Change Management in an Ever-Changing World
On the latest episode of the FEDtalk podcast, management guru John P. Kotter and Gaurav Gupta of Kotter Inc. discuss new insights from their book Change on how agencies can take advantage of the changes to improve employee skills and introduce a culture that values change and modern thinking.
Kotter said leaders “need to have people be alert all the time on the question what is changing that is affecting our results. There are cases where sharing more data probably is prudent these days because you need more people reacting, not just standing around waiting for orders.”
Gupta discussed that “leadership is a behavior not a position.” He said that in such a fast-moving world “we need the front line. First step for leaders – recognizing the need for more leadership as a behavior from more people across the organization and encouraging them to act for the good of the organization. You can’t do the old model of 15-20 people in a room making decisions for everyone.”
“Clarity around the research is 100% - if you look at faster moving environments around us today and the winners – the people really doing something special in those environments – in any sector, the single thing they do that stands out visibly that is different from their peers is they get more leadership from more people on a regular basis, no matter where they are on the hierarchy,” Kotter said. “It’s an expectation; The best ones bake it into their culture. It logically, logically produces better results.”
Kotter offered insights into what works and doesn’t work in culture change. It does not work to “appoint a few smart people to sit around and design your new culture. They have a flip chart or white board or they hire a smart consultant who tells them this is what a great culture looks like, and then go to the marketing and communications people who cascade it down across the organization. That’s not how it works. Cultures naturally change when some people start doing things differently, and when they produce results other see as better. Those results are communicated and celebrated, which inevitably brings more people into the new behavior zone. You get this virtuous cycle going which at first starts to change how people think, then it changes individual habits, then it starts to change group habits, which is basically what culture is all about.”
You can stream the show online anytime via the Federal News Network app and listen to the FEDtalk podcast on PodcastOne and Apple Podcasts.
FEDtalk is a live talk show produced by Shaw Bransford & Roth P.C., a federal employment law firm. Bringing you the insider’s perspective from leaders in the federal community since 1993.
FEDtalk is sponsored by the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP). The FLTCIP is sponsored by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, insured by John Hancock Life & Health Insurance Company, under a group long term care insurance policy, and administered by Long Term Care Partners, LLC (doing business as FedPoint).
