NACHRI 2011 Creating Connections Conference drew to a close with a presentation by Seth Kahan, an expert on change leadership and performance improvement, author of Getting Change Right: How Leaders Transform Organizations From the Inside Out. Kahan has a blog based on ideas from the book.
Kahan's philosophy underlying his presentation is that "If you can get people to imagine something that they want and believe that it can be real, you have the best possible shot at 'rapid widespread change.'"
For Kahan, the paradigm of approaching change by generating a good idea and pushing it through is ineffective; his paradigm for change involves engagement -- the need to connect to people, to listen as much as you share, and involve key people. He offers two ways to look into the foreseeable future in that mindset:
- Deepen our understanding of our current situation by investigating customer needs and business challenges.
- Identify emerging trends and innovations by convening thought leaders to share practices worth replicating and interviewing successful entrepreneurs.
Kahan says that getting change right involves these key elements:
- Create rapid widespread engagement
- Communicate so people get it and spread it
- Identify and energize your most valuable players
- Understand the territory of change
- Accelerate change through performance communities
- Generate dramatic surges in progress
- Break though logjams
- Encourage work/life success in the midst of change
What did you take away from Kahan's presentation? What have been your favorite moments, lessons learned and connections made at this year's conference?
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