Training Industry Magazine - March/April 2021 - 37

from complicated change. Use these
conversations to set reasonable
expectations for progress, identify
necessary areas of support, outline how
various parts of the organization will work
together, allocate adequate resources
and so on. These conversations will
build your organization's shared ability
to recognize how old patterns get in the
way of establishing new ones. Develop
the habit of getting curious when people
get frustrated, and explore underlying
beliefs or patterns of behavior that are
sparking the reaction.

WHAT SKILLS DO
WE NEED?
It may be challenging to have those
conversations at first, because the sad
truth is few people possess the skills
needed to engage in conversations that
can untangle complex issues. We need
to hone our abilities to stay present,
get curious, recognize our own limiting
assumptions and beliefs, and support
each other to expand our worldviews
if we are going to break through our
shared limited thinking and create a new
future. A powerful way to build these
coaching-based leadership skills is to
teach them to people who are involved
with complex change initiatives. When
we change how we communicate with
each other, we change how we see
each other and what we believe is
possible. That change alone can-and
will-change everything.

HOW
HOW DO
DO WE
WE MAKE
MAKE
IT
SAFE
FOR
EVERYONE
IT SAFE FOR EVERYONE
TO
TO CHANGE?
CHANGE?
When people are fearful, they don't
change because it is too risky. Yet,
fear-based leadership practices are the
very mechanism keeping old ways of
thinking and working in place. That's
why it's important to talk about how
your organization as a whole will make

QUESTIONS TO PREPARE
ORGANIZATIONS TO
ENGAGE TOGETHER IN
COMPLEX CHANGE
* How will we enable our leaders -
and the entire organization - to
understand and appreciate the
differences between complicated
and complex change?
* What skills and capabilities do we,
as an organization, need to build to
be able to successfully discuss and
guide complex change?
* How will we make it safe for people to
talk about what matters most and try
new ways of thinking, communicating
and working together?
* What is at stake for us if we ignore
questions 1 through 3?

IF WE DON'T CHANGE
HOW WE APPROACH
AND TALK ABOUT
COMPLEX CHANGE, IT IS
LIKELY THAT NOTHING
WILL CHANGE AT ALL.

it safe for everyone to change. Begin
those conversations with how to make
it safe for senior leaders to talk about
the things that matter most, try out new
approaches, and learn with and from
each other. If it is safe for them to lead
in new ways, the rest of the organization
is far more likely to follow their lead and
risk changing, too.

WHY DOES MAKING
THIS CHANGE MATTER?
People are motivated to change in order
to attain the things that matter most to
them. They decide to engage in change
when they believe that they are capable
of attaining their desired outcomes.
They will stick with the process of
making change real and sustainable
if they are rewarded for doing so and
believe that what they are working
toward is worthwhile. Prepare people in
your organization to embark on the long
journey of making significant change
happen by defining and demonstrating
what's in it for them and for the
organization. Create a shared vision of
what success will look like and feel like.
Then, talk about that vision often, so it
sustains people when the going gets
tough - which it inevitably will. Plant
those seeds now, so they grow into
resilient determination to break through
limiting beliefs and patterns and grow a
new way of being, together.
Complexity and complex change are our
new reality. Addressing complex change
is giving us the opportunity to weed out
our limiting beliefs and plant new ones
that can grow into a more just, equitable
and sustainable world. To prepare the
soil, we must first talk about the process
of change itself, and build the skills
to have much more appreciative and
evocative conversations. If we don't
change how we approach and talk about
complex change, it is entirely likely that
nothing will change at all.
Dianna Anderson, MCC, is the CEO of
Cylient, an organization that partners
with its clients to wire up coaching
cultures where people feel safe, seen
and supported to realize their fullest
potential. Email Dianna.

T R A I N I N G I N DUSTR Y MAGAZ INE - BUILDING AN EQUITABLE W ORKP L AC E I WWW. T RAI NINGINDU S T RY . C OM/ MAGAZ I NE

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Training Industry Magazine - March/April 2021

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