107. Drumm McNaughton: Communicating Change. Stories from a Pilot

Dr. Drumm McNaughton is CEO of The Change Leader, an organization change and management consultancy who helps education and non-profit organizations implement strategic and programmatic change. Drumm holds a PhD and MA in Human and Organizational Systems from the Fielding Graduate Institute, and a BS in Physics from the US Naval Academy. He and his wife live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. What change management is Change management is the process, tools and techniques to prepare and support individuals, teams and organizations in making change. Communicating change The top-down approach of communicating has drastically changed. Traditionally, the CEO was the one communicating change in a company. But if you collaborate with stakeholders, communicate with them why the change is coming, engage them to work on this together, and how we should work this, the results are different. With a shared vision, you don’t get resistance to change. This approach is called referent leadership. To put it in a few words, people support what they help create. Jack Welch (former CEO at GE) was known to be good at this approach. Stories from a pilot In his experience, Drumm discovered that flying and change management had a lot in common. Once Drumm was flying along the coast of Italy, he faced fire warning and heard the loud alarm horn. He felt his heartbeat raising. But he knew that pilots were trained to “handle a problem, deal with your emotions later” and that is how he proceeded in this and other similar situations. Related: Leaders Have to Illuminate the Path Favorite quotations “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” — Albert Einstein “Everybody is a Genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” — Albert Einstein Recommended books Leading Change by John P. Kotter The Living Company by Arie De Geus Power vs. Force by David R. Hawkins Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda Routine to Shine Every good speaker should meditate.