How excellent managers deal with change.

Post 318

As a follow-up to yesterday's post, here's some of the things I've found excellent managers do to deal with change:

• They're clear and focused on the change they want to make happen

• They make sure everyone involved knows why it's necessary to change, and the consequences of success or failure

• They talk about change in terms of specific outcomes to be achieved by a certain date, not in terms of the processes that will be used to get there

• They quantify these outcomes, then measure and share actual progress being made on a constant basis

• They make corrections quickly when change efforts start to go off-course

• They're excellent communicators and great listeners

• When they get feedback, they don't shoot the messengers

• They stay in close touch with all their constituencies and stakeholders

• They meet face-to-face with them regularly and ask for their input

• They know what other people are listening for

• They don't hesitate to do what needs to be done, even when it's uncertain or uncomfortable to do so

• They're decisive and make quick, unambiguous decisions

• They're clear about what to decide themselves and what to delegate to others

• They involve others in contributing ideas about how changes should be implemented

• They're tough taskmasters, who are firm but fair and insist on accountability

• They're not afraid of confrontation

• They're honest, open and consistent in their dealings with others

• They're insistent and impatient about moving forward into new territory

• They're not afraid of failure and view it as an opportunity to learn and start over more intelligently

• They see change as the normal state of the world and view stability as an exception

• They view change as a way to get a competitive advantage over competitors

• They're always on the lookout for new ideas and better ways to doing business, yet they're humble enough to know they don't always have all the answers themselves.