Three Keys to Leading Change

Drawing inspiration from the insightful book “Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change,” three essential factors contribute to achieving swift, profound, and enduring transformations in human behavior.

Key 1. Focus and Measure

Influencers are crystal clear about the results they are trying to achieve and are committed to measuring them. They effectively communicate their goals and adopt clear, consistent, and meaningful metrics to track their progress.

Conversely, unsuccessful agents of change make at least one of the three early mistakes that undermine their influence:

- Fuzzy, uncompelling goals: Influencers won’t simply tell people to “empower employees,” “build teams,” or “improve customer service,” because these goals are too fuzzy to exert any real influence. For example, “Improving customer service” could be interpreted as answering the phone by the second ring, or giving customers a free monkey with every $10’s purchase, or entirely something else. A clear goal statement like “We will save 10,000 lives from medical mistakes by June 14, 2006, by 9:00am” can be ten times more effective than a fuzzy version such as “We will reduce preventable harm in hospitals.”