In this over-information age, an alarming number of business plans fail because leaders ignore the facts needed to make sound decisions. Misguided perspectives can be blamed on a lack of data, wrong data or the inability to understand relevance. Even in hindsight, some leaders fail to see what went wrong.

A fast-paced culture requires precise planning, effective decisions and timely actions, all relying on dependable information. Leaders who want to move their organizations forward must gather evidence, ask the right questions, verify presumed facts and decipher vast amounts of data.

Business plans suffer when:

• Leaders ignore available information.
• Necessary data aren’t acquired in time to make decisions.
• Data are available, but leaders fail to analyze them appropriately.
• Leaders may choose to overlook key details.

Two Types of Thinking

Of all the skills leaders require today, perhaps none is as challenging as adequately processing information. The ability to spot holes in data, conceive solutions and analyze results calls for sharp thinking.

Thinking can be broken down into two primary categories, suggests Harvard Business School Professor Max H. Bazerman, PhD, in The Power of Noticing: What the Best Leaders See (Simon & Schuster, 2015): intuitive and deliberative.

We employ intuitive thinking during crises, when immediacy is required. Our thinking is instantaneous, with emotion as a factor, and it produces reactionary responses. We make use of immediate information, or that which initially impacts our senses. Sudden information is generally incomplete, incorporating whatever is available at the moment.

By contrast, leaders sift through information, take time to gather data and draw conclusions when employing deliberative thinking. Such thinking is reasoned and structured, diving deep into the issues at hand. We gather data from non-immediate sources, compiling and assessing it to make a more systematic evaluation.

Leaders frequently—and unnecessarily—put themselves in the intuitive-thinking mode, Dr. Bazerman asserts. They over-rely on speed, neglecting to step back and analyze data. Consequently, they avoid doing sufficient research and make ill-informed decisions and plans.

Leaders fail to use information efficiently in three distinct ways, each with a specific cause and solution.

1. Missing What’s in Front of You

Bombarded with more information than they can effectively process, leaders can miss things that are “hidden in plain sight.” Information overload causes important facts to be overlooked. Leaders commonly bemoan how something so obvious wasn’t caught. In the fallout, outsiders critique these oversights and question leaders’ abilities.

During the mortgage lending frenzy of the mid-2000s, for example, financial institutions and regulatory agencies were drowning in their efforts to track interest rates, loan traffic, the housing boom and profits. Lost in this ocean was the higher percentage of risky loans being made to fuel the euphoria. Telltale data were completely available, revealing the risk of loan defaults. No one thought to investigate this critical aspect of the lending environment.

Dr. Bazerman and a New York University colleague coined the term “bounded awareness” to describe how we consistently miss readily available stimuli. Our desired goal becomes our overwhelming mission, despite realities that can upend the best-laid plans. When leaders are so caught up in one situational aspect, they fail to observe another, leading to dire problems. Think of the manufacturer who’s so obsessed with delivery deadlines that he overlooks reports of quality problems.

Leaders can overcome bounded awareness by broadening their perspectives and thinking beyond their typical frame of reference. Careful consideration of issues always trumps a cursory glance. Bringing in a more diverse, cross-functional team is paramount. Leaders make better decisions when their teams answer critical questions:

• What type of information is appropriate, and which should be discarded?
• Do we have all the data we need?
• If not, where do we access more information?
• How accurate are the data we have?
• Have we examined all the issues at play?
• Is there anything we haven’t considered?

If leaders have a vested self-interest, they may skew information to support their emotional position. Such motivated blindness alters reality to make us see what we want to see (and miss the details we’d rather ignore). A retail-chain founder may believe in his brand and company legacy so passionately that he fails to notice its outdated sales approach, which is turning customers toward more progressive competitors.

To preserve self-esteem, a leader may have a self-serving bias, which causes a false sense of reality. The status quo seems rosy, and problems go unnoticed. These leaders often wonder why those around them seem troubled and continuously point out problems.

Leaders can counteract a self-serving bias by seeking guidance from a trusted colleague, mentor or professional coach. Work on seeing things from others’ perspectives to broaden your views and ensure decisions benefit others first (i.e., how can I best help my people?).

Leaders with too narrow a focus limit their observations to major issues and ignore the minor, yet nonetheless important, ones. Equally problematic is a preoccupation with one specific matter that pulls focus from the big picture. This inattentional blindness often plagues leaders and is caused by distractedness.

