Without a reason to change, we know that there'll be no motivation for people to engage with the change. So I want to look at a process, which I call leverage, a three step process for encouraging people to engage with the change in a positive way. And the first level of leverage is a response to people saying, Okay, you've been talking about change, but it'll never happen. I've been talking about it for ages. I don't need to engage with this. And your response to this has to be to show that change is inevitable, it is going to happen.

So here you have to communicate in terms of the way that people understand best. Of course with a large group, we People, that means multiple channels of communication. You have to allow people to experience the drivers for change for themselves. You have to show them reports, you have to make them presentations, you have to show them data, graphs, pictures, you have to allow them to talk to people, because everyone takes in information in a different way. And if you present the information in just one way, the way that you prefer or the way that your senior leadership team prefers, maybe charts, or graphs or data, and that won't work for everyone in your organization, and consequently you'll get resistance. So step one in leverage is to show that change is unavoidable.

It is going to happen but when you do that, that's when you'll get a second level of resistance, which is okay, okay, it's gonna happen but it's not gonna happen for ages. You know, we tomorrow will worry about it, man, you're gonna, of course, what does that mean? That means that I don't want to address it now. And I don't see a driving need to address it now, because in my mind, it's far off. So the second level of leverage must therefore be to show that not only is change inevitable, but it is imminent, you've got to show them the signs that things are changing already, that the drivers are becoming highly manifest and will impact the business or the organization very soon indeed. And therefore, we need to act quickly.

Okay, go say, I get it is gonna happen. anything's gonna happen soon. But it won't affect us. We're different. I'll tell you a secret. as a consultant.

I know that whatever organization I go into at some point, in the first period of getting to know the organization, someone will say to me, we've got to understand Mike is We're different. And I'll nod. And I'll say, Yes, I can understand how you're different. And they are. But they're also the same. The drivers in any one industry sector will affect every element of that industry.

So you have to show that those drivers will affect their organization. There's nothing special in that sense about them. And then they'll say, Yeah, okay, it'll affect the organization, but it won't affect our function because we're special. We're finance, you know, nothing touches us or we're personnel, we our core function, or we're manufacturing, you can't do anything without manufacturing. No, these changes are not just gonna affect the organization, they're going to affect your part of the organization. Okay, they'll say, but my team won't affect us because we do something particularly special.

Yes, will affect your team. And the final level of response to this is okay, it will affect my team, but I'll be fine. I'm a survivor. I don't need to enter with it. Yes, you do, you need to show that the change is not only notable, not only imminent, but you need to make it personal. This is what the change will mean for you.

This is what it will mean for your team and the people you care about. This is what it will mean for your division or your function. This is what it will mean for the whole organization. Then bring it all the way back down. Organization, function, team, you that's leverage