In the article “Leading Change — Creating an Organization that Lives Change,” Chris Musselwhite sums up it up well when he says ”Don’t confuse change style with change competency.”  He introduces a change preference continuum that starts on the left with Conservers, who may appear cautious and inflexible about change.  In the middle of the continuum are Pragmatists, who tend to appear practical, agreeable and flexible in the face of change.  To the far right are the Originators who may appear unorganized, undisciplined, unconventional and spontaneous.  Whatever style employees have, it’s important not to identify their style with their competence at change.

Is there someone in your organization who appears negative about change you are driving?  If so, dive a little deeper into their motivations.  They may actually be very good at change, and just have some concerns that need to be addressed.

On the other hand, if a team member is positive about a change, be aware that they may not know how to navigate that change.  You should assess whether they have a plan for achieving the change, and understand what skills they need to acquire as well as what new relationships they need to build.

I recently read the article “Building a Resilient Organizational Culture” by George S. Everly, Jr. PhD, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.  Dr. Everly discusses how organizations can develop a culture of resilience, just like individuals can learn to develop personal traits of resilience. It got me thinking about how important it is for leaders to model resilient behavior for their employees.

According to Dr. Everly, when a small number of high credibility individuals demonstrate the behaviors associated with resilience, they can change an entire culture of an organization as others replicate these resilient characteristics.  Frontline leaders can serve as a catalyst to “tip” an organization in the direction of resilience by demonstrating optimism, decisiveness, integrity, and open communications.

I like Dr. Everly’s belief that optimism and self-efficacy can be learned in an organization if we:

• understand that people prosper from success
• remember that people learn while observing others
• provide encouragement, support, and even mentoring
• provide basic training in how to manage personal stress

Let’s remember to nourish and demonstrate our own flexibility, positive thinking, confidence and authenticity to help create resilience both within our organizations and in the world!

That’s why it’s important to be very clear, about what you are focusing on and also your expectations – especially during times of change.   When you focus on everything that’s not working and expect change to be hard, you are setting that expectation, and there is a good chance that your change efforts will fail.   That’s not to say there isn’t a lot of work to do for change – however, putting your attention on opportunities and possibilities will put you on track to succeed versus fail.

How are you thinking about change? Are you focusing on moving forward, or looking back?  Remember that where put your focus is where your brain/body will organize itself.  Are you organizing around anxiety or possibility?

For more on using neuroscience to shift your focus, see my previous post on “Retraining Your Brain to Change.”

In his article Neuroleadership –Making Change Happen, Tobias Kiefer from Booz & Company emphasizes the need to synchronize neuroscience with leadership behaviors, in what is called “neuroleadership”. Brain research tells us to get to the physical and emotional level and reinforce new behaviors in ways that allow them to become second nature to individuals.

That’s why leadership development must incorporate two pieces:  brain-friendly training (taking the brain into account) and experiential training (action based, with scenarios and exercises that allow you to have a real-time experience behaving in a different way).

Did you know that when we are under stress, our brains react predictably?  Studies in neuroscience have shown that any perceived threat or danger activates an unconscious body-brain response based on fear, upset, grief, or other such emotions.

In his article “Resilience for the Rest of Us,” Daniel Goleman, a recognized expert in emotional intelligence, says neuroscience has found that distress causes heightened activity on the right side of the brain’s prefrontal area. Each of us has a characteristic level of left/right activity— if we’re tilted to the right, there more upsets; if to the left, quicker recovery from distress of all kinds.

The good news is that we can retrain our brains to shift to the left, and react in new patterns that promote resilience to change.  By using mindfulness techniques, we can teach the brain to register anything happening in the present moment with full focus — but without reacting.

Try this simple mindfulness method offered by Goleman as a mental exercise:

1. Find a quiet, private place where you can’t be distracted for a few minutes — for instance, close your office door and mute your phone.
2. Sit comfortably, with your back straight but relaxed.
3. Focus your awareness on your breath, staying attentive to the sensations of the inhalation and exhalation, and start again on the next breath.
4. Do not judge your breathing or try to change it in any way.
5. See anything else that comes to mind as a distraction — thoughts, sounds, whatever — let them go and return your attention to your breath.

I practice mindfulness daily and prescribe it to clients as they address change and chaos. With mindful leadership, you can become more resilient and better equipped to drive positive change for your organization.

Often when people are in a negative mood, they think they don’t have the power to change it.  However, recent studies in neuroscience and neuroplasticity show that we can indeed shift our mood. This is really exciting, because it puts us in the driver’s seat, rather than at the effect of our moods and thought patterns. It just takes some focused effort and ongoing practice.

