Transitional Space

Managing Change Key challenges and how to influence without

authority by stepping into your leadership role

Mike Green

2nd November 2015

IIBA

Transitional Space

• Welcome

• Some key change

management challenges

• Who would want to be

influenced by you?

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Leadership and organisation

• No real sense of urgency

• Weak support base

• Little clarity & communication of vision

• Absent leadership

• Poor organisational alignment

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Engagement, resistance & cohesion

• Lack of engagement & commitment

• Middle manager resistance

• Conflict, sabotage & politics

• Stakeholder disengagement

• Culture

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Change management capabilities

• Weak sponsorship

• Unconvincing change team

• Poor governance

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Yourself and Others

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Circle of Concern

Circle of Influence

Circle of

Control

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DEVELOPING AUTHORITY,

PRESENCE AND IMPACT

“Leadership is the capacity to develop and sustain multiple

key relationships towards a common purpose”

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Hawkins & Smith (2007)

Presence

Authority

Confidence

Impact

Transitional Space Authority

• Authority is about credibility – it can derive from

what, or who, you know, or what you’ve done in

the past.

• Achievements & experience may be embodied

in titles, qualifications, role, or embedded in how

you are introduced, or how you refer to your

knowledge & experience.

• Authority is embodied in how you carry yourself,

how you enter a room, how you share your

knowledge and experience.

Authority

Transitional Space Presence

• Presence involves creating relationships.

• It is the ability to be fully present with a quality of

immediacy, and to develop relationships and

rapport quickly and with very different types of

people.

• Strong presence requires high levels of

awareness – self awareness as well as empathy

- to understand what is happening on all levels,

for both oneself and others.

Presence

Transitional Space Impact

• Impact is concerned with making a ‘shift’

happen.

• Someone with a high level of impact can shift

the direction of a meeting, conversation or event.

• S/he has the ability to intervene in a way that

shifts or reframes the way issues under

discussion are being perceived and addressed.

• S/he is able to shift the emotional climate of a

meeting by introducing new kinds of emotional

energy e.g. humour, challenge.

Impact

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Presence

Authority

Confidence

Impact

Through commanding

respect

Through relating well

with others

Through shifting

agendas &

mindsets

Through what I know

Through what I have

achieved

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STEPPING INTO YOUR CHANGE

LEADERSHIP ROLES

“Leadership is the capacity to develop and sustain multiple

key relationships towards a common purpose”

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So what do effective change leaders do?

Focus on what needs to change

the Discomfort

Develop a well-thought through strategy

the Design

Take people towards the vision

the Buy In

Align disparate interests

the Connectivity

Have a plan and follow it through

the Project

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• Asks the difficult,

penetrating questions

• Spots dysfunction and

resistance

• Creates discomfort and

unease when things

aren’t improving

“This is a serious

problem. Can’t you

get a grip on this?”

EDGY CATALYSER

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• Is principal architect and

designer of the strategies

• Crafts seemingly disparate

ideas into a way forward

• Scans the environment, sees

what’s happening in the

environment and creates an

organising framework

“Let me explain how it

all fits together”

THOUGHTFUL ARCHITECT

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• Articulates a compelling

picture of the future

• Gives clarity of purpose to

people by promoting a

motivating vision of the future

• Holds the vision long enough

and strong enough for others

to step into

“Let’s work together

towards a brighter

future”

VISIONARY MOTIVATOR

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• Reinforces what’s important & establishes a few simple rules

• Calmly influences complex change activity through focused reassurance

• Connects people & agendas

“Get together and take time to focus

on this”

MEASURED CONNECTOR

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• Doggedly pursues the plan

• Holds people to account

• Leads by driving a project

through to completion

“Just follow the

plan and we’ll get

this done”

TENACIOUS IMPLEMENTER

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Edgy Catalyser Visionary Motivator Measured Connector Tenacious

Implementer

Thoughtful Architect

How am I standing?

Assertively with

focused eyes and

finger ready to point

On the front foot,

chest out, head high,

looking at people

Feet firmly on the

ground, open stance,

taking in your

surroundings

With the plan in your

hand or in your mind’s

eye, determined,

focused

In reflective mode,

looking into the

distance

What am I thinking?

What’s not quite right?

What needs to

change?

What do I need to say

to bring about shifts?

Let’s connect to the

vision. How can I get

these people on

board?

What do we need to

align? How can I

connect these people

to address the key

issues together?

Who needs to be

doing what by when?

Is everyone clear

about what their next

task is?

How is the plan

progressing?

How does what we’re

doing here fit with

where we need to get

to?

Have I thought

through the whole

strategy?

What am I feeling?

Key descriptors Annoyed, irritated,

frustrated, determined

Positive, inspired,

motivated, solution-

focused

Calm, confident,

engaged, open

Focused, persistent,

resilient, here and

now

Conceptual,

perceptive, strategic,

assured

What am I saying?

“This is a serious

problem. Can’t you

get a grip on this?”

“Let’s work together

towards a brighter

future”

“Get together and

take time to focus on

this”

“Just follow the plan

and we’ll get this

done”

“Let me explain how it

all fits together”

What’s my outcome?

Creating a sense of

urgency for change

Motivated people

moving towards the

vision

Aligned people

working on the

emerging issues

Achieving the project

on time, on budget

and with high quality

A longer-term strategy

which fits together

Transitional Space Thank You!

Two sides of a river

Nasrudin sat on a river bank

when someone shouted to him

from the opposite side:

"Hey! how do I get across?"

"You are across!" Nasrudin shouted back

mike@transitionalspace.co.uk

Transitional Space References

• Cameron & Green (2008, 2015)

• Green (2007)

• Hawkins & Smith (2007)

• Holt, T, Armenakis, A et al (2007)

• Jones and Recardo (2013)

• Kotter (1995, 2014)

• Prosci Benchmarking Reports 2003-15

• Todnem (2007)