Are You Determined to Be a Change Agent for Your Company?
As a motivational speaker for companies facing ongoing industry challenges in the marketplace, I am fascinated by change agents who have the determination to step up and make a meaningful impact in their organizations.
Who are the Change Agents in Your Company?
When I am delivering keynote addresses on change management, I often ask the following question of audience: “Picture the change agents in your organization. Whose face comes to mind?” The most common answers include the CEO, the human resources director or even the social media department.
In an insightful article that appeared in Forbes magazine, business writer stated “Change management is no longer a term that denotes only operational improvements, cost efficiencies and process reengineering…change management has become a much bigger, more interwoven part of the overall business fabric…that plays into everything that we do, every day, and how we go about getting things done, regardless of hierarchy or rank.”
The change agent includes the marketing manager, the accounts payable people and you. In fact, the most important change agent in your company is you, whatever your position on the hierarchy of the corporate ladder.
We are All Change Agents
Earlier this year, the management department of Michigan State University presented an article entitled The Qualities of Effective Change Agents. They did not rank change agents by position, high to low, but emphasized five important traits all change agents must possess, and in this order: Flexibility, Diversified Knowledge, Priority and Results Focus, Ownership and Responsibility, and Effective Listening Skills.
Each trait requires three components that I address in my motivational change management keynote addresses: the vision to understand why it is important, the mindset to make it happen, and the daily grit to overcome any obstacles that may prevent change from happening.
For example, as part of an acquisition an organization may need to implement a new company-wide software system. An employee committed to change will have the vision to see why it is important to diversify and expand knowledge, the determination to excel at understanding the system’s complexities, and the grit to learn and study every day.
Becoming Invaluable
Being a change agent requires making yourself invaluable. In times of transition, executive leaders will actively seek out employees who embrace change. Indeed, the Robert Half management consulting firm stresses the following point in their tips for change success:
“Involve employees as soon as goals are set. Ask their opinions and get their input on how the business runs today and what they believe should be changed.”
Executive leaders want those on their team who are determined to help rather than hinder, and who are willing to go the extra mile to make change successful and to be flexible in their thinking. Change is not always easy but change agents will always be recognized as those who made it happen. Be determined to make it happen.
Contact Scott Burrows, Motivational Speaker for Change Agents and Change in Organizations through this website or call us at: (520) 548-1169
