Lisa Riegel, PhD. enjoys long-term relationships with her clients and assists them with strategic planning, implementation, and executive coaching. She has been sought internationally for her counsel on program improvement and innovation. She has also developed statewide curriculum for adult learners and designed bespoke professional development related to company culture, engagement, customer service, and collaboration. In 2020, she launched JAKAPA, a software company designed to measure, train and track essential skills in self-management, innovation, social engagement, cooperation and emotional resilience. Her program has improved team communication and collaboration for many organizations as they work on strategic initiatives. In all aspects of her work, she strives to help organizations transition from a compliance mentality to a collaborative commitment to reform. Dr. Riegel earned dual bachelor’s degrees in English and Secondary Education from Kent State University. She holds a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Otterbein University and a Ph.D. in Policy and Leadership from The Ohio State University. Her work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals and she has authored three books.
Most professional learning for leaders is aspirational and inspirational rather than concrete and operational. You learn to dream big and create high expectations. You work with leadership teams to create conceptual and innovative strategies that should improve outcomes. You buy software and learning programs and spend outrageous amounts of time and money on developing your staff. So, with all these innovative ideas and support, why do most innovative initiatives fall short of successful implementation? Because we fail to move from conceptual to concrete. Concepts guide change, but they don’t define it. In order to lead successful change, leaders need to have a clear picture of what they want and a clear pathway to get there.
Too often, leaders focus on the desired state (the aspiration) rather than the concrete steps (the operation) necessary to succeed. We expect our staff to see our vision, to desire the same vision, and to embrace the discomfort of change. We forget that human beings fear change. Trying something new, leaving old practices behind, and accepting that new practices don’t negate the hard work we have been doing can challenge people’s professional identities and exhaust them. If we propose a change without establishing the need for change or what it looks like in practice, and if we fail to offer the necessary support and leadership, fear can outweigh bravery and your staff will defensively accept mediocre results as good enough.
To lead change, you need to become both aspirational and operational, the pathfinder and the model, so you can define the dream and lead the journey. My 7C Commitment Framework can help leaders design and lead innovation.
The 7C Commitment Framework
Clarity: If your staff doesn’t know what is expected of them or doesn’t understand the reason for change, they can resist or burnout. Innovative leaders clearly define the change. They describe what they expect to see and hear when the change is happening. When your staff understands your vision in concrete terms, they can feel good about their work and the efforts they are making. When they don’t understand or “see” the change, new practices can feel overwhelming and pointless. Your staff needs to be able to visualize what you are asking them to do, which means you need to be able to visualize your change at the 10,000 foot view and the 10 foot view.
Coherence: We expect people to connect new learning to previous learning, but many people cannot see the connections. Make sure you are connecting your innovation to your company’s mission and vision, strategic priorities, and a clear need arising from your data. Situate the new initiative as embedded in the work you are already doing rather than positioning it as something totally new. Show people the evolution of the idea and look for longitudinal coherence. Ask yourself: How is your proposed change a natural next step based on what you have already been doing? Why is it the obvious choice to move you to the next level? How can you situate prior knowledge, practice, and professional learning as tools that have all been leading to this reform?
Cadence: Think of your staff as a crew team on a boat. On a crew of ten, the average American company will have two to three people rowing like crazy, about 5 looking at the scenery, and two or three actively trying to sink the boat. When you are leading an innovation, start with your rowers. They are the ones who will embrace experimentation. As they begin to see positive progress, the sight-seeing bunch will start to try new practices. Eventually, your boat will have seven or eight people rowing together and they will not tolerate the two or three who are making waves.
Celebration: Change is exhausting, and people need to experience small wins along the way. Your staff needs to know the work they are putting in is noticed and the effort is moving them toward a clear and worthy goal. Celebration needs to be specific and authentic. It relies on your ability to establish clarity. If people know what is expected of them and are receiving positive and public celebrations and reinforcement, your celebrations will not only serve to show your appreciation, but will also serve to help others see what the intended change looks like. Celebrations are a key mechanism for developing collective efficacy, the magic dust of employee engagement.
Collaboration: The world works in teams. Strong teams have autonomy balanced with accountability. As a change leader, set up your expectations for teams and hold them accountable. Create feedback loops that will help your teams know that their work is being observed and you are there to support them. We measure what matters. Measuring the quality of collaboration and the output of your teams will highlight the importance of teams building their collaborative skills.
Coaching: Change is hard and emotional. Trying something new often means giving up something old. When you cannot see evidence that a staff member is making the required changes, you need to coach them and provide constructive feedback that is specific, clearly connected to your expectations, and done in private. Thought provoking questions can be much more useful that telling people what to do. Look for the root cause of stagnation by listening to the ask within the complaint. When they are complaining, it is often a result of a training, logistics or enthusiasm gap. Once you understand why the person isn’t progressing, you can design supports to close their personal gap. Coaching needs to be consistent and reinforce the clarity, coherence and cadence of your plan. You also need to be prepared to hold any resistors accountable so they realize the team is moving ahead with or without them, and there are consequences if they choose to stay behind. Well-designed coaching can motivate everyone and provide consistency that builds hope rather than frustration around your initiative.
Communication: Finally, the entire system of change requires strategic internal and external communication. Motivating your staff to take the first step and to maintain momentum requires strategic and careful communication. A lot of communication is designed as ego-centric. We have a message we want to send, we write it, and we send it. Often, we are disappointed with the results. People don’t read our communications or don’t do the intended actions. Strong leaders use strategic communication. They start by asking what the intended outcome of the communication should be. In other words, what action or reaction are you hoping for? Secondly, they consider the people they need to have that action or reaction. What is their work style? What messages motivate them? Are they rowers, watchers or sinkers? Finally, a strong communicator will create strategic messaging that is designed to direct the intended receiver to the desired outcome.
Innovation requires a strong strategy and implementation plan for each of the 7Cs. The 7C Commitment Framework can help you lead innovation, engage people, and enjoy positive results. It can move your staff from compliance to commitment.