Leaders can defeat inattentional blindness if they learn to step back from a situation and deliberately examine secondary and tertiary issues. Know that the most effective solutions are achievable only when problems are attacked holistically, not as a series of disconnected parts.

2. Ignoring What’s Hidden from View

Understandably, information outside the forefront is harder to observe, but it may be the most critical to obtain. Details not initially obvious often have the greatest impact, and their elusiveness causes leaders to underestimate them.

Immediate thinking, where intuition and emotion dominate, often prevents leaders from considering hidden information. Some leaders believe that if they cover the obvious items, most issues will be under control. This dangerous mindset regards small details as non-critical and not worthy of inspection.

Consider the leader of an electronics firm who cuts costs and introduces a cheaper version of a product his competitors provide. His company makes significant investments in design, retooling and advertising. Unfortunately, he ignored known R&D research that would have alerted him to new technology that will render his product obsolete.

Gradual-change blindness also causes leaders to miss information. When a series of small changes occur, they may be subtle and, on their own, go unrecognized. But their collective effect is dramatic, and leaders may be lulled into thinking that nothing is really happening as gradual shifts play out. Leaders realize something’s wrong only when it’s too late.

Remember the tale of the frog placed into a pot of cold water on the stove? When the burner is lit, the water heats gradually, but the frog doesn’t notice. When the water reaches a boiling point, it’s too late: The frog is cooked. Had the frog been immediately subjected to boiling water, he would have jumped out of the pot.

Like the frog, people tend to overlook minor changes. An engineering leader, for example, may not observe his team’s attempts to streamline proven product-testing processes. A series of minor concessions may go unnoticed until the final product displays major deficiencies. By then, it’s too late to make reasonable corrections; the project has failed.

Leaders can prevent gradual-change blindness with a timeline view of recent progress. Seek help from those with personal knowledge who can clearly and objectively present the facts. Take regular snapshots of how a situation develops to avoid surprises and reduce risks.

3. Not Wanting to See the Truth

Oversights caused by ineffective thinking seem innocent and unintentional. However, those caused by self-serving motives deservedly draw more criticism. Emotional blind spots are problematic, but rejecting unfavorable data is inexcusable.

Some leaders believe everything must go their way, with a predetermined outcome in mind. They include only the information that supports their position and overlook anything to the contrary.

Pride also impacts perception. Some leaders think they have nothing left to learn. Additional information isn’t required because they know it all and are convinced they’re right. Overconfidence or conceit ruins their judgment.

A seasoned sales director, for example, may push aside the latest customer price target information, boasting of his successful track record. He insists his charm and negotiating skills will close the deal. Unfortunately, all the good-ol’ boys are gone, and his customers are now sharp, methodical number crunchers who can outthink him.

Taken to an extreme, a prideful bias becomes a conflict of interest. Leaders make decisions to benefit themselves, either directly or indirectly, at the expense of colleagues or the organization itself. This behavior is typically rooted in fear of failure.

Conflicted leaders are extremely difficult to work with. The challenge increases with leaders who refuse to admit mistakes and intentionally disregard data that damage their position or self-esteem. Leaders most interested in saving face cause catastrophic problems: failed projects, staff resentment and disengagement, and declining team performance.

Some CEOs are known for inflating their reputations by acknowledging only positive achievements as they prepare to face their board of directors. Information that disfavors their leadership is cast aside.

Leaders who request assistance from a reliable colleague, mentor or executive coach will minimize prideful bias, Dr. Bazerman suggests. Feedback from someone who monitors your style and behaviors allows you to recognize prideful tendencies and minimize the roadblocks they cause in your decision-making.

Better observation skills lead to improved insights, decisions and results. You have only one opportunity to get something right the first time. Make it happen by seeing as much as you can.

Companies face myriad threats: a volatile economy, politics, cost overruns, competition and disruptive technology, among others. But there’s a particular internal threat that can dwarf them: fear at the leadership level.

Leadership fears can destroy a company in many ways, including:

• Indecisiveness, leading to missed opportunities
• Emotional deception, which prompts bad decisions
• Suppression of people, forcing high turnover
• Insecurity that manifests as self-centeredness
• Confusion that causes leaders to miss threats at the doorstep

Fearful leaders often cannot deal with difficult issues or conversations, so moderate troubles balloon into true crises. They also resist taking the risks necessary to move their companies forward.

