Navigating and Leading Through Change with Bob Lewis from LewisLeadership

Did you know that the penny wasn’t always the smallest coin in circulation in the U.S.? It was actually the Half Cent, which according to the Coinage Act of 1792 was “to be of the value of half a cent, and to contain five penny-weights and half a penny-weight of copper.” That little coin hung around until the Coinage Act of 1857 before becoming a relic people scour the internet to find.

I’m sure you didn’t click on this story to get a history lesson on U.S. coinage, but the plight of the Half Cent reminds us that so few things in life are permanent and we must all adapt to change, not the kind that rattles in your pocket, rather the kind that can rattle your organization.

Bob Lewis has spent an entire career navigating and leading through change, first as an executive with an international talent recruitment firm and now as an advisor to leaders through his company LewisLeadership. Bob joined our team at The Grant Partners recently for our monthly huddle to talk about how change can affect our organization and those we serve.

Bob reminded us that change is common, but that doesn’t make it easy to navigate. He used a host of descriptive words to describe change, including natural, constant, necessary, catalytic, unpredictable, duality, stressful, unsettling and hard. The onus is on leaders to guide the organization through change. In order for leaders to effectively manage change within their organization, they must support their people, manage the process and respond to the organization’s needs. Even good change will have an impact on the organization because when significant change is introduced, there is a natural hit on morale, communication & productivity.

Bob used the metaphor of a trapeze act. For organizations to successfully manage change, team members must be able to let go of what they know, trust other people and understand that there is safety net.

Finally, Bob talked to us about the three phases of change – Endings, Explorations and New Beginnings. Understanding the emotional and cultural ramifications of each phase is critical for consultants who assist organizations through change. We add value to our clients through our understanding of the evolution of change and its phases. We have the advantage of being able to apply an understanding of their phase and what they need based on our experiences with others going through similar change.

Which brings us back to the coins in our pocket. Amazingly, it costs 2.72 cents to make, administer and distribute the 1-cent penny coin and 10 cents to make a nickel, and yet we haven’t made a major change to our currency in more than 50 years. Maybe the lowly Half Cent has something to teach us about change. While it can be hard, we must learn to embrace it in order to move forward and allow for the possibilities waiting on the other side.