Strong communication is key to leading people through times of change, says Robby Riggs, transformation thought leader and co-founder of Sana Sano Consulting.
Riggs is delivering the closing keynote presentation at the upcoming Specialty Food Business Sumit, where he plans to discuss how leaders can navigate through times of change.
He has experience driving change initiatives at a range of organizations, from startups through Fortune 100 companies. He is also one of the hosts of the CounterMeasures podcast, which offers leadership lessons from the perspectives of a Baby Boomer and a millennial.
His company, Sana Sano, derives its name from the Latin phrase “Mens Sana in Corporate Sano,” which translates as “a sound mind in a sound body.” The company focuses on the core principle of alignment between the “mind” of the company — its purpose, mission and strategy — and its “body” — the people who are called upon to execute against those goals.
Specialty Food News recently spoke with Riggs about his planned presentation.
Please describe the topic of your closing keynote talk at the Specialty Food Business Summit.
It's going to be around how to lead through change — both leading yourself through change but also, and more poignantly, leading your organization through change. Whether that change is regulations in a marketplace, in terms of legislation, or it's growth, or it's mergers and acquisitions, or a new technology, change is the only constant in 2018 and 2019 and beyond. We're going to talk about how great leaders can lead through times of change, and become successful. In today's world, the ability to successfully lead change, and really drive through change, has to become an organizational core competency. It can't just be something that we're good at, or we work through, or hammer through. It really has to become something that we're great at. Otherwise, your organization won't last.
What are some of the keys to successfully navigating change?
Number one is to come to the closing keynote! Other than that, I think everything, especially in times of change, starts and ends with communication. Often we don’t communicate simply because we don’t have time. We don’t set clear expectations, we make assumptions, and then people flounder through times of change. When you don't communicate in times of change, people in your organization, quite literally, make stuff up. And the hard truth is, the majority of the time, what they make up is 10 times worse than reality. In the session, we’re going to talk a little bit about the neuroscience behind change, and why people do that. Why do people struggle through change? Why do they resist it and hate it? It isn't psychology; it's biology. We are wired to resist change. We don't like it. Our brain tells us it's a bad thing. And, in the session, we're really going to get into details about how great leaders communicate well in times of change, amongst many other things.
Who are some examples of leaders who do an exceptional job communicating?
Let's just take the National Football League, for example. Over the last 20 years, it has changed drastically — there have been rule changes, the way offenses and defenses are run, the way they scheme, how players have so much more power in terms of being able to negotiate contracts. Now look at the New England Patriots, and how they've been able to maintain excellence. They are the gold standard by every metric, and the reason they've been so successful is they have a leader [head coach Bill Belichick] who consistently communicates his vision, despite the changes. It's funny, because Belichick, when you see him with the media, is the opposite of a great communicator. He wants to give nothing away. He wants to give no insight. But, when you read about what he does in the locker room — every week, they drastically change their game plan. They adapt the game plan. And how they do it successfully is they are next level communicators. He communicates incredibly well with his assistants, and he communicates incredibly well with their people.
What else can people expect from attending your session?
They're going to get high energy, a fast pace, and most importantly, they're going to get actionable packets. We're going to give them great insights, but we're going give them actual packets of how they can go away and immediately, when they get back to their offices, be a better leader. Sometimes these keynote presentations may fire you up, but they don't give you the things you need so you can change your behavior tomorrow. And this, actually, is what my focus is on. Success for me is not someone walking away going, “Man, that was great, it was entertaining.” Success for is someone walking away and changing their behavior.
By Mark Hamstra
from Foodservice http://bit.ly/2SqEM1p
No comments: