You do have one?
Placing an external change management resource high in an organization is incredibly powerful. Leveraging that power in a way that is honest and effective is an approach few C-level executives choose to use. I will make the assumption that this is a tool at the bottom of the box that you did not know you had.
This is what has happened when I have lived this role for a client-
The employees are shocked and surprised like a kid who gets two pieces of candy at the store instead of one.
- Because this makes the executive instantly accessible in a new, and comfortable, way
- This creates a clean and quick feedback loop for both changes and for the executives’ perspective and the employees’ perception
- Leaders in the middle of the organization gain an advisor (albeit on a different level)
- It elevates the importance of change
- It honors the difficulty in making behavioral change
- Strategy is reinforced (and gauged and questioned and built upon)
- Collaboration is encouraged in a more acceptable way than a vertical approach (or change management buried in the middle of the organization)
- Communication is reinforced
- and lots more…
Yes all of these things could be present in a well run organization.
Yes you could be doing (or trying to do) all of these things
Yes you have “people” internally to do all of this
The difference is like a speaker talking “to” the audience rather than dialoguing with the listeners.
Leverage for change management is all about initial perspective, assumptions and approach. Your trusted advisor should understand that from both your stakeholders and your perspectives.
They are a powerful rarely used tool in the bottom of your toolbox.