Build change leaders
You can’t build the case for change alone. You need other leaders throughout your organization who can also keep the case for change front and center with their peers and direct reports.
Rivers says that internally, you will be able to identify the people who truly embrace change by working with them over time. But it also helps to bring in fresh perspectives from outside the organization, which means you need a recruiting and interviewing process that helps to identify change agents.
“By working with people, you start to get a sense for how comfortable they are with change,” she says. “Certain people thrive on change. They love it, and it’s fairly easy to spot that. On that front, it’s about engaging those people and spending time with them to really understand where it is you’re trying to go, and doing it maybe a little more intensely than you would with other people. You need to infuse those types of people into different areas of the business, because you have to get the message to different groups.”
When it comes to balancing the internal element with some new blood from outside the organization, you need to find out a lot about potential new hires in a short period of time. Rivers says you can do that by, in essence, scaring them.
“When you interview people, you share everything with them,” she says. “You tell them exactly how it is, almost to the point of you’ll know who you scare. You can kind of tell the people who get a look in their eyes that they’re not sure about this, and then you know the people who are really engaged, really excited about change and thrive on that. You’ll see the people who want to be a part of that.”
Rivers says Entertainment Publications has made “significant progress” in installing a change-focused mindset throughout the organization. The company is continually adapting its processes, products and the way it takes products to market. High school fundraising has become a market that Rivers and her leadership team has zeroed in on, focusing on growth. The company is well-positioned to continue thriving despite the state of the regional or national economy.
“You need to create some level of comfort and confidence with change, and then create a sense of urgency and continue to push people through that,” Rivers says. “The reality is, when people start to see that they can have success on the other side (of the change), and they start doing scary things that different, it becomes invigorating. It becomes exciting, and other people see it. That’s what builds up the momentum that creates the energy, and that’s when the movement starts to take place.”
How to reach: Entertainment Publications LLC, (888) 231-7283 or www.entertainment.com
