DALTON DELIVERS ONE of his signature courses on how to look for deficiencies and continually improve any business process. He starts the presentation with the importance of communication throughout any organization, highlighting the foundation of a successful corporate culture: transparent, continuous communication.

PEOPLE-CENTRIC SKILLS IN THIS CHAPTER

• The importance of transparent communication when building trust
• How often, with whom, and when to communicate during change management
• Ramifications of not communicating effectively
• Combatting Natural Reactions to Change

KEY WORDS

• Influence
• Change Management
• Transparent Communication
• Continuous Communication
• Corporate Silos
• Building Resiliency

This was a rare treat for Dalton. Treats are all relative, so while sitting in Dallas traffic was never a treat, the ability to drive to work was, without a doubt, a treat. Additionally, the ability to drive his car for a few days was a rare treat, indeed. He had recently turned in his leased Lexus LS 460 for a brand-new Kia Telluride. He loved his Lexus but the Kia was very nice and he needed more space when driving the kids and taking Caleb to his out of town soccer games.

Today, Dalton was driving downtown to a new client who had found him through referrals from other clients. Dalton's business was very dependent on referrals and he was extremely thankful for a strong, loyal client base. Through the 55-minute drive that, without traffic, should have taken 25 minutes, Dalton thought through the day's presentation. He would be speaking about how to influence change throughout any business. It was not a full-day presentation (his specialty) just two hours. This did not require much preparation but he did think through the angle he would take to garner the group's attention.

This was an all-hands meeting for a large technology company that was growing rapidly. In fact, the founder, Barry Silverstein, was concerned that the company was outgrowing its infrastructure—not only its information technology infrastructure but also its cultural infrastructure. For the first few years, Barry's team was a tight-knit, small group. Then the app they created took off and they entered rapid expansion. Now Barry had to hire a bunch of outsiders due to the speed of the expansion and he knew the company culture had to evolve. Yet it was changing slower than the company's expansion. Barry was hopeful that Dalton could come in and establish some baselines for the team to adhere to as the company continued to grow. Barry did not know Dalton in a professional sense but they had known each other for years because they were congregants at the same synagogue. Barry was always impressed with Dalton and what he had been able to accomplish over the past 10 years. One of Barry's team members mentioned that they had attended many of Dalton's presentations in the past and Barry connected the dots from there. This was the first time he had engaged anyone like this in this capacity.

Dalton arrived and set up in the main conference room (with a capacity of 500) for his nine am session. Everyone filed in and began to settle a few minutes after the scheduled time. For the shorter sessions—especially the ones that were in town, where he had access to his full wardrobe—he enjoyed dressing up as part of a strong first impression. Today he wore his light brown three-piece suit, lightly patterned with blue houndstooth. He accentuated the suit with a blue shirt and navy blue tie and finished it off with dark brown and white wingtips.

Dalton wanted to attract the attention of the group with a strong opening message. He liked to personalize each presentation and so he thought of a personal yet universal message. He spoke of his own life changes and how he has had to change with the times rather than work against them, because change is inevitable. He talked about how difficult the transition was for the kids and even for him. His continuing message to the kids and even to his ex has been that this is inevitable, and that it will be better for everyone long-term. A tough message, but everything was falling into place for both the kids and the adults. In fact, both kids had noticed how much more pleasant their parents were to be around.

Barry worked with Dalton to help to define the change management strategy that DCL Technologies was planning to use. Dalton introduced the strategy blueprint to the company via PowerPoint. Key components introduced included the following.

Dalton played the role of communicator and motivator perfectly. Barry needed the whole team to be on board with the fact that status quo did not work anymore. Dalton needed to motivate and convince the organization this was the right direction to go. He enjoyed presentations like this; Barry was there to jump in and support and reiterate the message. Without that additional voice, the task at hand would be much more difficult.

Dalton continued and reiterated the change and why DCL must evolve to make sure everyone had a clear understanding of the overall nature of the change, its reasons, and how it would align with the vision for DCL. He outlined the risks of not changing, timing for the change, and who would be most impacted by the change.

Barry thought this was the perfect role for Dalton, an outsider, to communicate. He wanted everyone to understand that change is constant in this environment and understanding its components can help everyone relate it to an organizational level. He also wanted them to know that senior management understood its impact on the individual because change influences all levels of the organization. Organizational change creates fear and uncertainty, and Barry wanted to get ahead of this as much as possible.

