Change: It's Personal

This article is the eighteenth in a series about Change from Steve Roesler.

"We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles but no personality."--Albert Einstein

In the past three weeks I've watched two different executives at two different corporations make brief speeches about serious, impending changes at their companies. Both were sincere about wanting to connect with their respective organizations.  Here are excerpts from each:

#1:

I want to let you know of the changes our executive group has designed to make our company more viable going forward. As you know, our profitability has been shrinking over the past four years. We have the ability to turn that around, and our shareholders deserve no less. As a result, here it I plan to implement beginning immediately: (List of items)

#2

You are all here today for training and development. But I just found out a little more about what we've expected for some time now--that we need to change the way we approach our business in order to ensure the future of ____________, our work and relationships here, and the critical services that we provide for our 300,000 customers--some of which you know personally. The most drastic changes will involve laying off about 100 of our 5,000 employees.  So I want to use some of this time to tell you how I'm feeing about that; how I feel about the future of this company;  and what I believe we need to do together.

When I'm finished, let's sit down together and simply talk for a while. We've come through a lot together over the years so we'll work through this, too. So let's get started...

Both executives spoke the truth.

The second one--from observation--generated the more positive (Yep, let's do it!) response in the end.

"Oddly, the more personal something is, the more universal it is as well. When we dig deeper into truthful experiences, that's the work that really touches people and connects us all."--Bill Watterson, creator of the cartoon series Calvin & Hobbs

We're all different, so I'm curious to know which one would have connected, grabbed your commitment, and why?

 

Comments

[Karin H.]

Hi Steve

The first one would have gripped my commitment best: commitment to myself to find another job a.s.a.p ! !

"our shareholders deserve no less." Now, that reminded me of something I read/heard a while ago:
why should we work our b*tt off for a shareholder when some - most - shareholders only hold our shares for 1 day!
(It was put much better than this, but hope you get the strong message behind it)

And believe me, I've worked for a company where some of the CEO was just like number one. Worked there for 19 years and other CEO's were more like number two. Those were the ones who could turn things around with help of the whole work force.

Karin H. (Keep It Simple Sweetheart, specially in business)

[Joe Raasch]

Hi Steve,

Having recently experienced #1, #2 would have been a lot better! May not have changed the results, but sure comes off a bit more genuine. This assumes that CEO #2 was this open/transparent all along, and not just during the change....

[Jamie Notter]

Number 2: Because he wanted to talk to ME, not tell me what to do. They both are attempting turnarounds, so I think of a quote I just heard from Gary Hamel: A turnaround is a transformation tragically delayed. Maybe they needed some of those kinds of conversations earlier? ;-)

[Galba Bright of Tune up your EQ]

#1 is fine with me, as long as I'm a shareholder, I've got nothing to contribute as an employee (if so, why am I here, by the way) and the management team are skilled professional magicians.

#2 is more communicative and involving. It suggests that as a worker, I have something to offer. It's upfront about the fact I could be adversely affected by the changes. With 2, one has to make sure that the organisation actually DOES SOMETHING once all the feelings have been surfaced.

I vote for #2.

Steve, a while ago, you invited us to offer some quotes about change. Here's my offering, from Albert Einstein.

"All meaningful and lasting change starts first in your imagination and then works its way out. Imagination is more important than knowledge."

You might also enjoy some Einstein inspired EQ articles.

http://tuneupyoureq.com/2007/06/10/einstein-ellen-weber-excitement/
http://tuneupyoureq.com/2007/05/19/eq-so-easy-even-einstein-can-do-it/
http://tuneupyoureq.com/2007/05/18/albert-einsteins-7-simple-eq-lessons/

[Steve Roesler]

Hi, Karin,

Your insight regarding shareholder habits is accurate yet seldom published. Many shareholders trade without consideration of long-term holdings. Many publicly held companies behave in kind, mirroring the behavior in the management of the company.

Although #2 is more helpful to the workforce, communication #1 is exhibited the most.

[Steve Roesler]

Joe,

Indeed. If #2 wasn't "that way" as a matter of course, it would be ingenuine. In this case, her nearly three decade tenure showed consistency in this area. As a result, she continued to speak from the heart and everyone knew it was real.

[Steve Roesler]

Hey, Jamie,

That is a terrific line from Gary Hamel. And, in fact, a part of the total speech by #2 was just that: "This should have happened 10 years ago, we all knew it, and now it's still the right thing to do but the pain is greater as a result of waiting."

Thanks for weighing in and adding to the conversation...

[Steve Roesler]

Galba,

Yes, you raise a good point: #2 is empathetic; yet that also has to lead to action once the feelings have been put out on the table. In this case, that's exactly what happened.

Now: you realize that by offering THREE additional quotes, you have added to the as-yet-undetermined length of the Change series :-)

BTW: I suggested today that someone in my workshop seek you out; she is heading to the Caribbean to conduct some training. Will try to get you two connected directly , if possible...

Steve

[Wally Bock]

I think it's worth meditating a bit on the situation of executive number 2. If you care about your people and if you know that when you make "personnel moves" you're dealing with people's lives, it's tough. And he's about to "just talk" with people who are going to have friends heading out the door soon and who may be headed there themselves. It's a compassionate position, but also a courageous one.

[Galba Bright of Tune up your EQ]

Hello Steve:

Charles Dickens made his name writing gripping serials, so maybe you'll become the 21st century Dickens. There are 14 quotes in the links I sent, so be warned :).

Thanks for the link to your colleague. I appreciate it. My contact details are in my about page.

[Steve Roesler]

Wally,

In fact, this was one of the more courageous meetings I've seen in the course of my career. She is a long-time employee of the company who, having begun work there directly out of high school, worked her way up to a VP position.

She possesses a combination of perseverance, humility, and straight-talk that most would only dream of having.

[Steve Roesler]

Hi, Galba,

Hmmm...now the series is Dickensian in nature, eh? :-)

Will pass along the contact info as well as generating at least 14 more Change articles.