Courage in Action: What It Takes to Powerfully Lead Through Change

Welcome to the courage of a leader podcast. This is where you hear real life stories of top leaders achieving extraordinary results, and you get practical advice and techniques you can immediately apply for your own success. This is where you will get inspired and take bold, courageous action. I'm so glad you can join us. I'm your host. Amy Reilly, now are you ready to step into the full power of your leadership and achieve the results you care about most. Let's ignite the courage of a leader.

Hello. Amy Riley, here with the Courage of a Leader podcast, I've got a little something different for you. Today I am sitting here, and you're going to see me if you're watching on video, looking at my phone from time to time, because I've got a list of questions here on my phone in front of me, questions that leaders have asked me, and honestly, questions that people ask about their leaders all the time. And I've got some notes and some answers to those questions, some thoughts, some guidance, and, most importantly, some practical ways that you can actually apply what I'm about to share with you, I want to talk very candidly, realistically, pragmatically today, about change, because it's coming. You feel it. It's coming in planned ways, in unexpected ways, and whether you like it or not, the pace of change is not slowing down.

So here's the first question that I get, how do you personally approach change when it's unexpected or uncomfortable? And here's the truth, unexpected change is hard. Even folks who say that they love change that they embrace change, even very experienced leaders can feel that initial moment of resistance. The difference is, what do we do next? One technique that I work to use, and I coach leaders to use, is what I call pause and name when something shifts, instead of reacting immediately, pause and literally, name what is happening. This could sound like this is uncertainty. I feel frustrated because this is going to significantly change the plan that we painstakingly put together. This is me not having control. This is me feeling unsure about what to do next. This pause and name sounds simple, yet it works. It creates just enough space for you to choose your response instead of defaulting to it, then you have the capacity to ask yourself, What's actually required of me right now? Not next month, not when everything is clear right now, because you don't know the path forward this was unexpected, yet you can determine what is needed in this moment, pause and name and then ask what's actually required of me right now.

Okay, another question that I get a lot is, what's the difference between reacting to change and actually leading through it as leaders. There are often decisions made that we need to cascade down through the organization, or something is happening in the external environment, and we need to find a way to respond to it. We didn't initiate these changes. We didn't decide to launch a new initiative, yet we need to respond or we need to move a change forward. How do we lead rather than react? It's clear in hindsight, reacting is fast. It's emotional. It's often about protecting ourselves or trying to regain control. Leading is slower. It's more intentional. We need to pause and decide what's needed, like I've already said, and we need to give others the time and space to move through the change from understanding to acceptance to authentic engagement with what's going on. So here's a practical exercise. When unexpected change comes your way, before you say anything to your team, take just five minutes and ask yourself, what do I know for sure? What don't I know yet? What does my team need most from me? Right now, and that third question is the shift.

The third question will have you leading your team through the change, and then go talk to your team, because what they don't need is for you to go silent. I worked with a leader who got hit with a major restructure. His first instinct was to go quiet until he had all the answers. I told him, You gotta go say something, right? So he told his team, here's what I know, here's what I don't know, and here's what I can promise, I will keep you updated every Friday that one commitment changed everything he saw. It replaced anxiety with rhythm, and even when he didn't know anything. On a Friday, he communicated that next question, why do leaders resist change even when they know it's necessary? This one is deeper than it looks. It's not about logic. It's about identity, a really practical reflection here that we can all use to check in with our own level of resistance when change comes. And that's to ask ourselves, what about this change feels like a loss, and then be really honest with ourselves, right? Could sound like I won't be as competent. I don't know how to lead in this version. What made me successful might not work anymore. Once you name that, you can actually work with it. One leader I coached realized he was resisting a new system because it made him feel like a beginner all over again. Once he named that, he was able to shift from avoidance to learning, and he had a number of circumstances in his past that he could tap into in which he had learned and mastered something new. Now he had a blueprint to follow, and when he shifted from avoidance to learning, his team followed next question, how do you help your team feel safe, even when everything feels uncertain?