Dalton walked the team through the five natural reactions to change experienced by employees:

1. Denial: May be reluctant to listen or may deny any facts or information presented to support the change if they are not informed in a timely manner or are told of things after the fact.
2. Resistance: This common reaction stems from fear of the unknown.
3. Anger: When change occurs and the norm is disturbed, people can experience anger. They may lash out and become uncooperative during this time.
4. Indifference: People may just not care, or the change may appear not to have an impact on their routines or work. Be wary of this: the change may be intended to have an impact, but if the individual is indifferent about the change, then he or she may not understand or accept it.
5. Acceptance: Changes occur for the better and have a positive influence on those involved. Even with positive change, acceptance may not happen right away but should occur more quickly, as opposed to when the change is perceived to be negative.

Dalton walked everyone through these reactions and then opened up a Q and A session for Barry and other members of the senior management team to field questions. They did their best to focus on keeping an open atmosphere and did field some good questions, but they also knew that the people who were truly in denial or indifferent would most likely not ask questions in this open environment. Again, it was a good opportunity to begin to clear the air on where DCL was moving.

The remainder of Dalton's presentation focused on building flexibility and resiliency, but he wanted to do this by tapping into the emotional side of the team. He wanted to get them to fully buy-in and get excited about where DCL had been and where it is heading. Dalton was not an emotional person but he knew the importance of emotion and getting employees emotionally attached to the company message and mission statement.

Dalton dove into the topic of resiliency and how to build it as a foundational piece of DCL moving forward.

Resiliency is the ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.¹ It is not a personality characteristic in itself; rather, it is a combination of traits. Dalton walked through these traits with great passion as he saw many of these traits in himself and his kids. He loved the quote (he never said it correctly) about how bad things happen but it's best to focus on your reaction and how you bounce back rather than playing the victim. Caleb used to have many minor injuries in soccer and was always very slow to recover. Dalton always pushed him to power through these things, believing it was not the injury itself but how quickly someone can recover from the injury that matters. Over the past year, Caleb became resilient and powered through most anything.

Dalton highlighted the importance of being resilient. When people are confronted with ambiguity and loss of control, they tend to gain from such experiences rather than lose. They thrive when faced with chaos. Dalton was a very routine-oriented person but loved the thought of applying the chaos theory in life. He knew that life does not go the way you plan and preparing for the unexpected is key. In fact, his career and company arose from utter chaos in his life. He would call out Caleb and Liora when they were too risk averse and never took chances. He would talk to Caleb about using controlled aggression and not thinking so much on the soccer field, and instead just doing. Liora would stress over school all the time and he constantly reminded her that stress can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Stress caused her to get bad grades on occasion. Whenever she came home with a grade she was not happy with, he told her not to focus on the grade but on how she got the grade and how they could make sure this did not happen again.

He relayed these stories with great passion and reverence. His kids were his everything, and anybody who heard Dalton speak knew that. Resilient people are more likely to make a quicker and more effective adaptation to change. Resilient people are necessary to foster success during a change.

Dalton introduced integral steps to help employees and leaders become more resilient:

1. Have a realistic picture of your capabilities but do not limit yourself.
   1. Realism is the key to growth. However, realism should not be a limitation.
2. Have no fear of failure, but instead embrace failure as a learning opportunity.
   1. The world today is full of participation trophies.
   2. Losing = Learning
   3. Every great leader has failed at some point!
3. Embrace risk-taking.
   1. Inherent in every risk is an opportunity.
4. Concentrate on continuing to develop critical-thinking skills (think outside the box).
   1. Focus on new approaches for everything.
   2. Continue to reinvent yourself.
   3. If you are in the middle of a change, suspend immediate judgment.
5. Embrace detailed, regimented project management throughout the organization.
   1. Use a planner or planning software to keep to-do lists, and track plans, commitments, and next steps for each change initiative.
   2. Break down complex or ambiguous situations into manageable chunks.
   3. Find a coach who has strong organizational skills.
6. Maintain focus on long-term goals and objectives but be flexible.
   1. Reassess goals and objectives periodically.

Barry reiterated some of these key messages and Dalton started to wrap up with the importance of flexibility. Being flexible is critical for people involved in or leading a change to be able to make shifts as necessary during a project. Flexible people are team players, a critical need for any change management initiative. Flexibility allows one to think with an open mind and brainstorm more efficiently, which helps to bring a wider range of ideas to a project team.

Dalton was very good at his craft but on rare occasions, a presentation did not go as well as he wanted. Luckily, this was not one of those times. Dalton could call out the highs and lows and this was a major high. He read the attendees' faces over the two hours and kept coming back to Barry. Dalton could see the enthusiasm and excitement on his face and hear it on his voice. As Dalton wrapped up with a strong final message, the team rose and gave him a standing ovation, which was truly a highlight for Dalton. He stuck around for lunch and chatted with the executive team about continued assistance throughout the next year. He left excited about the possibilities.