Implementing Change: A Challenge Of Leadership

Like many of you, I spent a wonderful week at a cabin by the lake this summer. One of the other guests, a few doors down, was an economist. He was telling me how companies and governments have hired him to evaluate and analyze financial situations and make recommendations. He also said in some cases, even though the facts indicated what changes should be made, the department heads, CEOs or business owners would either ignore the recommendations or twist the information and misapply it. I found it interesting that I experience the same thing as a trainer and consultant. Don’t get me wrong, there are lots of shop owners doing what it takes to be the leaders of our industry; but there are others who are stalled. What is it about us that cannot accept change, or our unwillingness to make changes? Is it fear or laziness; or is a lack of understanding or information? Or are we just passing the buck?

In my work as a management trainer, I am actually called an “Implementation Coach.” It is my task to bring training in the form of industry benchmarks, financial and operational measuring tools, and systems and procedures for our clients to achieve those benchmarks. Once the information has been taught, I coach shop owners and managers in the process of implementing what they have learned. This sounds straightforward, at first glance, but it is far from it. There are varying learning styles, varying management and leadership abilities or experience, and varying ability or desire to effect change in the business.

I have identified three stages of implementation required to achieve the required financial and operational benchmarks that give a shop owner the profits and time to enjoy being in this business. Each of these expands into many more topics and issues, but let’s focus on these three for now.

The first stage of implementing change is gaining knowledge and learning new methods. All of us need to keep up with the pertinent technical and management information for our particular job, business or industry. We need to read our industry publications, pertinent books and find training that is current and applicable to our situation. There are several live and online choices in Canada. Here are some of the excuses I hear from shop owners: “I don’t have time,” “I don’t like reading,” or “I have been doing this for a long time, I think I know what I am doing.”

My responses are, if you don’t make time now, the future will not improve. Remember the old saying, “A stitch in time, saves nine.” There are a lot of alternatives to reading. Use books on CD, listen while you are driving, or download them to an iPod or MP3 player and listen while you exercise. The hardest excuse to respond to is the last one. But I have learned something about this excuse, both from reading and experience. What some of these shop owners actually mean, but are not conscious about, is the following: “I have been doing this for 25 years and it has not really been the success I had hoped for, how is it possible that I was doing it wrong all this time? I thought I was doing the best I knew how.”

That last sentence is correct, it is the best they knew how; but things have changed a lot, there is a lot of new knowledge, methods, and issues to deal with. We need to be constantly learning to keep in the game.

The second stage of implementing change is being able to change our personal beliefs, values and habits as they relate to the business. Just because we learn something new does not mean we necessarily accept it. Some folks find this easier than others, and in some cases make some progress and then get stalled. As an Implementation Coach it is my job to help owners identify the areas that they stall in.

As an example, research done by J.D. Power and Associates and Runzheimer International shows when a vehicle owner maintains their vehicle they save between 46 and 53 per cent over someone who only fixes what is broken. I still meet a lot of technicians and shop owners who do not believe this. They are still waiting for the phone to ring or a tow truck to come in so that they can replace a broken component or do a brake job. They think that changing key vehicle fluids is ripping off the customer, or they think they make more money being a breakdown shop versus doing maintenance work. This is a deep-seated belief in some cases, but things will not improve for that shop till it changes. Do an informal survey at some point. What do automotive technicians usually drive? I will leave this question rhetorical for the time being, but the answer usually exposes a deeper fact, that many technicians in this industry are underpaid and have never experienced what it is like to drive a newer well-maintained vehicle.

The third stage of implementation is being able to teach your team the new knowledge, coach them through their belief changes, and lead the way through the changes in the business. Sounds great on paper, but the reality is, this is where most of us stall. We have never thought of ourselves as teachers, coaches and leaders. We are the owners and the bosses; they should just do what we tell them if they know what is good for them. How can you expect change from an employee when you yourself are unable to implement change? When you build step by step it is not as hard as you think. Many of the skills you need for this level can be learned quickly. Regular staff meetings, regular staff reviews, proper interview skills, and creating meeting agendas are where you need to start. Many of us in this industry are not very good communicators; the good news is that you can learn this skill. I highly recommend finding a local Toastmasters club and try it out for a few sessions. In less than a year you can learn to run a meeting and be comfortable communicating in small groups. Each of these topics can be expanded further, but I think you get the idea. There are a lot of resources available for this stage of implementation.

Fear, laziness, lack of responsibility, which is it? If it is fear, take the time to think about what it is you are afraid of. If it is laziness, think about what motivates you and see if there is a con nection to the changes you have to make. If you feel that it is not your responsibility; that society, or the government, or the employee; or the customers are to blame, you are in need of a good dose of “my fault management.” If you make it your fault, you can do something about it.

I have the great privilege to be part of a leadership forum led by a good friend of mine, Dr. Bruce Hiebert. He is a professor of leadership and management studies. The following quote is all his and I offer it with his permission. I thought I could cut out part of it, but it all needs to be together.

“Leadership is also not about control, and this is a very difficult thought to entertain. Leadership is about facilitating followership, not about getting people to do what you want them to do. The ideal of leadership, the place where the most commitment (and productivity) occurs, is when people are voluntarily following a leader. As soon as a ‘leader’ starts to work to ‘control’ those who are subordinate (not followers) they create a condition called resistance. As soon as people feel manipulated or directed in places they do not feel enthusiastic, they start to drag their feet, add bureaucratic controls, minimize effectiveness, and otherwise throw sand in the gears of the controller’s machinery. A highly skillful controller can manipulate that resistance or minimize it, but they cannot eradicate it. A true follower wants to see the leader’s goals implemented and will do what they can to reduce resistance rather than maximize it.

This means that leaders need to be distinguished from dictators and controllers, people who can control organizations and make them do things, even wonderful things. Someone can be highly capable, even brilliantly capable, of manipulating others into accomplishing the goals the leader sets in front of them. That does not make them a leader because the followers have never act
ually bought into the direction the organization needs to go. They have not voluntarily committed themselves to the well being of the organization. They are carried, sometimes pleasantly carried, along by the direction set by the controller, but they are not followers. How you detect these controllers is by the outcomes. Typically the moment the controller loses interest, dies, or retires; the organization quickly begins to give up the advantages gained by the controller. Jack Welch and Lee Iacocca are probably more controllers than leaders on the basis of what happened to their organizations after they left (Welch) or lost interest (Iacocca).

The corollary is that true leadership can be very frightening to owners. As a leader builds a following, and the organization begins to change, the control of the owners lessens. Power is awakened (not distributed) throughout the organization, proportionately lessening the ability of any one person to control what is happening. The good news is that an organization where the staff and managers are feeling powerful is one where marked productivity gains are likely and profitability is almost certain to substantially increase. It is a trade-off for owners, wealth vs. power, and the astute owner is prepared to make it. The bad news is that many owners are not prepared to make that trade-off.”

SSGM