Fears can take many forms: discomfort, incapacity, negative feelings, failure and self-criticism. Each carries numerous side effects, most rooted in a fear of rejection. Fears make a leader ineffective and paralyzed. Plans are often forfeited, as is success.

We often forget that fears are part of the universal human experience. They’re normal, to some degree, even for leaders. The goal is to avoid compensating for them and, instead, identify and overcome them. A qualified executive coach can prove invaluable, as it can be difficult to recognize your own fears. Leaders who can successfully put their fears behind them—and learn from them—make the greatest strides.

The fear-reduction process has four fundamental pillars, as outlined by management consultant Peter Bregmen in Leading with Emotional Courage: How to Have Hard Conversations, Create Accountability, and Inspire Action on Your Most Important Work (Wiley, 2018):

• Fears are greatly influenced by a lack of self-confidence. Leaders who boost their confidence address the most challenging of the four pillars.
• Strengthen your relationships and support structure.
• Practicing intentionality moves leaders farther away from fear through focus and an effective game plan.
• Facing fears directly and exposing them puts them behind you for good.

Boost Your Self-Confidence

A lack of self-confidence causes leaders to second-guess themselves and doubt their own abilities. This stifles progress, and the entire organization perceives what’s happening. Unconfident leaders cause staff to lose trust and hope. Everything tumbles downhill from there.

Becoming aware of your feelings is the first step to gaining more confidence. Identifying feelings as they occur can help you pinpoint their causes, which are likely not as traumatic as you may fear. You can handle emotional ups and downs. You’ve reached your current position by doing so. Career setbacks haven’t destroyed you. The failures you’ve endured have made you a better leader, as will future setbacks. Envision yourself confidently navigating the complexities of your job, as you’ve done before, and regain your confidence.

Understanding the motives behind your actions can prove helpful, suggests Citigroup Managing Director Chinwe Esimai in “Great Leadership Starts with Self-Awareness” (Forbes, February 18, 2018). Honorable and reasonable motives help ensure successful outcomes. Build self-confidence by examining your motives. As others respond to your direction and decisions, you’ll receive positive feedback that helps build confidence.

Look for patterns in people’s responses when you act. If their responses are unfavorable, make corrections and learn from them. Positive staff feedback is a fear suppressor. Supplement this with guidance from a trusted colleague, mentor or coach. Be humble, willing to learn and committed to improvement. View criticism as an opportunity to advance your career.

Gaining a healthier perspective can help you conquer your fears. Bregman suggests mastering irrelevancy. Take yourself emotionally off center stage, and put your people there instead. Stepping out of the limelight can bring a sense of greater freedom and reduce your fears. Accepting more of a behind-the-scenes role can work wonders to boost confidence. You’re actually worth more to everyone when you lead with self-assurance.

Without exception, all great leaders have learned the most through their mistakes. Improvements may come with a short-term cost, but the long-term gains are well worth it.

Build Strong Relationships

Self-confident leaders have a support network of solid relationships, which helps reduce fears and fosters unity. Trusted and respected friends can offer critiques without causing offense. We know our friends won’t discard us, which diminishes any fears of rejection. Building relationships with colleagues and subordinates similarly helps you grow and improve.

Leaders must pave the way in building staff trust. Employees respond with trust when their leaders trust, appreciate and support them. Employees who trust you become followers and supporters, which is the best medicine for leadership fears.

Crafting a culture of trust is one of a leader’s most important jobs, and it starts with valuing and engaging people. Giving them the help and support they need earns their trust. As you set the example, let them learn that helping one another is the most effective and productive way to work, where goals are reached and people attain their full potential. There’s less to be afraid of when unity prevails.

Active listening is foundational to developing relationships. Improving this often-overlooked skill builds trust and strengthens connections. Show interest in your people through engaging conversation, where you ask questions and do less of the talking. This shows that you care, and it cannot be faked. People can always sense a lack of sincerity.

Offering your people understanding and empathy in their times of struggle forges loyal relationships that are extremely helpful when you start to doubt yourself or your abilities. Trying to see things from others’ perspective is key. Sometimes people just need to be heard, but if you can help with a solution, you can establish even greater trust.

