A long time ago, during a turbulent desert war in the Middle East, a spy was captured and sentenced to death by a general in the Persian Army. The general had adopted a strange custom in such cases. He permitted the condemned agent to make a choice: Face the firing squad or pass through The Black Door.

As the moment of execution drew near, the general ordered the spy to be brought before him.

“What will it be? The firing squad or The Black Door?”

It was not an easy decision. The prisoner hesitated, but made it known that he preferred the firing squad to the unknown horrors that lay beyond the ominous Black Door. Not long after, a volley of shots announced that the prisoner’s wish had been granted.

The general turned to his lieutenant and said, “You see how it is. People prefer the known to the unknown way. It is characteristic of people to be afraid of the undefined. Yet I gave him his choice.”

Of course, the lieutenant wondered, “What lies beyond The Black Door?”

“Freedom,” replied the general. “But I’ve only known a few people brave enough to take it.”

How true! People fear the uncertainties of change. The slightest suggestion that things won’t stay the same can cause panic. Nonetheless, it’s your job to lead people through The Black Door of Change.

True Leaders Understand The Process Of Change
Effective leaders in the technology industry know much more than how to create, employ, and market their products and their processes; they have a profound understanding of the dynamics of change. There are three basic principles, as follows:

Principle No. 1: Real leaders know that change is never a neutral experience.
Change always triggers strong emotional reactions. Some employees will actually welcome change, feeling the excitement and joy of a new challenge. But others will feel frightened, confused, anxious, angry, and resentful. They might even feel betrayed, thinking, “How dare you do this! I’ve worked hard for you; been loyal to you all these years; played by the rules; and now you’re changing them.”

The key thing to remember is that all of these reactions are normal. Allow them, and do not short-circuit the change process by getting upset with your employees. Don’t douse them with platitudes about how great the new system will be, or tell them to “suck it up, live with it, and get on with it.” All that does is force employees to stuff their feelings and make them even less willing to follow your leadership.

Principle No. 2: Real leaders know that when people don’t talk about their reactions to change, their reactions go underground…and later emerge as damaging symptoms that threaten the organization.
Your employees’ reactions will always come out one way or another. Repressed thoughts and feelings do not disappear. It's like a beach ball. It takes some effort to hold a beach ball beneath the surface of a swimming pool, but you can do it for a little while. After a bit, however, your hands weaken, the ball slips from your grasp, shoots up to the surface, and into the air. But notice: The ball never comes straight up; it always pops out at an angle.

The same thing happens when employees try to repress…or organizations try to suppress…reactions to change. Sooner or later, those feelings will shoot out, just like that beach ball, into myriad symptoms that hurt everyone’s productivity and threaten your enterprise.

This is where your leadership is critical! If you and your employees are not talking about the changes in your office, your company, and your industry, then you’re going to have four types of counterproductive reactions—and you’re going to have them in abundance. Here’s what you can expect:

• Counterproductive Physical Reactions: You’ll notice more headaches, muscle tension, and a host of other illnesses among your people. More will take sick leave. You can also count on an increased indulgence in addictive behavior, in which your employees will eat, drink, smoke, and sleep more in attempts to anesthetize the pain and fear that come with change.
• Counterproductive Psychological Reactions: Your people will exhibit more anger, fear, and anxiety, and some may even suffer panic attacks. Feelings of loss and confusion will be quite common.
• Counterproductive Interpersonal Reactions: These symptoms may be the most noticeable. You’ll hear more blaming and put-down references to those vague entities known as “they” or “them.” You’ll also hear a host of negative, energy-sapping statements as shown in the sidebar, “Top 50 Reasons It Won’t Work”. You’ll also see more conflict, the formation of cliques, and a distancing, if not outright severance, of many formerly close relationships.
• Counterproductive Organizational Reactions: These symptoms are so common that they can take over your entire culture. They start with whining, moaning, griping, and complaining in the coffee room or on the jobsite. Then it turns into a heavy, dark energy that you feel as soon as you walk in the door each morning. This chronic negativity can spur additional absenteeism and employee turnover, even among your senior staff.

In short, the end result is…the killing of the spirit. The spark goes out of your workers' eyes. Those who come to work come out of obligation and routine. They no longer have any enthusiasm. Common are negative statements such as “Only two more years, and I’m outta here.”

