How to Overcome Obstacles to Change

Dear H.A.,

Most people don’t resist change as much as they resist being changed. I often find myself explaining to successful financial advisors the clear pattern where the senior advisor, founder or leader is wired as an entrepreneur. They can make change quickly, aren’t afraid to challenge or fail and want to continue to improve. Most of the time, this same person (or persons) hires people to support them and collaborate with them who are quite the opposite. These people are process-driven, like predictability and consistency and chafe at new ideas when they can’t see how or why these new ways are going to help them. Most importantly, they will resist when they can’t clearly see how the changes will impact their personal situation – what role will they have, what will they be asked to focus on, how much training will they receive and so on.

Unfortunately, you can’t fundamentally change anyone – we are all wired to behave in our own predictable ways. This is positive. You know what you will get from people, and you get what you expect! This doesn’t mean you can’t change anything. But it means you have to be sensitive and aware that your style and your ability to see the change for what you believe it is doesn’t translate to the team members supporting you.

A few things to consider if you haven’t already done these. They could help your team be more receptive to your change efforts:

1. Be sure you are changing something because it makes sense for your team. Some leaders have such a low tolerance for consistency they change things for the sake of change. I know one leader of an RIA whose team refers to as “mission of the moment” because of their tendency to change on a dime to see what happens. This isn’t positive or negative on its own, but when the team perceives it as constant change for no reason, they will get to a place where they wait out the latest iteration and look for the next one coming. I’m not saying you are doing this, I’m asking you to consider your motives and style.

2. Create a clear and compelling vision for your team about what any change will mean for the overall team effort, and then for each of them individually. You might not know how everything will play out. Don’t make commitments you cannot keep, but make sure you communicate concisely about the “why?” of what you are doing. I find senior leaders often forget that, while they are tied to the bigger picture and can see what’s happening, this isn’t the experience of team members. Most of your team is likely head-down, doing what’s required and churning out great work. They aren’t as connected to the overall as you are. You have to go out of your way to constantly communicate and share insights about what’s happening and why.

3. Develop specific steps and timelines to show what will happen and when. Don’t leave things vague and confusing. Again, you might see very clearly what’s happening and why but you have to bring it down to what, who, when, and how you will make these changes. People need priorities. They need timeframes. They want clarity on exactly how the team is going to get from point A to point Z. Many leaders believe people will just figure it out, but that’s unfair to the team. If they don’t have the same lens as you, and they are busy trying to get the work done, they can’t also figure out on their own what needs to happen to make a significant shift. Work with your team to create the roadmap for success.

4. Communicate often and communicate again. In the time I’ve been writing this column, I have shared this insight in almost every response I write. If there is one thing I find lacking in the smallest of teams to the largest, it is communication flow that is consistent, understandable and permeates all members of the team. Sending emails isn’t enough. Very few people learn by reading. To create collaboration and get your team members to share in the change effort, put some energy into talking with them directly, asking for their input and updating on a regular basis about what’s happening.

I know you might read this list and think, “Really – do I have to put this much effort into something we clearly have to do?” Consider what you want as an outcome. Your team isn’t going to jump on board without your guidance and support. And even if you fire this whole team and start over, I promise you are going to find many of the same constraints. It is 40% of the population who is highest on the process and consistency scale of behavior. It’s in your best interest to develop an approach that warms team members to your desired outcome rather than puts them in a mode of resistance.

Dear Bev,

We recently had a team offsite and established our goals for next year. We also tried to address concerns the team has been raising over the last couple of months. We are affiliated with a large organization that is pushing out a lot of new ideas – technology for client servicing and so on. They want our clients to use technology that isn’t working very well to reduce our workload. But my team will tell you the process has created more work for them.

The offsite was mixed. Mostly positive about what we need to do but also a lot of complaining about what we are being forced to do whether we agree with it or not.

As follow-up, is there anything I can do to keep the team motivated and focused? I’m stuck too, trying to implement changes from the home office. I might not agree with everything but I’m not able to fight them. I want my team to know I hear them and I get what they are dealing with. But I also need them focused on where we are going. I don’t want to be part of the complaining because I find it is unproductive. It doesn’t lead anywhere.

Z.O.

Dear Z.O.,

I will share a story I often tell about a former client I had. We implemented a full-scale change effort precisely because the client servicing team (this was a fin-tech company) had become so frustrated with the changes being forced on them and on their clients. Most members of the team had started to align with the clients. They could no longer defend their firm around the changes, and it was causing all sorts of internal and external rifts. We ultimately helped the internal team members see what they could do differently to stay positive, but it was a year-long effort to change direction.

I share this because if you don’t acknowledge and address your team’s concerns, you run the risk they will start to empathize so much with your clients they start to badmouth your firm. Turn their attention to what they can control or influence.

Perhaps as a follow-up to your offsite you could bring them together in a conference room or virtually and ask them for their top three to five obstacles to success. You already know what some of these are, but let your team raise them as they see them.

Then, and this part is very important, work with the team to categorize them: What can they control, what is in their influence and what’s out of their control. This can often shift thinking from being stuck with a bad decision they are forced to manage, to opening their mind to see what they can do within the process to make it better both for them and for the clients.

Acknowledge the obstacles and let the team raise them, but you have a responsibility to shift the focus to what can be done and how.

Beverly Flaxington co-founded The Collaborative, a consulting firm devoted to business building for the financial services industry, in 1995. The firm also founded and manages the Advisors Sales Academy. She is currently an adjunct professor at Suffolk University teaching undergraduate and graduate students Entrepreneurship and Leading Teams. Beverly is a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA) and Certified Professional Values Analyst (CPVA).

She has spent over 25 years in the investment industry and has been featured in Selling Power Magazine and quoted in hundreds of media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC.com, Investment News and Solutions Magazine for the FPA. She speaks frequently at investment industry conferences and is a speaker for the CFA Institute.

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