Improving your communication skills helps mitigate fears, especially when you’re faced with serious challenges. Be clear, and ask others for clarity. Make points that are relevant to the other person’s perspective.

Leadership expert Tony Robbins stresses the importance of discovering others’ needs with openness and sincerity. When both parties express their needs with mutual understanding, they honor each other and establish respect. You’re more likely to find workable solutions that meet everyone’s needs when respect is evident. Situations seem less scary, your confidence rises, and issues are resolved more readily.

Practice Intentionality

Leaders who convert critiques into improvements develop the strongest followings and have the fewest fears. They not only welcome feedback, but they request it. They view constructive feedback as free self-development lessons.

Take intentional action on the feedback you receive. Nothing earns you more respect than admitting you need to improve and taking the required steps to do so. Make sure people can see how your improvements impact their lives. Knowing that every person can improve eases fears. Everyone is in the same boat, and no one has cornered the market on personal and professional development.

Being intentional about preparation—and even overpreparing, at times—removes uncertainty and builds confidence. Gathering facts and data builds objectivity and reduces subjectivity, where concerns and fears can grow. Anticipating the outcomes of different scenarios leaves less to chance. If you weigh the pros and cons of potential choices, your assessment can help you set aside fears. Understand the truth and scope of circumstances, and trust the people who help you determine them. These are positive, logical approaches that create the most effective outcomes because they minimize uncertainty.

Intentionally sharpen your focus on the tasks at hand. Many leaders are distracted by side ventures or rabbit trails. Tempting opportunities often muddle the picture and invite confusion and doubt. As negative emotions gain a foothold, fears quickly follow and self-confidence plummets. Leaders must stay personally focused, while simultaneously focusing on everyone else. Your company’s vision, goals and objectives are your battle cry; distractions and noise must be blocked. Your path to your goal should remain unobstructed. When everyone maintains focus, you can conquer chaos, keep emotions in check and minimize fear.

Intentionality is perhaps best seen in leaders who show resilience when facing setbacks. People need to see a strong, determined leader, particularly during tough times. If you can quickly dispatch disappointments and find something positive in the problem that confronts you, your people will feel more encouraged. This, in turn, encourages you.

Battling fears is easier when you have your people’s faith and support. Establishing a never-give-up approach musters courage, and the greatest leaders adopt this mindset. They may still experience fears, but their determination to move forward with small wins overrides most anxieties.

Directly Deal with Fears

As with many aspects of leadership, the direct approach is best. Facing fears is no exception. With the help of an executive coach, you can craft a plan to deal with your fears head-on.

Bregman encourages leaders to use fear as an incentive. By exposing your thoughts and perceived weaknesses to your coach, mentor or trusted colleague, a secret’s power is broken. Talking through your fears is therapeutic, and you may see how powerless they really are. Freedom eludes you when you bottle up your fears. Solutions are usually less complicated than you first perceive.

If appropriate, admit past fears to your staff—a move that can further reduce their impact. By being transparent and accountable, you’ll earn people’s admiration and avoid criticism or rejection. Strong leaders needn’t fear showing vulnerability if they deal with their fears directly and effectively. With experience, they realize their fears are generally overblown and far less powerful than originally thought.

Take the opportunity to deal with your fears directly and make much-needed leadership breakthroughs. For some people, it takes reaching an uncomfortable level of fear to prompt seeking assistance. In an odd way, consider this a positive step in the self-confidence journey.

There’s no reason to allow fear to debilitate you. Organizations run more effectively—and employees have greater regard for their jobs—when leaders have the courage to lead boldly.

Negativity and discord have reached historic levels in our culture. Most aspects of our lives are widely affected by worsening attitudes, constant complaints and pessimistic mindsets. Like a virus, they spread easily, even when unwarranted.

Negativity impacts families, communities, institutions and workplaces. Leaders see the results firsthand, regardless of whether they recognize the causes. Turnover rises, projects fail to hit their goals, and productivity falls short of expectations. Leaders receive poor financial reports or drops in market share. Studies confirm the American economy suffers financially each year, to the tune of $300 billion, when corporate cultures turn negative.

Leaders miss negativity issues unless they’re close to day-to-day operations. They fail to appreciate the drain negativity causes—and when they finally take notice, they often implement the wrong remedies. This response cascade is guaranteed to make matters worse.