Principle: No. 3: Change must be processed—and that takes time, strategy, and structure. Effective change leaders know they don’t want a company full of these reactions, so they follow this third principle. They begin by actually encouraging their employees to talk about their reactions to change—the confusion, anxieties, fear, anger—all of it.

The problem is…it takes time for employees to process these reactions. Wherever I speak, I discover leaders and companies trying to make changes, whether introducing new products, reorganizing their enterprise, or restructuring. All of these people and companies are in the throes of change, but very few of them are creating forums where employees and managers can actually talk about those changes.

Technology companies have told me that all that talking would simply take too much time. I say you’re going to have to take the time, whether you like it or not. You can either take the time now…talking about the changes…or you’re going to spend the time later…coping with the negative consequences of not having done so.

Some leaders tell me they can’t afford to pay for the processing time. I say, you can’t afford not to. If you don’t pay for it now, you’ll pay for it when your people are overstressed and underproductive. You’ll pay for it when people leave. You’ll pay for it recruiting new employees, and you’ll pay for it when training those new employees. And you’ll pay for it when even your senior people demonstrate less energy and less vision.

If you’re not willing to take time to process the changes, then you’re going to be stuck with the reactions. There are no other possibilities.

The Importance Of Followership
The other reason change must be processed has to do with followership. Suppose you want to sell me a new multi-million dollar computer system. You can talk all you want about how wonderful the system will be. You can emphasize the dreams it will fulfill, and how all my employees and clients will be bountifully blessed. But the more you talk, the more turned off I get.

All I’m thinking about is what I’ll have to pay for that new computer system. How will I be able to do that and maintain my mortgage, car payment, and put my kids through college? How will I be able to continue tithing at my place of worship? Until you come back and ask me what I’m thinking and feeling, until you listen to my hopes and fears, until you understand what I’m willing or able to afford, I won’t follow your lead. I won’t move in the direction you want me to; I won’t take the leap of faith needed to buy that new system.

Unfortunately, some leaders don’t want to hear this message. They only want me to deliver a “feel-good” speech that says, “Look at our vision. Isn’t it wonderful?” They want a quick fix, a rah-rah speech for their employees…a speech that reinforces their vision.

But it’s not that easy. I tell leaders their problem is not their vision or the clarity of their vision. The problem is that their employees don’t want to pay the necessary costs to achieve that vision.

So if you’re trying to lead others down a path through change, you need more than a great vision and a great speech about how wonderful the change is going to be. You’ve got to go back and really listen to your people. You’ve got to understand what the change means to them and what it’s going to cost them. Your people will only move forward and follow your lead to the degree that you go back and learn from them until you understand them.

True Leaders Take The Three Actions Necessary For Change
With those three vital principles in place, effective change leaders know it’s time to act—and they know that with proper processing almost any change can be accepted, provided you take these three actions:

1. Start with yourself. You can only help others process and accept change if you’ve done it for yourself. Get in touch with the fact that you, too, may be feeling fearful, conflicted, confused, vulnerable, angry, or hurt, as well as excited, hopeful, and challenged. All too often leaders aren’t even honest with themselves. They tell themselves such things as: “No. I’m not upset. I’m not angry. I’m not discouraged. How can I be? I’m in control. I’m the boss!”

One way to achieve clarity on your own reactions is through journaling. The rule is to let it out and keep writing. Just write, write, and write, and your real feelings about the change will rise to the surface.

Another way is through a network of your peers. Develop complete openness and trust with a few colleagues who occupy an equivalent office at a few different firms. Find out what changes are underway in their businesses, what they are feeling, and how they are coping—what’s working and what’s not. You’ll soon find out that you’re not alone and you’ll come away with some great ideas on how to lead in changing times, and you’ll find your spirit renewed.

I belong to such a group and cannot recommend it highly enough. We are all quite successful in our work but all face similar challenges in our respective industries. We meet once a quarter, for a full day, and require absolute commitment and confidentiality. If a person misses one meeting, he or she is not invited back.

Financially speaking—not to mention the benefits to my personal well-being—my business has quadrupled in the four years since beginning these special meetings.

