Many of the skills I teach could be lumped into so-called “soft” skills.
But there’s nothing “soft” about the impact of change on people – the people we lead, the people we work with, the people we live with.
Change is hard. And when it’s change coming from outside the organization, without even the minimal control we might have professionally, it’s really hard.
Accenture recently released their Pulse of Change: 2024 Index report. Here’s the headline from the Key Findings section:
In 2023, business leaders faced an all-time-high rate of change. A majority see opportunity – and expect change to accelerate further in 2024.
How fast is “an all-time-high rate of change”?
According to the report, the rate of change increased by 33 percent just in the last year, and 183 percent over the last four years.
That’s really fast, it’s expected to increase, and more than half the CEOs responding didn’t believe their organizations were prepared for it.
When managers and leaders aren’t equipped with the skills and tools they need to help themselves and their people cope with the uncertainties of change, everyone struggles.
Unnecessarily.
The skills and tools of change leadership, resilience, and uncertainty tolerance – they’re not soft.
Yes, the tools are, by and large, simple, easy to use (no scripts or blueprints), and quick to learn. But they’re not always intuitive, and they require situational awareness and what I call “professional empathy.”
In short, change leadership – which is not the same as project management or even change management – has become an essential leadership skill that organizations will overlook at their peril.
I teach change leadership skills to leaders and managers. Curious? Drop me a note through my contact form and we’ll set a time to talk. This is a competitive advantage, not a “nice to have.”