The Power of Positivity

The most powerful truths are often the simplest. Just as negativity causes myriad organizational troubles, positivity has the opposite effect. Logic tells us that a positive approach has to be better than a negative one. We glean this from our experiences and the common sense we’ve acquired. Evaluations of corporate performance and culture affirm that positivity is a powerful, yet often overlooked, force that can determine whether an organization will thrive or take a dive.

Over the years, studies of corporate performance reveal that a positive culture:

• Inspires people to have better ideas and find better solutions
• Yields more realistic visions and more feasible plans to attain them
• Inspires higher levels of employee engagement, initiative and productivity
• Sees more projects succeed and goals reached
• Does better at overcoming adversity and building unity
• Boosts levels of employee hope and security
• Outperforms competitors with negative cultures (and takes their market share)
• Is more innovative and quicker to market with new products
• Experiences improved communication and collaboration
• Has more employees committed to success

A positive culture clearly drives performance, which translates into greater prosperity for everyone. Only when leaders embrace this concept can they make cultural changes that profoundly benefit their organizations.

Culture is established by only one person: the leader. You cannot rely on other people or circumstances to set your workplace tone. You need to determine, initiate, maintain and enhance your organizational culture using your character and leadership traits as primary tools.

Many leaders dismiss positivity as a simplistic notion, but it’s one of the most fundamentally powerful tools in their arsenal—and it costs you nothing. Nonetheless, many intransigent leaders refuse to take the first critical step toward experiencing all the benefits of a positively empowered company.

Making the Crucial Decisions

Leaders fashion a positive culture by first seeing a need for improvement. A qualified leadership coach can help spot the telltale signs of negativity. Once problem areas are recognized, it’s time to take the next crucial step: making the decision to do something.

Positive results require a positive approach. Leaders must decide that positivity will be the charter for the company and that conscious changes will be well worth the effort. Life is difficult and negative enough, notes leadership consultant Jon Gordon in The Power of Positive Leadership: How and Why Positive Leaders Transform Teams and Organizations and Change the World(Wiley, 2017). The only true remedy is to be positive.

But Gordon realizes that simple positivity is insufficient. Being positive while also being effective is the perfect combination to overcome negativity’s obstacles. Effectiveness is the blending of reality with a better mindset. One must see things for what they are and implement potent methods to turn around problems.

Leaders must also adopt a positive character—not a superficial positivity, but a genuinely encouraging mindset and determination to see the good in things (and pursue and accentuate them to create a better reality for all).

So, exactly what do these positive leaders look like?

For some, it may mean stepping out of their comfort zone. Those historically influenced by negative environments and people may find themselves overtaken by pessimism and a critical nature. Their challenge: to reject this pervasive mindset and set a new course—one that may feel foreign at first. It may be necessary to start fresh. Leadership coaches specialize in empowering their clients to effect positive changes.

Leaders, however, cannot succeed without a fundamental desire to overcome obstacles and create an environment that inspires positivity in those around them. As Gordon instructs: Develop a passion to be the best at what you do and be a winner. Motivating your organization with that philosophy will start to change the culture. Your winning attitude requires personal investment, for you and your team. With your determination and optimism, the environment will transform. Making these important decisions sets the leader in motion to influence the mindsets around them, to lead the way, and pursue a positive path forward.

Enhancing Your Character

When leaders have a more positive character, their thoughts, behavior, instincts and responses are more receptive to organizational needs. They see a brighter future in which problems become opportunities.

Start building positivity by working to overcome your own negativity, Gordon advises. Reject negative behaviors like complaining, gossip, selfishness, apathy and untruthfulness. By placing a higher value on integrity, honor, service to others, caring and truthfulness, you’ll push negative elements aside, where they belong. You’ll enjoy greater satisfaction and experience personal and professional benefits. The more you practice positivity, the more natural it will become—and the less desirable your old ways will seem.

A positive mindset eliminates the need for ego or pride. Fulfillment comes from the joy of positivity and self-worth. The pursuit of excellence with your employees fosters the enjoyment that negativity blocks.

Minimizing the negative influences around you also increases your ability to transition to positivity, while simultaneously reshaping the culture. Your employees will experience their own character shifts when leadership no longer tolerates negative behavior. Negative people around you become uncomfortable when behaviors and comments are met with disapproval. Your encouragement makes positivity more appealing to them.

Direct reports support and appreciate leaders whose positive character inspires transformation. As people choose to follow you, your care for them will grow, as will your spirit of service.

