The upside of keeping your leaders positive and motivated through the change

Leaders are a critical element when implementing change. So often senior leaders and middle management are left with the task of cascading or rolling out changes that have come from higher up. This can impact their sense of power and purpose, as well as trigger their own survival instinct as they too are often “receiving” the change while being expected to lead and implement it. Helping leaders stay positive and motivated through the change is important in reaching change success.

A big part of motivation is to create a sense of ownership and the ability to take back a little power. If you’re a member of my Leading Successful Change program, I definitely recommend you check out Module 1: Vision Setting and the lesson on The Engagement Formula. No matter what is happening in the organisation or flowing down to business teams, every leader has the ability to take what's happening and: 

a) create new meaning for themselves 

b) help their teams create new meaning. 

So helping each leader set their own personal vision and then giving them a team vision setting template to help their team come up with one is very powerful to create a positive base and foundation for ongoing motivation, as you can keep linking back to it (I explain how to create visions in LSC).

Some other tactical ideas to help leaders stay positive and motivated through the change are:

• Meet with the leaders one-on-one on a monthly or quarterly basis to check in. As the change gets closer, make it fortnightly or weekly.
• Run a group leadership forum where everyone comes together to discuss the change, share their concerns, and hear key updates. Allow people to vent but be sure that there's also a section that focuses on the positive: key wins, problem solving, best things, etc. Sometimes you've got to pace people to move to the proactive and positive side.
• Provide a regular leader update and include talking points they can use with their teams. Every touchpoint is an opportunity to remind them about the benefits of the proposed change.
• Get them involved - where possible, include them in co-design or workshopping, or let them see the proposed changes and provide feedback.
• Give them tools they can use practically with/for their team to get clear on the change and set up for success i.e. a team gap analysis template (what we used to do, what we'll do in the future), a team readiness checklist, etc.
• Help them understand more about their own personality types - self-awareness can be a great strategy for helping people reflect on their own feelings, behaviour, communication (we cover this in Module 2: Getting Stakeholders on Board in my Leading Successful Change program).
• Run a gratitude exercise.
• Have some bonding activities, even virtual drinks or lunch can work wonders.

This should be good to get you started - again, so much of keeping people positive and motivated is about getting them involved and included and, even if the change originated somewhere else, beginning to own the change for themselves and their teams.

All my belief,

Lata xx

P.S. We chat about these types of engagement ideas all the time in my Leading Successful Change member community. You can join LSC from anywhere across the globe at any time and start building your confidence to lead change end-to-end: learn more and join here. Alternatively, you can:

1. Download my free Underpaid and Overlooked Coaching Action Guide for inspiration and step-by-step instructions to change careers with confidence and earn your true worth: click here to download
2. Watch my free 6 Ways to Instantly Build Trust video to connect quickly with stakeholders and build relationships in a flash: click here to watch
3. Get my global bestseller Pioneer Your Career Change book (available in paperback and eBook on Amazon, or all audiobook platforms including Spotify and Audible) filled with tips to unlock your passion and purpose in career and life): click here to get the book
4. Grab my Change CV Template auto-filled with the transferable skills and winning format to shine in Change Management job applications: click here to get template
5. Check out my Intro to Change Management webinar to start or step up in your Change career: click here for instant access
6. Join the waitlist for my 2027 Instant Change Consultant Retreat to turn your expertise into unlimited income potential and fulfilment doing work you love with clients who make your heart sing: click here to join retreat waitlist