116. The Southeast Axis: Leading Change
Concept
The fifth main element in our diamond model is leading change. We began by saying that leadership is really about leading strategic change. I assert that any effective executive must be as Bob Johnson, former CEO of Honeywell Aerospace, once said, “a Change Master.”1 Before we jump into the topic, please diagram your current mental model of what you think the change process is. Winston Churchill among others used the principle of forming personal opinions on every matter as a way of training his mind. Churchill’s practice
... was not to read any particular debate “until I have recorded my own opinion of the subject on paper, having regard only to general principles. After reading I reconsider and finally write”, setting out in pencil, on small pieces of paper, his own views on each subject, which he then pasted into the volumes.2
Diagram your model in the space below.
In the chapters that follow, I will introduce you to some of the common models of change out and about in the world.
Example
I ask this question of the participants in my seminars. It’s fascinating to watch people strive to put their semi-conscious VABEs on paper and then to see what they came up with. We would call out a random number and then ask that person to explain their change model as if they were the CEO explaining it to your employees. When the person was done, we would open it up for questions. Again, a fascinating sequence. Here’s one of those chalkboard drawings just FYI.
Diagram
Challenge
1. What’s your model of change as of today? Draw it out on paper. Remember the discipline of translating your thoughts at Level Two out to Level One Visible Behavior.
2. Ask a colleague to review your model and note questions or comments (based on their model).
3. Keep this model handy as you review the rest of the chapters in this module.
1 From taped interviews accompanying, “The Life and Career of a Divisional CEO: Bob Johnson at Honeywell Aerospace.” UVA-OB-0872, Darden Business Publishing.
2 Gilbert, M. 2014. Churchill: A Life. Rosetta Books.