Mary Lynn Mannsmanns@unca.edu

www.cs.unca.edu/~mannsLeadership Asheville

      January 2010

What are your

challengesin leading change?

A person needs two things in order to change…

(1) tension between the present state and the desired state

(2) a belief in the ability to change

How do you, as the change leader, create these two?

Attempting to persuade with….

Force treats the symptoms

rather than the underlying causes

Laws, directives, policies, etc. do not create a fundamental change in thinking and behaving

Attempting to persuade with….Fear : works in the short term

Too frightening to contemplatePeople use coping mechanisms to “justify”

Attempting to persuade….

but then you just give up and…

FixBut what happens when the “fix” is

gone?

Attempting to persuade with….

Facts : provide knowledge

knowledge – persuasion – decision – implementation – confirmation

The mental activity at…… knowledge is cognitive (knowing)… persuasion is affective (feeling)

Feelings…Behavior change happens mostly by speaking

to a people’s feelings. (John Kotter)

People will forget what you said, forget what you did, but not forget how you made them feel. (Maya Angelou)

Our emotions drive our decisions and then we use logic and reason to justify our decisions.

knowledge – persuasion – decision – implementation – confirmation

Knowledge: communicate informationStress the core of your message

Elevator SpeechJust Enough

Concentrate on the possibilitiesSmall problems Step by Step; propose a strategy

Tackle preconceived notionsMyth Buster

Capture attentionWake-up Call

Keep your message visible and frequentIn Your Space

Persuasion:transform information into actionCreate an Emotional Connection

Show a truth that influences feelings

Match your idea to needs Personal Touch

Use stories rather than statistics

Allow people to imagine the future Imagine That!

Persuasion:transform information into actionRecognize what people are losing

Shoulder to Cry On

Address the fear Fear Less

Build ownershipGroup Identity

Express sincere thanks Just Say Thanks

Making an Emotional ConnectionShow a truth that influences their feelings

Take-aways… A person needs 2 things to change:

Tension between present state and desired stateBelief in the ability to change

Facts, Fear, Force, Fix do not provide this

Persuasion calls for an appeal to emotion rather than to logicHelp individuals feel something– inspire them to

act.

Leading change is hard, but…

You miss 100% of the shots

you never take.

Mary Lynn Mannsmanns@unca.edu

www.cs.unca.edu/~mannsLeadership Asheville

      January 2010