idea, product, or movement:

• Connectors are the gregarious, social people who know everyone, and who have friends and acquaintances sprinkled across a wide range of subcultures and niches.

• Mavens actively pursue knowledge in their areas of passion and also have a strong compulsion to pass it on and to help others make similarly informed choices.

• Salespeople are unusually charismatic and persuasive in influencing other people’s decisions and behaviors. (Chapter 2)

Each of these types can have an impact that is far greater than their organizational station when it comes to mobilizing commitment to a change initiative.

At GE, Welch (2005) was adamant about the importance of reaching beyond the senior team when mobilizing commitment to a vision. “You talk to everyone,” he said. “One of the most common problems in organizations is that leaders communicate their vision to their closest colleagues and its implications never filter down to the people in frontline positions” (pp. 68-69).

We have worked on several acquisition integrations where this approach has been used with great success. In these situations, the functional integration teams were led, not by the functional heads, but by well-respected younger people. These up and comers took on significant responsibility for managing combined teams made up of the acquirer and acquiree, designing the combined func- tion, aligning across functions, and implementing rapid and complex change. In the process, they grew tremendously and developed real personal commitment to the new combined company they were building.

ConAgra had to rewire and standardize its processes across multiple businesses. Every division identified one or two high-potential midlevel people to take the lead in making change happen in that division. Senior executives and consultants used this selected team as a key driver of change. These people led process streamlining in their own areas and coordinated with each other across divisions to make sure the changes were aligned.

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TOOLS TO HELP MOBILIZE COMMITMENT There are a number of time-proven techniques that leading companies use to help them mobilize broad-based commitment. A few of the best are outlined next.

STAKEHOLDER MAPPING The stakeholder map is one simple but effective tool for understanding who needs to be committed to the change initiative early on. To create a stakeholder map:

1. Identify your key stakeholders. The first step is to develop a list of all the players who will participate in or influence the outcome of the change initiative. Who may need to lead parts of the work? Who will it most affect? Whose expertise is critical to success? Your list may include executive team members and other managers, board members, specific individuals or em- ployee groups, key customers, regulators, and so on.

2. Create a map that depicts the relationship among the stakeholders. A map is not a traditional organization chart. It is a picture of how the key stakeholders are positioned with respect to each other and the work to be done and how they interact with each other.

3. Analyze relationships. The third step is to discuss the implications of your map. What does it tell you about where support is most needed, possible sources of resistance or conflict, cur- rent involvement in the change effort, and lines of communication? A map helps you decide where to focus your mobilization efforts and who must be engaged.

Stakeholder maps may be created by yourself, but when you design them with other members of the guiding coalition, they become powerful tools for building a shared understanding of the change initiative and ensuring its success.

Stakeholder analysis. Stakeholder mapping will identify key people or groups who must be mo- bilized in support of the change initiative (see Table 1). The stakeholder-analysis tool then helps clarify their current level of support, their reasons for resistance, where to focus your mobilization efforts, and who might be available to help you. Again, its real power lies in the discussion that it can generate among members of the guiding coalition.

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ASSESSING THE READINESS FOR CHANGE In a large and complex organization, the reality is that a few people and areas will be motivated and able to change before others. The wise change leader takes advantage of these pockets of readi- ness to get moving with the change effort while others are still making up their minds. When these early movers are successful and that success is publicly recognized, it will encourage them to new lengths and also act as a powerful motivator to the slower movers.

When assessing the readiness of a business group, the first thing to look at is overall motivation and drive. Who is burning to get started? Who feels they have something important to gain? Also consid- er the resource allocation and commitment level. Are managers willing to commit time and budget to the effort? A group may want to get started, but how about their technical capacity and change management skills? What is their experience in making change happen? How much will they be able to take on, and how fast?

Remember that readiness is not a “yes” or “no.” When communicating expectations for change, you will find it more useful to think in terms of “readiness for what.” The second point to keep in mind is that readiness is not static—it can increase over time as people gain confidence in their ability to drive change, receive information about what is needed and expected, and build momentum from the change that is taking place around them.

Once you have identified people who are most supportive and least supportive, the next step is to get the people going who are most ready and begin to convert resisters to supporters. Of course, there will be resisters to any change effort. Our approach is to start with people who are ready and supportive, and leverage them to create measurable success. As the change effort builds momen- tum, confidence, and a track record—and is supported with strong communication—many resisters will naturally come onboard. For this reason, we don’t talk a lot about resisters at the beginning of the change process. However, if resisters continue in their ways, you will eventually need to get rid of them even if they are getting good results.

TABLE 1 STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS CHART Stakeholder Degree of Support Source of Resistance Who Might Persuade

AGAINST NEUTRAL SUPPORTIVE -2 -1 0 1 2

-2 -1 0 1 2

-2 -1 0 1 2

-2 -1 0 1 2

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GETTING GOING Discussion will only take you so far. The key now is to engage people in productive action. We will begin with relatively simple techniques and move toward the more complex. Each one offers opportunities to deploy people in strategic ways, to strengthen their commitment to the change effort, and to build their skills in making it happen.

REFERENCES Kotter, J. (1996). Leading change. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Gladwell, M. (2000). The tipping point. New York: Hachette Book Group. Welch, J. (2005). Winning. New York: Harper Collins.

