Powerful Women Are Change Agents

I'm on a mission to propel more women lawyers to power positions where they can have more control over their careers, compensation, and courage. Today, we talk about the power of change and how it can be an effective way to grow a business or career.

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In the BBC series the 10 Percent, a British talent agency, is purchased by a prominent American talent company. The parent company sends over an American executive to oversee the integration. She makes significant missteps in forming a cohesive, productive, and effective organization. And on the other hand, the British employees need to take advantage of developing new relationships and obtaining access to more resources. While all are in a changing environment, they all are trying to maintain the status quo way of working. This is not a successful strategy to develop your own career or the organization's up-leveling. 

Change is one of the most significant opportunities for leaders to demonstrate their skills and expertise. It also provides enormous opportunities for more junior employees to be proactive, recommend improvements, and take on critical strategic initiatives.

A leader who is in a changing environment creates and communicates a future vision for the organization. This is a well-thought-out plan not an off-the-cuff response and one that considers the communication styles of the team. As change is challenging, this leader also is highly empathetic. She listens to concerns and ideas and leverages this information to enhance the process and messaging. 

However, you do not have to be a formal leader to be a change agent and those who embrace change and champion it often are recognized for their strategic and thought leadership. Also, because these individuals see opportunities and not doom in transition, they take this approach in their careers. They are more comfortable tackling new experiences, behaviors, and skills. 

When considering where you are on the change agent scale, you should assess yourself on the following behaviors. If you decide this is not your strength, you should work on enhancing these areas: 

Flexibility

Being open to change requires a flexible approach, including an understanding that the planned approach may not work and you may need to alter course. Leaders must tap into their creativity and innovation to find non-traditional ways for a business to grow, exploit opportunities and galvanize their teams. This flexibility also means not being siloed. Instead, you want to tap into the creativity of others by connecting with people (internally, externally, and outside of the organization) of different generations and backgrounds to better understand perspectives, experiences, and personalities. To be an effective change agent, you must constantly evaluate and look for new ways to improve.

Thought Leadership

Successful leaders avoid getting stuck in the confines of their organization and industry. By looking at what is happening in the world and seeing what is working and applicable to their own sectors, leaders can gain valuable insights and spot new opportunities for improvement and ways to maximize employee engagement, effectiveness, and proactivity. 

To become a thought leader, you must be curious as a lifelong learner about many topics and subjects. Besides staying abreast of what is happening inside and outside the industry, gaining new knowledge helps support change agent development. 

Vision, Project Plan, and Prioritization

In creating change, you need to create a vision for where you want to go and a detailed project plan that considers the plan's anticipated outcomes. It's often helpful to tie specific priorities to the overall business goals. Doing this will create alignment among individuals and, hopefully, resources. This should also streamline the decision-making process and make a way to measure success. Remember, again, that you also need to be flexible as events and ideas unfold. 

Accountability 

People respect courage and accountability and follow those who demonstrate these behaviors. To lead effectively, change agents need to hold themselves responsible for their and, if applicable, their team's performance. They may have to make decisions that go against others' opinions and cause conflicts. However, doing so with conviction and ownership of the consequences demonstrates that their intentions are motivated by the company's best interests, thus gaining trust.

Excellent Listening Skills

As I have said, leaders must have excellent listening skills, including understanding what people are not saying. It enables people to explore perspectives, develop more innovative and effective decisions, and allows you to better influence and galvanize others around the vision.

No one wants to feel that change is happening to them; people want to be encouraged to drive change and believe that others are listening to their ideas. Leaders who listen will develop stronger relationships with their people by gaining trust and having more effective outcomes.

Change is one of the most effective ways to grow a business or career. However, to succeed at this, you need to bring others along with you and tap into their emotions and ideas. Remember, nothing ever gets better by staying the same. 

Want more insights?

• Unlock your path to rainmaker success. Transform your business development with a calendar of actionable steps and strategic insights tailored to accelerate your client cultivation with my Business Development Booster Checklist. Download it here.
• Check out this article where I share the 10 Tips For In-House Counsel Struggling to Advance. In this guide, I share my time-tested tips for in-house counsel to release fear, jump-start your career, and propel you towards promotion.

Sheila is the CEO of Focus Forward Consulting. She helps intelligent and accomplished women lawyers go from uncertain and uninspired to unstoppable and attain power positions where they have greater control of their careers, compensation, and courage.