By Virgil Benyayer
Without a clear vision, employees won’t understand the reasons for change, nor the individual and collective benefits. Communication is crucial to create buy-in and avoid misunderstandings. Successful projects are those that answer the question: “Why is this change necessary for all of us? Why is this change necessary for all of us? “.
” The only change that really worked was the one where the CEO was involved at the forefront “says one executive.
The visible, active dedication of a leader provides decisive momentum. Transformations where the leader doesn’t “get his shirt wet” are not as successful. The leader must go to the front, set an example, and embody the vision he defends. This requires strong conviction: to convince others, you need to be convinced yourself of the need and relevance of the vision.
At the Battle of the Arcole Bridge. Faced with an outnumbered Austrian army, Napoleon galvanized his troops by moving to the front of the line, waving a flag and shouting “Follow me! Under heavy fire, he was shot at and nearly drowned, but his daring inspired his men, turned the tide and led to a decisive victory.
An essential aspect of carrying out the vision is to embody several filters, according to the model developed by American author and consultant Robert Dilts, which combines three distinct but complementary roles:
– The dreamer, who imagines ambitious and inspiring possibilities, embodying the creative impulse.
– The realist, who reduces the vision to a principle of reality, cutting out what is inadequate and translating ideas into feasible actions;
– The critic, who identifies potential problems while proposing concrete solutions to overcome them.
A clear vision must be holistic, integrating all stakeholders, since it is essential to understand who and how the transformation will impact on different levels: internal hierarchical levels, but also customers, partners or other external players.
Such a global vision ensures that all stakeholders are involved or, at the very least, taken into account in the process.
Successful transformation starts with strong alignment within the executive committee, so that each member carries the vision with conviction and clarity, creating a unified basis for transformation deployment.
Such a transformation operation cannot be carried out by managers alone, as some of them also stress the importance of middle management. The best way to realize this is that if they are reluctant to the transformation, for example by being left out of the initial communication, the change is blocked, since it is middle managers who make the link between management and the field by translating the strategic vision into concrete action. ” If middle management isn’t convinced, no matter how many announcements you make, change won’t trickle down into the organization. “.
One executive therefore insists on the importance of clear delegation and alignment on strategy between the different levels of the organization to effectively get top management and the field on board.
It‘s essential to ensure a clear mandate for those executing the change, by defining precise objectives and providing adequate leeway for middle management.
Without these explicit delegations, teams risk lacking the direction or confidence to move forward. The aim is to have internal relays in the implementation of the transformation: they must be well chosen, trained and committed from the outset to guarantee buy-in at all levels, as ambassadors of change capable of federating and reassuring their teams.
But a clear vision and well-defined delegation are not enough if the necessary resources are not in place, both internally and externally: ” If we want change, we have to give ourselves the means. Otherwise, it’s doomed to failure. “. These resources take the form of a budget, human, technological and financial investment, as well as service providers to support this transformation.
All of which goes to show how crucial it is to take the time to devote oneself fully to the change. Staff, already busy with their day-to-day responsibilities, need to be given specific time to take ownership of the transformation. This requires a real ” project mode ” through collaborative workshops, adjustments in priorities, and even a temporary reduction in certain operational activities, in order to instill the feeling of being a stakeholder in the change.
This method is often part of a dynamic in which change begins with a deconstruction phase. Before embarking on a new strategy, it’s a good idea to deconstruct an existing model in order to rebuild it later, taking inspiration from the Indian philosophy that construction and deconstruction are two sides of the same coin.
The managers we interviewed stressed the importance of linking the on-boarding phase with the implementation phase: “Once the vision has been shared, we need to accelerate and hold firm to maintain momentum. Once the vision is shared, you have to accelerate and hold on to maintain the momentum “.
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