Welcome back to the Look and Sound of Leadership, an ongoing series of executive

coaching tips designed to help you be perceived in the workplace the way you want to be perceived. I'm Tom Henschel, your

executive coach and today we're talking about leading change. Marta's coaching had been over for almost a year when she called me with a bit of panic in her voice.

I've got a full-blown rebellion on my hands, Tom, she told me. The day before, at an all-hands meeting, she had

announced a restructuring of three of her groups. She had expected some resistance, but what she got was anger and shouting. She had lost

control of the room and people had left in a fury. We had a communication strategy Tom, she said a bit defensively. We all thought

announcing the new structure in a meeting was the way to go. I don't know what went

wrong. I asked a lot of questions.

Who'd been involved in planning the restructuring?

What was the timeline for implementation?

Whose jobs would be affected by the change?

Almost every answer I heard convinced me that she and her team had

unwittingly brought this firestorm on themselves. Leading change is a complex

high stakes task.

One of the acknowledged thought leaders on the topic is John Cotter, Professor of Leadership

Emeritus at Harvard Business School.

His book called Leading Change, lays out an eight-stage

process that should be required reading for any leader needing to navigate

through the mine field of change.

Before I talk about how to communicate change, which is one of Cotter's eight stages, let me

tell you a story that might illustrate why Martis people erupted so angrily and why every

change initiative is fraught with danger.

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