Changing It Up

By Michael Drew - Nov 28 , 2007

A Roadmap for Leading Your Employees to Change

Hire the best. Pay them fairly. Communicate frequently.
Provide challenges and rewards. Believe in them.
Get out of their way and they’ll knock your socks off.
–Mary Ann Allison

You need help.

You do. You can’t possibly accomplish everything that needs to be accomplished on your own. There’s too much to do and not enough time to do it. Editing …lay out …design …printing …marketing …P.R…

Oh yeah—and you’ve got a publishing house to run.

Great coaches surround themselves with great players. Great directors surround themselves with great actors. And great business owners surround themselves with great staffs. Only when this happens can great progress can be made.

The art of progress is to preserve order amid change
and to preserve change amid order.
–Alfred North Whitehead

But even the greatest of supporting casts can have difficulty handling Change. It’s an extremely difficult thing to manage. Depending on the individual, Change can be scary, exciting, unpredictable, or invigorating. It can both unleash brilliance and stifle creativity.

Have you ever had a brilliant idea stifled by the very people you were counting on to see it through? This is what happens when you attempt to lead people faster than they’re willing to be led.

Do you really want things to be different? Do some changes desperately need to be made? It can be done. But you have to go about it in the right way.

1. Win the Guardians First

If you’re a Visionary, you’ll tend to see your Guardians as regimented and unimaginative. They’re analytical. They’re uptight. They like to stick to the established program and avoid risk at all costs. But you’ll do well to realize that your Guardians are your strongest allies. You can always depend on them to perform their duties.

George Washington was a Guardian. For six brutal months he held his troops together at Valley Forge despite frigid temperatures, starvation, defeated spirits, and depleted supplies. Then he went out and won the Revolutionary War.

So how do you win over your Guardians? By asking for their advice early in the Change process. Let them know why you think a change needs to be made and give them the opportunity to tell you what must be safeguarded at all costs. By having the patience to win over your Guardians rather than steamrolling them, you’re essentially guaranteeing the implementation—and ultimate success—of your plan.

2. Consult the Relationals Second

Your best bet here is to focus on the meaning behind the Change. Your Relationals must have trust that your idea will give people new opportunities to reach their full potential. Important questions to answer include who will be affected, and how. And whatever you do, make sure you find a way to justify how your desired changes are in alignment with their values. Succeed at this and the Relationals in your organization will build the unified front you need to get everyone moving in the same direction.

3. Unleash Your Action People

The spontaneous Action people in your ranks will appreciate you giving them the freedom to blaze their own trail on their way to your desired destination. They’ll want to know about your motives for Change, but they don’t need to be a part of the planning process. Spare them the details, bringing them into the mix when it’s time to take action. It’s okay to explain what you’re trying to make happen, as long as you allow them to develop their own tactics while creating an adventure worth fighting for.

The publishing business—and the entire book industry, for that matter—is undergoing radical, technology-driven changes. If you don’t adapt your business to remain in step with these changes, you run the risk of becoming irrelevant and outdated. But you can’t do it alone. You need help to pull it off.

Win your Guardians, consult your Relationals, unleash your Action People, and the sky is the limit.

Questions about managing change in your publishing house may be directed to Michael R. Drew at the Austin, Texas, headquarters of Promote A Book : 512-858-0040. You can also contact Michael via email at michael@promoteabook.com.