Ever take your kids to get a haircut?
So, did they look forward to it?
Like many of you, I get my hair cut every month or so. I know I need to do it. But not everybody looks forward to getting their haircut.
My son, when he was 13 or 14 years old, HATED to go to get his haircut.
He had other things to do…
YouTube videos… Basketball practice… playing Call of duty…
There was no room on his calendar for a trip to great clips!
So he would beg us not to go.
And for a few weeks that would be okay… But his hair kept growing.
It got longer. And shaggier. It started to look messy.
And as much as he tried to make it work by swishing it over to one side, it was often hanging down over his eyes and made it tough for him to see.
After 6 or 8 weeks, it was really becoming a problem. But still he would argue “It’s FINE”
He didn’t want it to change. He was more willing to put up with the inconvenience and messiness than to do what he KNEW needed to be done.
Most people approach change like my son approached a haircut.
They know it is needed. They just aren’t sure what it’s going to look like and they don’t want the inconvenience of actually doing it.
So, how do you get people to WELCOME the changes they KNOW are needed?
Well, there are TWO simple ways to help your people deal with change more effectively – and happily…
1 – Recognize that the difference between knowing and doing is CARING.
What can you share that will make them care more?
Is there an incentive that would move the meter for your people?
My son loves his PS4. Agreeing to stop by and let him shop at the GameStop store next to the haircut location was just enough to get him in the door ; )
What can you attach to the change your people are about to undertake to make them care more about helping to make it happen?
2 – Help to clarify the outcomes and benefits of what they fear.
We are afraid of what we don’t understand. Often, change is met with revolt simply because people are lost in a fog of negative assumptions.
As a leader, your job is to help your team through the fog of uncertainty by over-communicating the steps that will occur so they know what to expect… and also by sharing a clear vision of the many benefits and advantages the change will provide once it is in place.
For my son, that was less maintenance time – “Just wash and go” is what I promised him. And that was something he liked to imagine.
When it comes to change, behavior changes when awareness changes.
As a teammate or team leader, know that your people will change behaviors when your awareness changes!
Are you aware of what they care about?
Are you aware of the negative assumptions and fog that they are blinded by?
Are you aware of the benefits and advantages and improved experience that the changes you are implementing will provide your people?
How can you help them to see and understand what you do?
How can you improve THEIR awareness?
That is the key to inspiring change they will actually look forward to!