By diligently building a more positive character, followed by persistence in pursuing it, you and your people will ultimately refuse to live any other way.

Leading by Positive Example

An organization’s culture is an extension of its leader’s philosophy. Leaders need to let people feel their walk, sense their mindset and be compelled to follow it, Gordon says. This sets the positivity example. Put it out there for all to experience and get used to. Gathering employees to inspire a culture shift has benefits, but nothing influences a following like living positively and loving it. People seeing how their coworkers’ lives have improved is the most powerful teaching tool you have.

If your culture encourages acceptance and discourages disinterest, positivity becomes the norm. As with leaders, once people taste the benefits and rewards of a positive mentality, they will buy in. They’ll set their own examples and encourage each other to do the same. They may even correct each other with reminders, taking their cue from you. They understand that you’ve established the goal of working positivity into every operational aspect.

The transition may be slow. Backsliding may occur after frustrations or crises arise. Your coach can help you maintain your focus and hold you accountable. Good outcomes are great motivators when positive approaches are used. Rely on this, especially in tough times.

Sometimes the example set by positive leaders requires difficult decisions that protect the organization from negative influences. Ineffective products or services may need to be discontinued. Negative, damage-inflicting clients may need to be dismissed. Stricter policies may need to be put in place to deal with conflict or detrimental behavior. Toxic employees deserve the chance to be converted to positivity with the appropriate oversight and counseling. If they choose to remain negative, they may need to be replaced.

Your passion for positivity gives you several hats to wear: role model, cheerleader, guardian, coach, enforcer and rewarder.

Building on a Firm Foundation

Great leaders expand their efforts to solidify a collective perspective and build upon the culture they’ve initiated. They continue to battle negativity and reinforce the expectation of a positive workplace. They promote one spirit: one united front to raise the bar.

A solid, positive culture is undergirded by trust. You earn trust by caring about your people and developing relationships with them. Make this happen by:

• Listening to them and providing for their needs. Applying active-listening skills helps people feel valued, which improves positivity.
• Encouraging and inspiring your people to think, respond and apply themselves positively.
• Communicating about everything. Give people information, and let them in on the plans to fulfill your vision. Let them feel worthy of being included in what’s going on in the organization.
• Getting to know your people, their interests, their lives and aspirations. Let them know who you are by sharing the same. This offers a sense of family and unity, which prompts a positive feeling about the workplace.
• Trusting people to make more decisions and be ambassadors of positivity. Letting your people take ownership of their culture strengthens it.
• Inviting people into problem-solving activities and allowing them to inject their expertise to make a difference. Celebrating positive outcomes also reinforces a positive mindset.
• Providing coaching and mentoring resources to help your people gain skills and become more valuable contributors.
• Creating a safe environment through transparency and security, where politics, favoritism and deception are rejected. People’s fear and anxiety will be minimized.

In a community of trust, people know each other well enough to think the best of their coworkers, instead of criticizing or grumbling. If your employees sense a greater optimism, your clients and customers will follow suit. Positivity is visible, indicating that a good fundamental culture is at work. Companies that exude positivity draw customers because they know their needs will be met. Your people and your operation thereby prosper.

Every successful organization has experienced change. With the business environment and its threats constantly evolving, it follows that the inability to change prevents success. Of course, change doesn’t happen on its own. Effective change not only must be managed, it must be led. This is an unfamiliar concept to many executives.

As change expert Edith Onderick-Harvey explains in Forbes’, Developing A Change Leader Mindset, managing change is not the same as leading change. Change management uses tools and processes to conduct projects. Leading change involves setting a course, establishing a culture and motivating your people to follow. Successful leaders are those who lead change, not if, but when it is required.

Considering that over sixty percent of all major corporate change initiatives fail, executives will benefit from enhancing their change leadership approach. Here are five fundamental pillars of change that great leaders build upon:

Set a Vision

A compelling vision is what underpins all successful change. It not only sets the change initiative in motion, but it sustains its life during execution and long after its implementation. The leader’s vision is founded on an assessment of the way things are, points out the things that need to change and paints a picture of the way things need to be.

Corporate change may involve new products, new markets or a new company image. It may pertain to expansion or downsizing. It may be as basic as upgrading policies, procedures or systems.

