Leadership Lessons for Lasting Transformation
Mary Kay Scully is director of customer education at Enact. She trains more than 35,000 mortgage professionals annually on topics including tax return review, fraud detection, process improvements and compliance. Mary Kay is a two-time Mortgage Professional America Elite Women award winner and former Chair of the MBA of New Jersey Women’s Committee. The statements in this article are solely the opinions of Mary Kay Scully and do not necessarily reflect the views of Enact or its management.
Leading through change can be difficult. People are naturally resistant to it, especially in a world that is changing so rapidly. The ways we live, work and connect have all seen huge transformations over the past few years. It’s no wonder people want to slow down and stick with what is familiar. Through all these changes, we’ve seen that transformation doesn’t happen when people try something new once—it happens when new behaviors become the norm.
We recently discussed process improvement. Equally important is what happens next: ensuring those improvements endure. A strong leadership and change management strategy is what separates short-term success from lasting transformation.
The State of Change
If there’s one thing you can always rely on the mortgage industry to do, it’s change. As if the cycles weren’t enough, we have an AI and technology boom bringing about even more change. You’d think new tools would be exciting and motivational, but to many, they can be the opposite.
With all these exciting developments, why aren’t people on board? A Leadership IQ study found that only 15% of employees always understand the rationale behind their leaders’ strategy and the same percentage believe that their organization always openly shares the challenges facing it. There’s gap number one. The same study found that only 28% of respondents say that they like taking risks, with just 22% of frontline employees willing to leave their comfort zone. There’s gap number two.
It’s easy for change to fail when teams don’t understand the “why.” They may not see the challenges and opportunities as clearly as leadership might. What is clear to see, however, is that employees are naturally change-averse. If they don’t see clear needs for the change, they’re not likely to take the risk. It’s up to leadership to bridge those gaps.
Creating a Need, Shaping a Vision
For anyone to get on board with change they need to see why it’s necessary and how it’s going to work. To show the need, there first needs to be a clear business case for the change. Link it back to your main business goals. Be clear about the benefits to customers, employees or the overall company. Change just for change’s sake won’t stick. Everyone needs a compelling reason to leave their comfort zone.
Not only is it important for employees to understand the need in the here and now, but to envision what change looks like down the road. Map out what the future looks like with any given change and make sure everyone–across different roles, generations, etc.–knows how the change will affect their work. When doing this, highlight how it improves their life. Knowing how it will affect them is important, but seeing how it will help them is motivating.
Get your People on Board
Once everyone understands the clear reasons for change and can clearly envision what the future will look like, it’s time to set the wheels in motion. Mobilizing a committed team takes work, but it also takes care.
Many leaders resort to the “get on or the bus leaves without you” mentality, but that alienates most people in the room. People don’t want or like change. Instead of shoving them onto the bus, reach out a hand and invite them on instead. Dwight Eisenhower once said, “You don’t lead by hitting people over the head, that’s assault, not leadership.”
Meet people where they are with clear plans that outline their involvement. As a leader, model that involvement for your teams, too. Seeing someone else succeed under new conditions encourages others to try it out for themselves and shows them that positive change is not only possible, but probable.
Change is not easy for anyone, but the right leadership approach can make it easier. To create lasting change, leaders need to be clear about the “why” and the “how”, so teams feel prepared and empowered to make improvements and forge new paths.
(Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect policies of the Mortgage Bankers Association, nor do they connote an MBA endorsement of a specific company, product or service. MBA NewsLink welcomes submissions from member firms. Inquiries can be sent to Editor Michael Tucker or Editorial Manager Anneliese Mahoney.)
