In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, Andrew Romeo is joined by Jodi Woelkerling, author of “World Class Leadership” and a trusted authority on building enduring, resilient cultures and building personal resilience and the two talk about change that technology can bring about within the workplace, the impact that it might have, and how to ensure that the change is positive for all concerned stakeholders.
Jodi, with decades of experience under her belt of having dealt with individuals and corporate teams, says that staying calm 24*7 in the modern world is challenging, unless one, of course, is a Zen Monk. But, not being stressed is pivotal in both individuals and businesses succeeding. The answer to that problem lies in managing both physiological and psychological responses to stress. Deep belly breathing to overcoming cultural challenges that lead to resistance to change are some of the strategies that Jodi recommends.
Jodi emphasizes that the modern workplace is filled with constant challenges, both for the business at large and for the individuals within the business, and resilience is a key component of effectively navigating these challenges. And because humans are fundamentally hard-wired to resist any kind of change, for any business, it is paramount that they manage the process of change so that neither the business nor the individuals in the business suffer. She believes efficient management of change involves the following:
Step 1: Understand that there could be resistance to change
People are uncomfortable with change. They deny it, they are shocked by the need for it and are often frustrated by it. The management needs to realize it and help the individuals within the organization be open to change.
Step 2: Give people ownership over the change process
It is important to get the people who are going to be impacted involved in the whole process of change: get their input, ask them what potential problems they see, seek their solutions. The key stakeholders need to have a role to play in the process and develop a feeling of ownership over the process and the final solution.
Step 3: Manage training and scale the change
Oftentimes people resist change because they feel that they do not know how to deal with the change. In the case of technology, they might not be comfortable using it and might even have trouble admitting that they have a problem using it. So, to overcome that, ensure that there are lots of training. There is a need to make them feel that the extra handholding is socially accepted and encouraged or else they will figure out workarounds.
Topics Covered
· Building Resilience at Individual and Corporate Levels
· Strategies for Staying Calm
· Dealing with Technology Change
· Need for Stakeholders to Accept Change
· Engaging Stakeholders to Have a Positive Impact on Acceptance to Change
· Ensuring Psychological Safety in the Work Place
· World-Class Leadership
Key Quotes (Time Stamps)
“I specialize in resilience. And that can be resilience from an individual point of view. So, somebody building their own resilience. It can also be from a leadership point of view. So, a leader building their own resilience but also leading in a way that helps their team build resilience. And then, also around culture because there are things in culture that cause stress for people. So, looking at resilience at all three levels and change management.” (0:50 – 1:23)
· “The one that probably works for more people, than any others, is the deep belly breathing. So, you basically force yourself to sit upright and really slow down your breathing. And generally, the best way is to make your exhale longer than your inhale. And you do that even a couple of minutes can make a big difference. So, I say to people, a slow in-count for 4 and a slow out-count for six.” (5:08 – 5:34)
· “People are uncomfortable with change. That’s part of the human nature.” (8:44 – 8:47)
· “Most people need to get to an extremely uncomfortable or scary position before they’d actually choose change.” (8:54 – 9:00)
· “This ties into one of key things that I talk about in terms of culture around that psychological safety where people feel safe to voice opinions, ask for help, try new things, possibly make mistakes and errors and it’s actually okay because it is part of the learning process.” (20:49 – 21:09)
· “The larger the organization the harder this is to manage; and the more strategic they have to be about managing it.” (22:15 – 22:22)
Social Media Clips (Time Stamps)
What it Means to Build Resilience (2:04 – 3:41)
· How Individuals and Organizations can Deal with Technology Change (8:32 – 10:31)
· How Management Teams and Consultants can Help with the Process of Acceptance to Integration (11:40 – 14:20)
· How to Attract Buy-In in the Change Management Process (14:59 – 17:37)
· Overcoming the Cultural Challenges (20:49 – 21:27)
Useful Links
Jodi Woelkerling | LinkedIn
Jodi Woelkerling | Website
Jodi Woelkerling Enterprises P/L | LinkedIn
Order Jodi’s book: World Class Leadership
