What leaders need to 'HEAR' about change
Change Management is one of my passions. And it’ll be no surprise when I say the pace of change for businesses shows no sign of slowing. Businesses have experienced large scale change and will continue to experience large scale change. So, I’m unapologetic about it being a topic I return to time and time again. We need to continually hone our skills in change management to be successful in the modern business world.
But change is multi-faceted. To become better at managing change you might look at communication approaches. You might want to build empathy. You might need to focus on the operational logistics. All of these, and more besides, will be a good investment of time. But a model I particularly lean towards also prioritises an important factor in successful change management – and that’s the person delivering the change themselves.
Change is not easy. Humans like to be able to predict the future and know that we will be safe in it. Change hinders that and brings a level of uncertainty that often makes us uneasy. In fact, the human brain going through change has parallels with the teenage brain going through puberty – not sure about you, but I can’t say this was a time where I was at my best! Yet in the business world we often feel that we need to be able to cope with change, even on a large scale. How do we do this?
An approach that resonated with me was the HEAR model, published in the Oxford Group’s paper “Unlock innovation with psychological safety”. This model stands out for me as it considers both the needs of the leader communicating the message as well as those on the receiving end. And it balances these needs well. “Put on your own oxygen mask first” if you will. This is something I find missing, or at best separate, from most other models but the juxtaposition of self and others in HEAR is refreshing.
The HEAR model presents 4 key pillars: honesty, empathy, accuracy and respect. It then splits this into practical focuses for your self and interactions with others.
Beginning with Honesty, the first step is to be honest with yourself about how you’re feeling. Leaders, and in particular middle managers, often struggle with this as they have a responsibility to deliver the company message. They are also likely to feel compelled to present a positive face to their team. But change can be both positive and negative. It might even be disappointing on a personal level. Spending some time understanding how you feel is important for you to be able to go through the change yourself. But this honesty then expands to how you interact with others. Being able to ‘show up’ to your team with an intention of both sharing and listening will undoubtedly support change, but it’s important to be honest about how intentional you are about this. As with all areas of life, change begins with awareness.
Empathy is the 2nd step. Showing empathy to others experiencing change is well documented in models such as Kubler Ross and the Janssen change house -both popular and impactful tools that are still worth exploring. But this model also encourages self-empathy. “Whatever feelings you have are valid”. An emotion I find leaders often shy away from is fear. I’ve even had people say that fear doesn’t exist in the business world, but I believe the uncertainty of change can act as an incubator for fears to grow in leaders. Imposter syndrome can also be playing a part here. Treating ourselves as we would treat others and showing empathy can help us psychologically move forward through healthier and more supported routes.
Accuracy is the next step, and one I found intriguing. It encourages us to challenge our own thinking, and in particular to ask ourselves what biases may be at play. When we think about what might influence our feelings about change this self-challenge can help us see different perspectives, and this is beneficial both in terms of avoiding pitfalls and helping us to understand other points of view. But when it comes to interacting with others, we need to challenge ourselves once again. We need to think beyond the words we hear back. A team might say they’re ok with a change but what are we really hearing? I find this particularly relevant for leaders going through difficult change, as we want to avoid conflict, and may almost be willing our teams to be ok. But we can fool ourselves. If we don’t truly listen, we may not understand what people need to accept, and then adopt, the change.
The final step is respect. I’d like to think we all want this in the workplace, but what does this mean in practice? It means that we respect that everyone has a valid viewpoint on change. Organisational changes and strategies are usually based on theories and projections. Whilst they should have been well thought through this doesn’t necessarily guarantee their success. It may also deliver business benefits that don’t neatly align with an individual’s needs. When this happens, conflicts arise, and this can be difficult as even the most empathetic leader might still need to deliver the directive of the business. Ultimately the way forward has already been agreed by the business, but as discussions emerge it becomes vital to remain ‘human’. Listen, seek to understand and find common ground. Whilst these discussions may not convince others that the change is a positive, the outcome can still be positive if both parties feel they have been shown respect.
I like the HEAR model. It provides some guiding principles that are easy to overlook in times of change and challenge, and at the heart of that is the need to think of ourselves and others. In particular being mindful of the need to challenge our thinking and respect others really resonates as a truly emotionally intelligent approach to change. The model may be simple but following the prompts in HEAR can be no bad thing for those keen to manage change with impact.
