Leadership Conversations Webinar: Team leaders critical to positive change–internationalexpert
The most critical factor for organisations undergoing huge change are its leaders, according to international change specialist Nicholas Petrie (Nick) who will be sharing insights at our Leadership Conversations webinar on Tuesday 28 March.
All Te Whatu Ora leaders are invited to attend the webinar and should have received additional information, including the webinar link, via email. If you are a people leader and have not received a link to attend, please contact Programme Coordinator, Emily Welburn emily.welburn@health.govt.nz
During the conversation, Nick will chat about his insights gained from direct personal experience as well as global research around how individuals and teams are learning to perform–andgrow–duringtimesofhighpressureandchangewithoutburningthemselves out. He'll identify what healthy performance looks like, while providing practical solutions on what to do if you find yourself overextended and exhausted.
“I’m privileged to be able to share this knowledge to support Te Whatu Ora’s leaders. How people feel about change is disproportionately influenced by the leader and the biggest factor that matters to them during change is whether they believe their manager 'has their back',” says Nick, adding that by leaders shifting the focus from the unknown to the known they can further support people.
“During change everyone tends to talk about all of the change, as it is top of mind. While leaders should lean into conversations about change concerns, it is equally important that they spend asmuch time (if not more) focusing people on what is not changing,” he says.
“By overemphasising change, we increase people’s sense of uncertainty and lower their sense of control. What is not changing is often more than we realise and by helping people see that a lot of things are stable will remain the same – same friends, values, house, workplace, drive to work – we can enable amore balanced view of the change.
“Change and stability are two polarities. When we only focus on one, we are prone to fall out of balance and makepeople more uncertain than is helpful for them.”
Passionate about organisational culture and enabling people to cope (and thrive) though change, Nick has spent the last 10 years in the USA working with large organisations going throughalot ofchange byhelpingthembuild resiliencefromthetopoftheorganisationout to the frontlines.
During the pandemic, Nick led a global research project on how individuals and teams can pursue performance in a healthy way, rather than working in unsustainable ways.
“Buildingresilienceisimportantastheriskofburnoutishighduringtimesofchange.Burnout isneveronefactorbutisacombinationoffactorscomingtogethersuchasahighworkload, lack of resources, and an inability to switch off/recharge. It’s different for each person, but these 'combos' of individual and organisational factors are a common pattern.
“By shifting our mindset to enable a more balanced view of change, we reduce the risk of burnout and other negative outcomes of the change process.”
The Leadership Conversations webinar series is part of our Enhancing new Enhancing Change Capability Leadership Programme