You must believe. As a change agent you must believe in the task at hand. So you ask, what exactly is it that I must believe?
You must believe in the goal or the vision. You must believe that it is a good place to go. You must believe that it is a good course.
Because not believing has awful consequences. I know because I’ve been there. It’s apparent. You cannot hide it.
Was it entirely my fault that I did not believe? No. Was I guilty of not making the right effort with powers to be to find a way to believe? Yes. I did a disservice to myself and the project by not making it clear to my superiors that if I didn’t believe in this I would fail, the project would fail, and we needed to work at my belief or get me off the project.
If I don’t believe my performance will suffer. That is certainly true. The greater damage will be that most people on the project will know I don’t believe. And unfortunately, unbelief inspires unbelief. It inspires mistrust and cynicism that those who are supposed to help them don’t believe in the cause. The project members may not know why something is amiss and they may not be able to put a name on it. But they will know. They may see it as going through the motions, lacking optimism or lacking conviction.
Others must believe that you believe. That is why it is so important to do the upfront work before anything kicks into motion.
Again, it is relationship building. In this case it is both upward and outward.
Upward to those directing the work. You need to establish a relationship that says this is a joint effort. That change efforts need to inspire belief. They have to have tangible and visual value. The reasons for the change have to be meaningful and understandable to the people you are asking to change. You need to help the powers that be to understand that it’s part of your job to give projects the right kind of believable meaning.
And also reaching outward to your project team. If you want them to believe you not only must they believe that you believe, but they must trust you. You have to start building that bond before you ask them to do anything. Plant seeds and educate and understand before you ask for anything.
If the roots are not severed, all will be well in the garden.
Once More Unto the Change 