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APPENDIX The following pages contain support tools and additional reference materials

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YOUR STARTING POINT This activity invites you to think about your organization’s current situation and your readiness to generate buy-in and address resistance. While there are no “right” or “wrong” answers, it is important that you answer honestly and accurately. You may not like some of your own answers, but that’s fine. This is a starting point to assess where you are right now. To start planning your ap- proach to managing support and addressing resistance, review the following questions and write down your answers in the Game Pages that follow:

1 Do I already have a clear idea of which groups will be most supportive and which will resist change?

2 Which groups are critical for the initiative’s success?

3 Am I already aware of any stakeholder that will be affected by the change but is not fully supportive?

4 Do I have a clear understanding of which groups will benefit and which ones will be disadvantaged by the change?

5 Are there any groups or individuals clearly resisting the change? Who are these resisters?

6 Do I already understand what the key reasons for those resisting change are?

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WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME? (1/2) WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME? (WIIFM) YOUR RESPONSE

1. Why is it good for the organization?

• Define the organization. Is it your function, location, division or the entire corporation/ institution?

• Can you communicate all information avail- able or are some parts of the change currently on a “need to know” basis?

• How is the change intended to effect the organization?

• Financially, such as bottom line income, revenue growth, or reduction in losses

• In response to legal or compliance re- quirements, such as mandates, new regu- lations or proactively addressing gaps

• Operationally, such as capacity, capabili- ty, consistency and quality

• Public Relations, will the changes make the organization better in the eyes of exist- ing or prospective customers, its commu- nity, and in the industry?

• Why does the intended effect matter? What are the potential benefits?

2. Why is it good for the customer?

• Clearly articulate who the customer is, related to your effort. Is the customer internal or external? Is there a particular segment of the customer base that the change is targeting?

• If the change succeeds, only include what the customer will experience as a result of it. Will their service experience be faster? Will the reliability of what they count on from your organization be better? Will the product or service be better or cheaper? Will they get more or less- which is better? Or, is it something else? • From only the point of view of the customer, why does that new experience matter?

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WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME? (2/2) WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME? (WIIFM) YOUR RESPONSE

3. Why is it good for associates?

• What part of the part of the associate population will the change affect?

• What are the specific things your team members will gain?

• From only the point of view of the associate, why does this matter?

4. Why is it good for you?

• Have you been speaking honestly about why you are personally excited by this change?

• Find your passion. To make a major initiative or project succeed, it’s not just a job. Where you get your energy to walk in everyday to create and deliver on a new course for the future.

• When the change is completed, where do you see yourself? If successful, will you have better customer relationships? Will you be managing the new processes with fewer headaches? Will you be re-locating to lead with the next, even bigger challenge?

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BUILDING THE RIGHT TEAM

SIZE OF THE TEAM

If the perfect candidate for the team isn’t available or isn’t willing to participate, find out why. If the barrier can be eliminated or managed, your team will be much stronger. A little extra work up front to get this person engaged can pay huge dividends along the way.

Getting the right team in place creates a collective intelligence and a capability greater than any one person can bring. Each team member should have at least one of the following four characteristics to create an effective change team:

• Technical skills to get the job done

• Will eventually own (or live with) the results of the changes

• Has influence and is well respected

• Can see beyond the day-to-day noise

It’s preferable to keep the core team to a manageable size of twelve or less, but in evaluating this decision you must recognize that there are pros and cons. The benefit of a larger team is simply having more resources at your disposal. The risk is that the size can become so unwieldy that it can be challenging to get a decision made when consensus is needed. To keep your team size from growing too large while still giving you access to the expertise you need, consider trying some of the following:

• Create a steering committee for strategic discussions

• Form sub-committees that specialize and address a particular topic, such as communications

• Invite subject matter experts in on an as-needed basis, when you only need participation occasionally

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WHO ARE YOUR CHAMPIONS? Champions are leaders at the right levels that can make decisions to provide resources such as team members and funding, but they also have another role to play throughout the entire change process – they break down barriers. To find your champions, start by identifying the leaders clos- est to the initiative.

Leaders tied to a change initiative can be grouped into three categories depending on how much effort you will need from them.

• Drivers are engaged and involved; they can be your most passionate Champions.

• Enablers are well informed about the project, but they aren’t at the heart of things. They can often be good spokespersons within the organization.

• Supporters are passive participants; ensure these leaders aren’t going to stand in the way.

REALITY CHECK For most of us, time is at a premium and there is usually very little “extra” time to spend on the details of a team’s efforts (especially for Supporters and Enablers). Preparing an elevator speech is a smart way to articulate what your change initiative is and why it’s worth their attention. The length should be about 30 seconds and the content should include:

• What the challenge is

• What the team proposes to do

• What will be accomplished with the change

• Bonus: What you need from the leader you’re speaking with

Work on this speech and get it locked down. You want to be able to grab people’s attention and get them excited right away.

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SELECTING A TEAM If only 100 associates in the organization were affected by the change, how many would be in each area? Do this by function, then start again by location and division. Modify this table to fit your orga- nization’s structure and naming conventions.

THE RIGHT CROSS FUNCTIONAL TEAM YOURE RESPONSE FUNCTION PERCENTAGE

Accounting

Compliance

Customer Service

Facilities

Finance

Human Resources

IT or IS

Legal

Marketing

Operations

Procurement

Research

Sales

Other

Other

LOCATION / REGION PERCENTAGE

DIVISION PERCENTAGE