Change isn’t about putting your energy into building something new instead of fighting through the old ways. It’s a fundamental shift in thinking, which is something that leaders need to learn to embrace.
Your job as a sales manager is to challenge and disrupt the status quo, and you should aim to pass that spirit on to your team too. To some extent, it’s human nature to resist change and the unknown, so leaders must try to avoid this thinking pattern.
Many become reactive regarding change, constantly battling everything instead of focusing on the bigger picture.
Leaders must bring their teams through change.
Contrary to what many people think, change doesn’t necessarily come as a massive wave — there are different types of change, and often it comes in the form of tiny, incremental steps.
Here are the three main types of change:
- Developmental change — when things are continuously improving so that change becomes a wave of being
- Transitional change — when the old is being dismantled
- Strategic change — when you’re defining the end state and how you get there
Each has different consequences, which impact how you should navigate them as a leader. You can also experience all three at once.
You are responsible for bringing people through change faster and reducing the chaos that comes with it by minimizing productivity dips. But don’t pretend you know everything that’s going to happen. This can affect your credibility as a leader, especially if you’re conveying messages you can’t follow through on.
Learn to overcome resistance.
You always need to anticipate resistance when change happens — as we’ve said, it’s only human nature. But as with change itself, there are different types of resistance. How does it show up in your team? One of the most common forms is negativity, which is best tackled by counterbalancing it with positivity.
When tackling resistance, you need to think about the three stages of change: the start of a change, its implementation, and sustaining it. Which stage are you at? You also have to interact with your team on three levels — how they think, feel, and what they’re doing.
Finally, repetition is everything when you’re navigating change. You can’t just tell people to do something — you have to tell them seven times, and if you’re not doing this, you can’t blame your team for failing to adapt. That's why it's important to understand the sales enablement vision and mission
What you can do
You need an awareness of how much change you can or can’t embrace and handle — and how your actions affect how you interact with your team.
Consider creating a forum to get through the change. Find out what your team needs from you to get behind a change or to feel more supported.
Lastly, ensure you’ve considered everyone impacted by the change. Otherwise, some team members may feel they haven’t been evaluated or are being left behind.
What it means to you
You have a unique role in leading people through change. You might not always agree with a change or feel you have all the information you need to handle change optimally, but you’ll still have to adapt.
