How do you use champions to drive change?

I find that attitude and the willingness of people to contribute are key factors. Furthermore, once identified and having contributed to an initiative, and if the right level of trust was built, these champions will often volunteer to champion further change and to be part of future initiatives.

In our experience, it's essential to identify the people who influence others by department, by location and by expertise. Understand where they fall in the spectrum of support for the project, and what time they have available. Champions need support, time and coaching to succeed.

Consider also their ability to gather and communicate feedback from their teams to leadership, acting as a conduit for continuous improvement during the change process.

Frequently management just asks someone to assign a champion without understanding what is needed. So be clear about what you want from your champion, in dedication, in time requirements, in behavior, in knowledge, and whatever else you need and communicate that if you are requesting assignments. Then work with them and talk to them about the opportunity. Don't be afraid to say that someone might not be a good fit and you need someone else.

Identifying the champions who will drive change in your organization is an extremely crucial process. It's essential to create an environment of internal competition, giving every employee the chance to vie for this opportunity. This approach not only opens doors for all individuals but also allows you to evaluate potential champions effectively. However, it's equally vital to consider their charisma and sociability with their colleagues. You wouldn't want to select an employee as a champion if they have a negative reputation among their peers. After all, your goal is to have a champion who can lead the change smoothly, not someone who would make the process more challenging.

One of the most powerful champions that you can recruit during a change is someone who has resisted the change. With a strong why and some honest back-and-forth communication to understand the resistance, you can take some of your loudest nah-saying voices and turn them into your most credible champions.

Be clear about the messages you want the champion to share. They don't have to do all the work coming up with the messaging. You can work with them, giving them examples, providing materials like decks, articles to share, eLearning courses to discuss, and bullet the talking points about those materials for them. Champions have a "day job," and if you want them to support your work, you need to support them.

Empowering champions also means valuing their feedback from the frontlines, using it to refine and improve the change process.

I think that empowering your champions to identify their own champions increases their autonomy and acts as a powerful distribution of leadership - practically and symbolically

When asked to be Change Champions people are being asked to do a lot of the dirty/hard work for what is at best a difficult but welcome change, and at worst a difficult and unwelcome. Putting them in as figureheads to regurgitate existing messaging is disingenuous and a lost opportunity. Providing Champions with genuine voices to influence the program as the middleware between the program and the organization means being ready to hear and act on difficult feedback. Lastly, make it mean something. “It is great exposure” is bogus and a gift card won’t cut it. When you consider all you invested in your transformation, be generous to your team members who are the difference between the a great success story or just one more failed initiative.

Support can also look like leadership being the initial communicator, especially when connecting the dots of the change to org goals and strategy - then allowing the champions to take that messaging forward.

Also evaluate their effectiveness in capturing and communicating frontline feedback, and how this feedback has contributed to the overall success of the change process.

Organisational change implementation cannot be delegated by the senior leadership team to change champions. Change champions neither control key organisational resources nor agenda time, which are paramount to successful organisational implementation. The senior leaders of the organisation control these vital elements and will tend to prioritise normal day-to-day operations over the change programme unless they are accountable and responsible for driving the change. The leaders of the organisation have three key change responsibilities: 1. Articulate the change vision. 2. Model the new way. 3. Intervene to ensure sustainable change. These responsibilities must be executed effectively and proactively. Good change champions can support.

Leveraging Champions as Catalysts: Champions do more than drive change; they're vital catalysts linking leadership and the frontline. They're not just cheerleaders; they gather invaluable insights and feedback, making change a collective effort. Champions help adapt strategies using frontline insights, fostering sustainable and effective change. Moreover, they resolve emerging issues by linking frontline problem-holders with leadership problem-solvers, turning challenges into strategic opportunities. Hence, leaders should establish clear feedback mechanisms with champions for continuous learning and effective change management.

Champions should be an integral part in an organisation’s journey and an eye on the next set of champions should be considered - change is inevitable, and a constant and necessary feature in most organisations. Ensuring there is an understanding of this and readiness for it is critical. The expectation of “a change” being a new steady state in my experience is now outdated and unrealistic. Authentic leaders will make this clear and create an environment where change is exciting rather than feared.