Executive Coaching For Influencing Groups - How To Change The Minds Of People In Your Organization

Exceptional leaders are effective at inspiring andmind of someone is a direct assault on his or her
influencing large groups of people. Leaders at thepoint of view. When you go in determined to
top often need to change the minds of others sochange someone, you are triggering
that everyone is aligned with the vision anddefensiveness.Gardner advises us to pay attention
strategy.to unspoken cues and listen carefully to the
Getting people to replace one frame of mind withperspective of the other person.
another is difficult when you are working withEven the most eloquent argument is likely to fail if
large groups. Howard Gardner, a MacArthur Fellowyou lack insight about the person you are trying
genius award winner and author of Changingto sway. The real trick is to take the perspective
Minds, has studied what works for heads of stateof the other. Once you understand the resistance
and corporate CEOs: When one is addressing aof someone, you can try to find a common
diverse or heterogeneous audience, the storysolution.
must be simple, easy to identify with, emotionally4. Appealing to Emotions
resonant, and evocative of positive experiences.Emotional persuasion is not taught in business
What are some of your strategies for changingschools, nor does it come easily to the engineers,
the minds of people in your organization?scientists, lawyers, physicians, accountants and
Changing Minds in an Organizationmanagers who run organizations. Most CEOs have
When change is introduced to the members of ahigher educations and are trained in statistical
organization, leaders will experience greateranalysis to a degree that allows them to make
success when they:sound decisions. They must then convince others,
1. Make good use of narrative, telling stories tousing as many methods as possible not just the
which people can relate.facts.
2. Present data using facts and emotions.Because of the way the brain learns, messages
3. Express a clear understanding of areas ofhave a better chance of being retained when our
resistance.emotional centers are engaged. When individuals
4. Achieve emotional resonance with peopleexperience a positive emotional resonance with
whose buy-in is required for successful change.the person trying to change their minds, they are
5. Give people opportunities for ongoing supportmore easily persuaded which is a phenomenon
and dialogue.that can occur even in the absence of reasonable
1. The Power of Storiesfacts to support change.
Stories can be a key element in changing minds.5. The Power of Ongoing Communication and
In a story, you have a main character, ongoingSupport
activities to achieve a goal, a crisis, and aChange feels more natural when you have
resolution.participation and engagement at all levels. Your
Leaders must analyze the current situation,goal? It is to introduce ideas into the mainstream,
determine what needs to change, and envision anwithout excessive use of authority. When more
altered state of affairs. They must then create apeople can contribute to finding solutions and
convincing narrative and present it to thosehelping each other, there is a better chance of
whose minds they hope to change.achieving real behavioral change. The more people
Success will depend on various factors, includingcommunicate and support one another, the easier
the effectiveness of the narrative, the ways init is for everyone to stay on track.
which it is convincingly conveyed, and the extentChange initiatives are more likely to fail when
to which leaders and those around them actuallythere are no ongoing discussions or support. This
embody the presentation. The more personal andis why 90% of cardiac patients revert to
authentic the story, the more people will identifyunhealthy habits after their heart attacks, despite
with common themes.overwhelming evidence that points to a need for
2. The Power of Varietychange. In one 1996 study by Dr. Dean Ornish,
Your level of familiarity with a concept determinespresident of the Preventive Medicine Research
how we successfully process and accept it.Institute in Sausalito, California, 77 percent of
Delivering the same content in multiple forms is aheart patients managed to sustain behavioral
powerful way to change the minds of people,lifestyle changes and avoid surgery after three
which may explain the popularity of PowerPointyears by participating in a twice-weekly program
presentations.that offered support and training.
People must not only hear the message, but alsoIn summary, changing minds is not easy, but
see it often in the form of images, graphs, andthere are clear methods for increasing the
diagrams. For example, many motivationalprobability of effecting real behavioral change.
speakers use music, humor, and strong emotionalWorking with a seasoned executive coach trained
stimulation to deliver their messages and inspirein emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership
action.assessments such as the BarOn EQi and CPI 260
Using more than one delivery method givescan help you become a more inspirational and
people an opportunity to form mentalinfluential leader. You can become a leader who
representations in their preferred learning mode.models emotional intelligence and social intelligence,
Some people do well with logical arguments, whileand who inspires people to become happily
others require an emotional connection.engaged with the strategy and vision of the
3. The Power of Resistancecompany.
What never works when trying to change the