2. After examining yourself, celebrate the past with your employees. Live it up; validate it. Too often people interpret change to mean that the old way of doing things must have been wrong. Not at all! Your employees need to hear that what they did in the past was the right thing to do, maybe even the best thing to do. The trouble is, the world is changing, and the enterprise must keep changing along with it to stay competitive. So celebrate the past. Celebrate past victories, celebrate past successes, and, most of all, recognize the vital contribution of your employees. Only then will they relinquish the past and be willing to consider a new way of doing things.

3. Then, move forward by working with influential people in your organization. Ask them how they feel about what’s going on in the organization, how they feel about the past, and what their dreams are for the future. Don’t approach them as enemies of change…for that will only solidify their resistance. Approach them as wise people who have justifiable fears, who need support, and who want to make sure they can succeed in the new environment.

 Approach them as family members who can work together to find solutions. As you really listen to them, you’ll win them over, one by one.

Continue the process by creating smallgroup forums where people feel safe to say what they really think about the change. Let their feelings come out and don’t argue with or about those feelings. Don’t say things like, “You shouldn’t feel…” or “Stop worrying about…” Just accept their feelings.

Then gently move the discussion away from the time-consuming question of “why we have to go through this,” and get the groups focused on “how we can grow through this.”

True Leaders Provide The Seven Conditions Necessary For Change
If you follow the principles and take the actions I’ve suggested, you’ll be well on your way to leading your people through change. But if you also create the following seven conditions, you’ll be much more likely to experience a positive, effective change process.

1. Participation. Let your people participate in the decision to change. At the very least, provide them with discussion access to the people trying to bring about the change. If you don’t do that, change will come as a surprise, and most people hate surprises when it comes to their jobs.
2. Rewards. People tend to change when they see that the rewards of change exceed the pain of staying the same. If you want people to commit to change, they’ve got to see the reward. So don’t avoid their burning question of “what’s in it for me?” And make sure you’ve got a great answer to that question.
3. Models. Like it or not, as the manager or leader, you create the atmosphere. Your employees are watching you to see what they should do. So show your passion for change. Let them see it in your actions and hear it in your words.
4. Acceptance. Effective leaders know their people are going to make some mistakes as they try to implement change. That’s natural. But you’ve got to let your people know that they will be accepted and supported in times of trial— instead of being blamed, shamed, judged, or threatened.
5. Trust and truth. Instill trust by talking honestly to your people face-to-face. A memo or newsletter is not an effective way to inform your people of important changes. And tell the truth. Tell them how you see the change affecting individual employees and the organization as a whole.
6. Competency. Your people are more likely to change when they have the knowledge and skills required by the change. So train, train, train. As Jerry Steed, president of AT&T Communications Systems says, “We can’t promise you job security, but we can promise to make you better than anyone else at your job. So if something happens, you can find a job inside or outside AT&T.”
7. Examples. Lastly, as the leader, make sure your people see examples of success. Make them aware of how this same change has worked elsewhere. Your people want and need assurance that your suggested change has been tried and proven to work.

Lead, Then Onward!
A common fantasy is that people can be ordered to change. In reality people change from being led, not from being told. Going back to my opening story, things might have been quite different for the convicted spy if the general had led the way and walked through The Black Door first.

Change is a part of life—and an especially big part in the information technology industry. But when your people fear change, they stagnate. And when they fight change, they fail.

By contrast, well-led change brings growth, learning, and profitability. So go ahead…use the principles, guidelines and conditions I’ve outlined, and lead your people through change without fear or fight. Success is sure to follow.

--Dr. Alan Zimmerman is a best-selling author and Hall of Fame professional speaker who has spoken to more than a million people in 48 states and 22 countries on how to lead themselves and others through change. His presentations and training sessions before audiences large and small, including Boeing, IBM, the U.S. Department of Defense, and 3M, are focused on helping people and organizations become peak performers at all times, no matter what the challenge or what the circumstance. In his “ Journey to the Extraordinary ” program, Dr. Zimmerman outlines the “12 Steps to Outrageous Success On and Off the Job”. For a free guided tour of the 12 steps, visit www.Journey-To-The-Extraordinary.com. For a free newsletter with hundreds of tips that reveal the secrets of motivation, communication, and teamwork, logon to Dr. Zimmerman’s website.