The leader’s vision adequately explains the need for change by helping people understand the risks of maintaining the status quo and the benefits of making changes. The staff needs to be drawn together in unity, to not only collectively accept the change, but play an active role in it.

Other managers are commissioned to promote the change and engage their people in the process. This involves extra group communication, where things are explained, people are heard and their concerns are acknowledged. A collective spirit of seeking solutions is critical.

The vision-setting stage is where a leader is especially focused on being credible and available to build as trusting an environment as possible.

Establish a Plan

A vision for change has no chance of success without an effective plan to make it happen. Plans must include the participation of managers and staff, and may require outside resources. Plans need to be realistic regarding scope, timing and staffing. Nothing crushes a vision faster than a plan that can’t be accomplished well.

How can a leader ensure that these things are properly considered? Ask your experts: your people. Leaders develop successful plans by involving their people ¾ getting their input, their ideas and their buy-in. An engaged staff is the primary resource a leader has in seeing a vision to fruition. It’s no longer the leader’s vision; it’s everyone’s vision.

An involved staff is made responsible for their assigned tasks. While each person is held accountable, leaders also encourage them to help each other. The plan comes together with this collective effort, where walls are taken down and territories are de-emphasized.

Organizing people into special task forces or teams can make effective use of their skills and time. Give them authority to make decisions or enhance the plan. An empowered team finds even better solutions and innovations. This enhances their sense of purpose and value. Their enthusiasm will be contagious and augment your promotional efforts.

Make the Investments

The greatest plan for change cannot be fulfilled without the proper resources. The fastest way to lose the enthusiasm you established in your people is to sabotage their efforts by withholding the resources they need to make the changes your plan calls for.

Again, your people are the experts in understanding what they need. It may be new policies or procedures. It may be equipment or systems. It could require more people: either with the same skills or new skillsets the group doesn’t currently have. Talent may simply need to be repurposed, switching people’s roles to accomplish the plan.

Regardless, leaders need to be open to making the investments needed whether in daily expenditure or capital investment. This is a point stressed by MIT lecturer Douglas Ready in his HBR article, 4 Things Successful Change Leaders Do Well. Leaders who support short and long-term investment plans have the greatest chances of realizing their vision. Proper investments not only make the plan feasible during its implementation, but keep the vision (and the company) strong long after the changes are made.

Great change leaders invest for the future, willing to bear short-term pain for long-term gain. They motivate their people to appreciate the investments and make the most effective use of them.

Provide the Training

A plan for change that calls for new procedures or systems requires properly skilled people. Leaders may need to include the cost of employee training in their investment plans. One of the best ways to implement large-scale training is to have a select team of employees undergo extensive training, and then serve as in-house experts able to train their coworkers.

Great change leaders make use of this strategy to optimize collaboration, teamwork and brainstorming. It not only raises in-house expertise, but empowers and engages employees-in the vision and plan.

In addition to technical training, leaders, managers and employees benefit from softer skill training that enhances change initiatives. Great change leaders give their people the opportunity to learn:

• Project management skills
• Collaborative workshop and brainstorming/innovation techniques
• Leadership skills, including active listening, conflict resolution, and constructive feedback
• Relational intelligence skills; how to read people, work in unity and support others
• How to give presentations
• New mindsets, including positivity, overcoming anxieties, and being more agile

A well rounded, trained and prepared staff is a leader’s best approach to any change initiative.

Celebrate Progress

Great change leaders know that people under pressure need occasional relief and encouragement. Workers don’t last long when they’re constantly driven with no feedback on how they’re doing.

Setting up methods to track progress allows people to know where things stand as they move forward. Leaders should not only recognize project status, but appreciate the hard work and progress being made. Do this publicly, and frequently. Emphasize the positives and encourage continued success. The best leaders celebrate little victories along the way, not waiting until they feel a major war is won.

Have gatherings to share stories and accomplishments. Highlight personnel and feed them with acknowledgements and thanks. This enhances their sense of self-worth and value, and it makes a potentially long project more manageable.

At the end of the implementation, even grander celebrations are called for. Make it a big deal ¾ because to your people, it is. These are the kinds of things that keep them engaged in the vision when working out the kinks down the road. It also prompts them to continue applying themselves and allows the vision to continue living in them.

As a leader, your role is foundational in initiating change, drawing your people to its purpose and giving them purpose as they partner with you to implement what needs to be done.