The Change Leader’s Pit Stop: Refuel, Realign, Resume with Confidence!

Did you ever take a long summer road trip as a kid? Didn’t those journeys feel like they would take forever?

I remember some of the trips I took with my family when I was growing up. Three teenagers in the back seat. No air conditioning. Only one radio/tape deck for the car, with my parents selecting the music. Entertainment options were limited – read a book or look out the window… and, well, that was it!

As an adult and a parent myself, I’m now responsible for these family road trips. And I realize that there are a lot of similarities with the things you need to do as a change leader.

Let me explain…

Like a parent on a family road trip, effective leaders know that they will need to periodically slow down to refuel, take stock of their progress, and make any needed adjustments to their plans because of the actual conditions they are encountering.

Here are three things you can do as a leader that will help you successfully complete the change journey with your team:

1. Refuel: Every vehicle requires periodic refueling or recharging. This essential action prevents you from coming to a stop mid-journey. For a change team, they provide rejuvenation and motivation to continue with the work ahead of them.

Consider these power-ups with your team:

• Team Retreats: You can organize a one- or two-day offsite retreat focusing on team building, strategy alignment, and creative problem-solving.
• Skill-sharing Sessions: You can host regular “Teach-Me” sessions where team members take turns sharing unique skills or knowledge with the group.
• Collaborative Learning: A team book club, reading and discussing leadership books together, can introduce fresh ideas and help you identify and apply insights to your specific context.
• Celebration Rituals: Establish a “Victory Wall” (physical or virtual) where team accomplishments are visually displayed and celebrated regularly.
• Shared Learning Experiences: By attending a conference or workshop as a team, you can debrief the experience and discuss how to apply the learnings.

Tip: Create a “refueling schedule” in your team calendar, blocking time for learning and team development activities. Treat this time with the same respect you give client meetings.

2. Navigation Check: Even the best drivers occasionally need to check their maps. In change leadership, regular direction checks on the part of the team are essential. 

You might consider:

• Vision Alignment Workshop: Organize a session where the team revisits the project’s vision and mission, discussing how their work contributes to these larger goals. Have each member articulate how their role aligns with the broader vision.
• Goal-Setting and OKR Review: Conduct a quarterly Objectives and Key Results (OKR) session. Review progress on current OKRs, set new ones, and ensure everyone understands how their individual and team objectives ladder up to organizational goals.
• Stakeholder Expectations Roundtable: Invite key stakeholders to a roundtable discussion with the team. This allows for direct communication about expectations, experience so far, and any shifts in direction.
• Cross-functional Alignment Check: Organize meetings with other teams or departments to ensure your team’s direction aligns with and supports other areas of the organization.
• Quarterly Team Retrospective: Conduct a thorough lookback  at the past quarter. What worked well? What didn’t? How has the team progressed towards its goals? Use these insights to adjust your course for the coming quarter.

Tip: Schedule quarterly “navigation checks” with your team. Use these sessions to review progress, adjust goals, and ensure everyone’s moving in the same direction. This not only clarifies the path ahead but also boosts team engagement and alignment.

3. Tune-Up: Just as a car needs regular maintenance, your skills benefit from constant fine-tuning. Stay ahead of the curve with these strategies:

• Skills Gap Analysis and Training: Conduct a team-wide skills assessment to identify any critical gaps. Organize targeted group training sessions to address them.
• Process Optimization Workshops: Hold a series of sessions for the team to map out current processes, identify bottlenecks, and collaboratively develop more efficient workflows.
• Team Charter Refresh: Revisit and update the team’s mission, values, and operating principles in a facilitated session to ensure they’re still relevant and embraced by all.
• Communication Style Workshop: Host a DiSC assessment for the entire team, followed by a workshop to learn about and leverage different communication styles.
• Technology Upskilling: Arrange a “Tech Boot Camp” where the team learns new tools or advanced features of existing platforms they use.

Tip: Increasingly, team members are working remotely, with limited time in the same room. Help the team to strengthen their skills and understanding of both “My Time” work (where they work independently) and “Our Time” work when they connect for live sessions and interactions.

By attending to these three areas, you will help your team take a well-deserved break (“stretching their legs”), be refreshed and refueled to proceed on to the next phase of the change journey with enthusiasm, fresh energy and renewed commitment. 

And these breaks provide you, as their leader, with an opportunity to check in with the team, review the plan and your progress, take on fresh resources, and a renewed confidence that you are working together in ways that will lead to your success!

What’s Next?

• Carry out a ‘check’ on your readiness for leading change and growth.

I’ve developed a simple tool that you can use to take the temperature on your bandwidth and capacity for leading change.

My assessment tool, “Taking Root: Assessing Your Readiness for Leading

Change and Growth,” is all about preparing yourself for change – whether expected or unexpected! 

You can use it to assess yourself, as the basis for a discussion with your team, or as an engagement tool for your whole organization. 

Download it for yourself here: https://rcachangeadvisors.com/downloads/

• Learn more about the three ways I work with change leaders and their teams.

Have you been curious about how you can work with me? Well, I’ve just added some new information to my website that describes the three ways in which I can help leaders like you. Read more:

1. 1. 1. I support Individuals through Leadership Coaching
      2. I develop Leaders through Group Coaching and Learning Programs
      3. I enable Stronger Organizations through Effective Teams