Are you a CEO or senior leader? If yes – congratulations! You likely have the opportunity to lead transformative organizational change. Transformative change requires highly committed, visible and skillful change leaders…especially ‘at the top’.

Organizational change research and the neuroscience underpinning change are providing powerful insights into how to lead successful, sustainable transformative change. We believe the biggest, boldest and fastest change results are achieved when the executive leader embraces a ‘brain savvy’ approach to leading change and setting up for success.

Brain savvy change leaders at the top start with self and ask:

· How strongly do I feel about the need for this change?

· What convinces me that it can be accomplished?

· Can I convey enthusiasm for this change when I talk about it?

· How committed am I to lead this through completion?

· What sacrifices am I willing to make to ensure that the change is implemented and sustained successfully?

· What am I willing to say no to, to say yes to leading this change?

· How will I motivate people/ continue to motivate people to make this change relevant?

· How will I ensure my own commitment doesn’t waiver

· What do I have to do to model the way and am I willing to do that?

Brain savvy change leaders at the top commit to the change and demonstrate that commitment until the change is fully embedded. They know that if they disengage from the process, delegate responsibility to others or redirect their attention to other priorities, the change will falter or fail. They provide active and visible sponsorship at the start of the transformation process, throughout implementation and until it becomes a sustainable part of how the organization operates.

Brain savvy change leaders ‘at the top’ move beyond linear and sequential change plans to setting the change up for success by:

· Articulating a clear and meaningful purpose and inspiring vision for the change that is tightly tied to the organizational strategy

· Aligning the change with other organizational initiatives and with the organization’s wider strategic goals

· Securing the commitment and involvement of the other senior leaders, direct reports and key stakeholders

· Confronting and managing silo thinking and the politics and behaviours that can block, delay or distract from the change

· Ensuring resources are provided throughout the change for implementing the change and developing people

· Aligning the infrastructure, environment and reward systems with the change (especially the way performance is measured and talent is managed)

· Genuinely acting as a role model for new mindsets and behaviours

Brain savvy change leaders at the top know they need a strong and unified team to lead transformative change successfully, not just strong members on their team. They recognize their responsibility in creating alignment, commitment and accountability across their leadership team for the change. They ensure that each member of their team understands and supports the change, agrees on the change goals and accepts responsibility for the change process and change outcomes in their area of operations. Brain savvy change leaders are explicit about the mindsets, behaviours and values they need their team members to embrace and model within the team and within the organization.

Brain savvy change leaders at the top recognize that senior leaders are naturally inclined to attend to the success of their own business unit or function as well as the overall success of the organization. Introducing additional leadership workload related to leading change will create readiness and capacity challenges.

Brain savvy change leaders at the top assess the readiness and capacity of each team member to lead change, by asking:

· Is the vision for this change compelling, relevant, urgent and personal to you?

· Will leading this change be one of your top priorities?

· What % of your time and energy are you willing to invest in leading this change?

· What are you willing to say no to, to say yes to leading this change?

· What are the likely impacts to operations and people associated with this change?

· How will you minimize those impacts?

· Have you narrowed your focus to the vital few behaviours /practices that will have the greatest impact on the outcomes we are trying to achieve?

· Are you ready to move forward by experimenting, learning and course correcting?

· How will you demonstrate your commitment to this change each and every day?

· What do you need from me, to be successful?

Is your change set up forsuccess? Is your leadership team change ready to lead this change? How about you?

We coach change leaders at the top who are committed to leading transformative change. We help these leaders and their leadership teams become brain savvy leaders who understand and apply powerful insights from neuroscience to transform organizational thinking and performance