And this folks, I think, is the question, and it's often not the first question asked, but how do we as leaders, help our team feel safe? This is where leadership really shows up. Safety doesn't come from having all the answers. It comes from being predictable in how you show up. Here are some very practical things that you can do. There's going to be three of them. Set a regular update cadence, even if there's nothing new. I've already said that, start meetings with a quick here's where things stand right, and even if there's not something new to say, maybe if you feel like there should be something new to say, but there's not start with that. Here's where things stand. Acknowledge uncertainty out loud, instead of ignoring it, normalize it. When you talk about it, you increase everybody's capacity to deal with uncertainty. When someone asks a question you can't answer. You don't have that information. Do not deflect. Say very straightforwardly, that's a fair question. I don't have that answer yet. Here's when I'll come back to you. Then follow through. Trust is built in those moments. Also repeat yourself more than you think you need to. You're going to feel like it's too much, yet, remember, you've most likely had more conversations about it than your team has. It's been rolling around in your head for longer. People don't hear things once and feel settled. They hear things consistently and then start to trust them, connect the dots very transparently for your team. Why is this happening? What does it mean for us? What stays the same? That last one is often missed. It might feel inherent or too obvious to point out, and it matters more than you think.

You create stability and safety by being clear on what's not changing. Literally say here are three things that are not changing no matter what, and it might be pretty foundational, things like how we treat each other, what we prioritize for our clients, the standards that we hold. When people know what's solid, it helps them handle what's shifting. So let me recap the answer to this question. To help your team feel safe during a change, be predictable, be repetitive. Be clear on what's not. Not changing. What mindset shifts help you see change as an opportunity truly right? This isn't about pretending that change is exciting. It's about asking ourselves different and better questions. Here's one example, instead of why is this happening? Try, what might this make possible that wasn't before? What might this make possible that wasn't before? And really look the power in this question is the really looking part. Take some time with this. Look across the landscape. What's possible in terms of solutions, products, improve processes, relationships, learning, building capacity, increasing our resilience, building new skills. Really look at that question, what might this make possible that wasn't before that can unlock new thinking and a new authentic perspective. And finally, what do you do when it feels like there's just too much change happening at once? We've all probably felt this fairly recently. In most cases, you might not be able to take the change off the table. So the question becomes, how do you make it more manageable for your team? Here are three very practical ways to think about this and to do this. First, connect the new change to what already exists. Instead of introducing something as completely new show how it builds on or supports current priorities, what already exists. You might say, this isn't another initiative. It's actually an extension of the work we've already been doing around x or y. This helps people see it as progress, not just more

second looking at if you can slow the implementation, not the decision, not the direction, the pace leaders, often underestimate how long it takes for people to absorb and apply The change.

Anyways, try breaking it down in into phases. What needs to happen now? What can wait 30 days? What comes after that? Giving people time to adjust increases the chances that it actually sticks. And third, reduce the scope wherever you can, instead of rolling something out across everything everywhere, ask, Where can we pilot this? Where can we simplify this progress in a focused area builds confidence much faster than overwhelming the entire team. So no, you may not be able to remove the change entirely yet you can make it feel more connected, more paced and more doable. So again, leadership during change isn't about having certainty. It's about creating enough clarity and consistency that your team can keep moving forward even when things are not fully figured out yet, and that's a skill that you can build using the questions and the techniques that I've shared during this episode. Okay, I also think it's worth noting before I wrap up this episode that speaking of change, I am in a change of location.

And if you've watched me on video before. This is not my normal background. I am in Paris for the month of April. This is the third time that I've spent a month of the year in this location that I love, and I will tell you that this change refuels me and energizes me in important ways. I've been posting some about my experiences this month on social media, so if you want, please do go and check those out until next time. A la potion, thank you for joining me on the courage of a leader podcast today.

Thank you for listening to the Courage of a Leader podcast. If you'd like to further explore this episode's topic, please reach out to me through the courage of a leader website at www.courageofaleader.com I'd love to hear from you. Please take the time to leave a review on iTunes that helps us expand our reach and get more people fully stepping into their leadership potential. Until next time, be bold and be brave, because you've got the courage of a leader.