First rule to start a change: have a personal reason

I like the paradox of new beginnings. On one hand, we humans really don’t like changes and novelties too much. But once we decide to go for it, we suddenly feel the surge and urge to start right now. As if the beginnings had an alluring vibe, like new adventure or exotic vacations.

But the beginning is also the time, when the success of failure is often predetermined. And there is one fundamental prerequisite with the catalyst power to make changes and projects successful. But when missing, it’s like impatiently rushing for an airport, but forgetting to pack a passport…

Any substantial change takes time. Bear in mind, that we do not discuss here trivial tasks. Change management — in my perspective — is about considerable business transformations or personal challenges. Such activities require new approach and doing things differently by definition.

The challenges worth to call for change management could be company’s reorganisation, new information system implementation, improving operational productivity, boosting sales volumes,  process redesign and alike.

These serious changes do not happen over night. Which means that along the road, you will meet lot of distractions and lot of cross-roads. And unless you know your whereabouts, you may take some of them quite happily.

Because let’s face it: sometimes there are even changes that we know need to be done — but we just cannot make ourselves into them.

Hence, you must have a good personal reason why you want to make that change work.

And beware: here comes the first misconception! At this stage, I do not — and I repeat — I do not mean the reason for the project itself!

So what’s the difference?

Let’s assume that you are a corporate manager and your superiors instruct you to automate one of your company’s processes. The reason for the project could be cost efficiency and faster customer care. But that is not your personal motivation. That is not the reason, why you will relentlessly work on this project for months to come.

There’s a difference between company’s motivation and your motivation. Unless you are the business owner, of course. But on that topic later…

We humans can achieve tremendous things. If we really want. This is why finding a good personal reason is so paramount to accomplish any change initiative.

In change management, you may find yourself in various scenarios. Lets’s explore them some of them, to better understand the implication of having a personal reason.

Scenario #1: Personal challenge

This sounds probably easy: you are the one, who came with the very idea, right? Just be sure, that you want to execute the change for your own benefits. Not because you feel the social pressure of your peers, not to please your significant other or to follow someone’s vision of yours.

When people want to stop smoking or to lose some pounds, it’s often because this wish is forced on them. Their friends and family are concerned about their health. And their social self-image for their body shape. But deep inside, they are quite happy puffing on that cigarette or taking a bite of that muffin.

Unless the motivation is truly your own, you are likely to struggle in the long run. Be selfish, find a reason that works just and only for you.

Scenario #2: Entrepreneur

Surprisingly, it’s very similar to the personal challenge case. You may find it perplexing to imagine why an entrepreneur with objective to boost his/her business could not be sufficiently personally engaged. What can be more personal, right?

Well, I have seen entrepreneurs suffering from the “good-enough” syndrome. These people have a reasonable business that is providing enough revenue for them. And they are happy that way, having sensible work-life balance. They do not feel the urge to take Wall Street by attack.

But their peers, friends or even family think differently. They provoke them, they tease them until the entrepreneur starts to wonder: perhaps I should expand my business to another country, etc.

However, the same applies: until you know and feel a very personal reason to change something in your business, it’s not gonna to happen. And as money are not always good enough reason, think what is the real reason for you.

Scenario #3: Corporate manager

Changes are tough for corporate managers. It’s because they are in the middle ground, exposed to the pressures from the top and problems coming upwards to them.

Most changes are imposed on corporate managers by their superiors. In corporations, there’s always someone above you, shareholders being the ultimate top dogs. And not everything that comes down is to your full liking.

Yet unless you accept full ownership, you won’t be able to push that change task through. Your willpower, focus and even body language will send a message to your teams — and believe me, they will (mis)behave accordingly. And when the time comes to settle the accounts with your bosses and show them your accomplishments… You get the point, right?

Then, the first thing to do is to find a personal reason why to accomplish the change, originally demanded by someone else. Your reason might be personal development, taking a step closer to your dream job, working with people you like, opportunity to travel, self-affirmation, annual bonus and anything that will work for you.

Once attending to yourself, you need to do the same for your team. Make sure that they also have their personal reasons to work on your change task. How exactly to achieve that is beyond the scope of this article. And no, calling all-staff meetings and holding speeches about wellbeing of customers and shareholders won’t do.

For those interested, this topic is covered by my change management methodology. You may either opt for full-training session or one-to-one coaching to learn this skill.

Scenario #4: Project manager

Project managers share some similarities with corporate managers. As a project manager, you are given certain challenge, a project to accomplish. And your clients or superiors give you — sometimes — more or less clear objectives and reasons why the company wants it done.

Yet again, without strong personal reason to deliver your project on time, budget and quality, you won’t stay strong when problems emerge. Neither would you radiate the confidence and determination towards your project team.

Speaking of the project team, there’s one substantial difference compared to corporate manager. The project manager doesn’t have hierarchical superiority over people assigned to the project. Hence ensuring proper motivation of key team members is crucial. How to achieve that is one of the popular coaching topics I address with my clients.

The summary

Every substantial change comes with a price tag. That is not necessarily financial. It’s the effort and time you — or your people — must invest into making that change happen. Although you must not rely on willpower — which is by the way change mistake number one — you must be prepared to hold the ground when troubles comes. Strong personal reason will provide you that anchor.

When defining your personal reason, make sure to avoid two misconceptions. Firstly, differentiate between change or project reason — and your own reason. In some cases, they can be identical, in some they may differ. Secondly, replace “I think I should” by “I know I want”. When you accept someone else reasons, they won’t work.

We humans can achieve almost anything, when we have the right motivation. So when facing any new change challenge ahead, make sure you tick this box first.

P.S. There are five more checks you should perform when starting a new project or change activity. You may find them in the new ebook “Change ahead: 6 checks before you start”.