Zack Blair

The Season of Transition

How much has changed in the last 10 years? I remember thinking, “text messaging is stupid.” “Rabbit Ears” have changed to a Hi-Def converter. A cumbersome CD player has changed into a palm-sized database. I was a freshman in high school; now I’m going to be a dad. When Ben Franklin said, “Two things are certain: Death and taxes,” he wasn’t all-inclusive. There’s one more thing that comes against us all, CHANGE. Friends change, families change. I used to hate pineapples, now, I love them. In leadership, it’s no different.

(For reference sake, I’m not talking about change for the negative; rather, the change to which I’ll be referring is “making necessary changes within your leadership team to go to the next level.” If you’d like to read more about change changing you negatively, please click here.)

Most changes seem to be viewed as inconvenience rather than opportunity. Candidly, some of the toughest times we face are when change occurs–no matter how well-communicated a change may be, there always seems to be a level of questioning (and rightly so) within the change. Why? Because each person has a need given by God of security, acceptance, significance, and more. If an individual’s security, acceptance, significance, and more are found not in Christ, but is found in his or her leadership position, you’ll find change brings out the worst in this person. (Raise your hand if you’ve been guilty in that… I’m raising my hand… NOT an easy struggle to get over, and I can write lines and lines on this… maybe later.)

Though seasons of change mark high innovation, they need high communication to combat high paranoia. Further, even though communication is needed, one can still communicate it in the wrong way and burn people. It’s never quite been my goal to burn someone when bringing a change, but I have. Here are some of the mistakes I’ve made when communicating change:

1. I communicated the change, expecting everyone to be “on board“: Now, I want my leaders to not only to see the changes that need to take place, but also begin to implement them collectively. This can only happen by having the right people in the right places, and by delegating authority to those leaders, rather than tasks. One sign that our leaders are developing is when they come to me with the changes that need to take place. One sign that I’m developing is that I can trust the collective insights of the group and let them develop areas on their own. It may take me, Lauren, or another leader asking the right questions to get the light-bulb to turn on or the thoughts to start turning, but one of the most precious things we can find in a time of transition is a buy-in from the entire group because they have initiated it.
2. I communicated an individual change corporately without talking to the individual first: In this, I assumed that the team member and I would be on the same page. Luckily, I did this to a very mature leader, to whom an apology was enough. Doing this only conveys the “I’m the leader, and I’m always right” mentality, which is… not right. Now, if there are transitions coming within the team or flow that I have to directly implement, I make sure we’re clear individually and THEN corporately.
3. I assumed that feelings or emotions stemming from change need not be followed up with: Sometimes, and especially when change is given from the top down, I’ve noticed that I need to give continual affirmation to the leader who has been affected. Where there is no communication, there is almost always a differing assumption. Communication is the lifeblood to any organization–if this communication has been cut off, then there will ALWAYS be differing assumptions, and you’ll find the person feeling burned.

If we completely function in a manner that works today, then we should be looking for the changes that need to be made tomorrow. Change has to be handled properly and we’re all learning how to navigate that. Shoot your sacred cows. Abandon draining efforts that bring no results, but no matter what, stay faithful to the vision and mission God has placed in your heart.