Creating a Message That Motivates Change!

Some time ago I asked sales leaders to prepare a quick "elevator speech" that explains the compelling reasons for their strategic imperatives. Overwhelmingly, the individuals laid out the facts and figures that supported their reasoning. While technically correct, most all of these speeches lacked something. While they identified the key business drivers, and logically laid out the reasons for change, they did not connect to the emotional reasons for change.

In addition to identifying the financial and market drivers behind an initiative, leaders also need to connect to the values behind the change and communicate these values to the organization in addition to just providing pure financial facts and figures. While they support the reason for change, facts and figures by themselves are also boring. While they may show the logic behind the change, they do not inspire change in and of themselves. To connect on the emotional level, leaders must also learn how to communicate their values and their vision. This is what motivates and inspires people to change.

There is a real need for leaders to create a vision for change, not just providing the the bottom line numbers that are driving change. In talking about vision, Kotter states that "...the real power of vision is unleashed only when most of those involved in an enterprise or activity have a common understanding of its goal and direction. That shared sense of desirable future can help motivate and coordinate the kinds of actions that create transformations" Kotter, 1996, p. 85). Leaders must be prepared to clearly communicate this vision in order to unleash the team's full potential and to sustain change over the long term. This type of communication has potential to help ensure that during a change initiative there is not a steep drop in performance by motivating the team behind the project.

Furthermore, this communication cannot just be a one time event. One of the most common mistakes by change leaders is not communicating enough about the change. Without this constant reminder, employees loose focus and do not remain inspired and motivated to change. Most leaders underestimate the amount of communication needed. They feel that giving a resounding kick-off to a project is enough. If teams are to understand the importance of the change project, the manager must communicate the project and keep it front in the minds and hearts of their employees. This means not just communicating once, but constantly reminding and updating the team about the project and how the team is doing. It also means linking these messages to a vision and core values that resonate with the team.

Communication cannot be seen as a one off. Indeed, it is likely when the communications stop and the focus shifts to other projects that the team interprets that the change project is over and they can focus their attention elsewhere. Articulating a vision, linked to values and communicating about the process continues throughout an initiative and is strengthened if communication about the process are more frequent than not.

Leaders should remember as they articulate their message to their teams, that it is not important that they have all the answers. Leaders are part of the change effort just like everyone else in the organization. They may not have all the answers, and it is OK to admit it. They may need to learn as the team moves forward, just like the team members. More important than knowing all of the answers, with all of the supportive facts and figures is that leaders provide a vision of the project linked to a team value, and plan a way to communicate it to the team, effectively and often. As Gary Yukl points out, "It is seldom necessary to present an elaborate plan with detailed action steps. The leader should not pretend to know all the answers about how to achieve the vision, but instead should inform followers that they will have a vital role in discovering what specific actions are necessary" (Yukl, 2006, p. 275).

It is important that the leader engages the team in a way that motivates them and inspires them to move forward. Too often, leaders think facts and figures will do this. Unfortunately, facts and figures alone will rarely motivate and inspire change. In order to truly motivate action, leaders must first examine the values of the team and the vision of where they want to go and find ways to communicate these visions and values often in order to help drive the team forward.