Leadership & Change Management

Change is always about process: it’s always about 'how' we do things, never about 'why'. Why we do things is driven by the right values and principles…and they don’t change - and they never will. When we forget the 'why', bad things invariably happen – that’s when, in business, we see managers who pay lip service to “doing the right thing for the customer”, but then as soon as the pressure is on, they resort to beating up their people to get out and shift product, regardless of the customer’s best interests. Conversely, when people hold on to the 'why', those principles become like big rocks in a storm which help them to cope with any change in the 'how'.

“What comes out of you when you are squeezed is what is inside you…”

Dr Wayne Dyer

The best leaders and change managers understand this, and so they focus their communication and behaviours on reinforcing the ‘why’ on a regular basis to both their own people and their marketplace, before they get anywhere near talking about the ‘how’ and the ’what’.  Indeed, the best leaders are masters of persuasion and influence, using defined structures of communication which have been used by highly effective leaders throughout history.

At Real World we help leaders to become more consciously aware of how they can most effectively communicate the changes that they need to make in their business. Then, we work with your whole organisation to ensure that there is buy-in and ownership of those messages at every level.

In addition to one-to-one coaching and group workshops on leadership and change management we also provide high impact leadership development programmes in conjunction with the Royal Marine Commandos. Real World consultants work with the Royal Marine Commando Officer Training team in Lympstone in Devon and jointly deliver tailored programmes which focus on leadership, effective decision-making under stress, communication and teamwork. The programmes are practical, hands-on and, due partly to the Royal Marine Officer ‘experience’, have a lasting effect on both skill and motivation - we believe there is no better environment for developing effective leaders.

Whatever changes your business requires will be most effective if everyone involved in the change feels that they took part in the process. Also,  the more brains that are brought to bear on the business challenges you face, the better the ideas to solve them are likely to be. However:

- how do you manage the process of involving everyone to get the best outcome?

- how do you ensure that every voice is heard (and, crucially, feels that they have been heard)?

- how do you avoid the ‘motor mouths’ from taking over?

- how do you gather everyone’s ideas in the most efficient manner?

- how do you ensure that everyone in the group moves to a logical solution and owned actions within a reasonable timeframe?

- how do you easily capture and disseminate both the thought process and the conclusions reached throughout your organisation?

At Real World we have a proven track record and methodology for achieving all of the above when working within organisations and teams. The facilitation process we use is fast, effective and, most importantly, ensures full ownership and speedy action. We have used the process to:

• Develop and gain ownership of overall business strategies throughout the organisation
• Work with targeted customer focus groups to draw out product/service ‘wish lists’ and differentiators to ensure the client’s market proposition has bite
• Work with front line customer service and sales teams to define and develop the sales proposition
• Work across all departments of a business to develop and gain ownership to specific changes in business processes/practices
• Develop solutions and actions to deal with any specific challenges a business is facing