In his article The Neuroscience of Change – Or How to Reset Your Brain, Matthew E. May describes a four-step approach that takes advantage of the mind’s ability to work for us. You can relabel and reattribute unwanted thought patterns, then refocus your brain, and revalue old patterns and behaviors.

This has great implications for leaders. As a leader, if you have a negative mindset, such as frustration or resignation, you bring that to everything you do – the decisions you make and your relationships.  You can avoid this by being present and aware.  Then quickly reattribute your thoughts and refocus them on desirable alternatives to shift to a more positive outcome.

The next time you find yourself frustrated, impatient or irritated, see if can you shift your mood. Spend some time to become aware, reattribute your thoughts and refocus your mind.

He identifies several key factors that can help individuals thrive: positive emotion, meaning, engagement with what one is doing, a sense of accomplishment, and good relationships. With inspiring stories, he demonstrates these principles in action, including performance improvement along with employee well-being in corporations; military training in emotional resilience; and education in schools for fulfillment in life and not just for workplace success.

Reading Flourish reminds me that when we think about cultivating resilience in the workplace, it’s important to be really aware of how we think about ourselves in both our work and our daily lives.  What if we focus more on flourishing instead of just getting by and dealing with our pain when faced with distress or challenge?

Instead of getting the message that change is difficult, or will be difficult, what if I got a message that I could flourish in change? Because of what we know about how the human brain is wired, we know that it is, in fact, possible and desirable for people to reorganize around a picture of flourishing, if that’s what’s presented.

If we refocus our conversations on hope, possibility, and flourishing, I believe organizations and the people in them can thrive, grow and achieve top performance during times of change.

It’s helpful to start by looking at some common reasons why people resist change.  They range from a belief that the change is unnecessary or will make the situation worse, to a lack of trust in the people leading the change. Some people simply don’t like the way the change has been introduced, and others are not confident the change will succeed. Often, resistance stems from having had no input in planning and implementing the change.

In dealing with resistance, leaders often mistakenly label someone as “a problem employee” or “difficult” when, in fact, the employee simply needs more knowledge, skills or structure around their performance.  If the person lacks knowledge or skills then you will want to provide them with education, training, or specific communication about the what, why, when and who of the change.  You can also take steps to involve employees in the planning and decision making for change. For those who are unwilling even though they have the skills and knowledge, you can set goals measurements, provide coaching/feedback and give rewards to motivate them.

Here are some other proven ways to address resistance and gain support for change.

1. Encourage people to openly express their thoughts and feelings about the change in formal and informal meetings or check-ins.

2. When resistance occurs, listen carefully to gain an understanding of the concerns.

3. Treat resistance as a problem to solve, not a character flaw. Try to understand the person’s rationale and motivation.

4.  Once you understand the nature of the concerns, bring people together to discuss and deal with the perceived problems, and possible solutions.

5. Communicate frequently and be willing to answer difficult questions.

For more thoughts on getting employees to support change, see my previous post on  “Conversations to Engage Employees in Change”.

According to Ken Blanchard one of the top reasons why change efforts typically fail is that people leading the change think that announcing the change is the same as implementing it. They don’t take time to engage their people and provide them the opportunity to voice their concerns.

It’s easy to get caught up in the “business” side of change management – the planning, budgeting, staffing and problem-solving.  Be sure to also focus on aligning, motivating and inspiring your people.  It will help you build a more resilient team that can move through change with agility and flexibility.

People don’t adopt change simply because their leader has rolled out a new strategy that mandates the change. Before getting behind the change they need to first get emotionally engaged. After that they can look at implementation and see how it links back to their job roles. If your team isn’t emotionally engaged, they will most likely resist change.

Start by simply talking with them.  Here are some suggestions for making your efforts count:

• Make space for meaningful conversations.  Begin by asking good questions and really listening. Be genuinely concerned with issues people have. Accept the whole spectrum of emotion, and understand that people might be in different places regarding the change.
• Promote a common vision then help people connect with their part of the vision.  Remember to address the WIIF (What’s In It For Me) part of the equation.
• Bring clarity, focus and caring. When someone feels they have clarity, know they are cared about, and are clear about what they need to do, they will get emotionally engaged.
• Walk your talk. Create alignment and consistency by modeling the change behavior you are asking of them.

Are there other ways you have found to get people engaged in change?  Do share them!

This makes it critical to tend to your brain and keep it functioning in an optimal way. Dr. Daniel Siegel and Dr. David Rock have created the Healthy Mind Platter, which has seven essential activities, or ‘mental nutrients’ that your brain needs to function at its best. Many of us forget to include a number of these seven activities in our daily lives.  For example, do you take play time, down time, physical time to move your body, and time for quiet reflection?