We often think about change in terms of large-scale business transformations but we acquire lots of change management skills in our personal and professional lives. Reflect on the many changes you’ve initiated in the past few months – influencing people, producing different outcomes, making things better. JFK famously said “Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” I like that quote because it reminds me to always keep my eyes on the horizon

It starts with the basics. Before engaging in any change (big or small), we have to be able to answer positively at least two critical questions: do I have the drive to do this? Do have the tools and resources (including time) to make it happen?   

Real change starts with people genuinely embracing a new perspective/reality/way of operating and that cannot be imposed – it can only be chosen. Therefore change management is hard and will test your resolve, stamina and ingenuity.  

I’m equally passionate about exerting change but I’m now more patient than what I used to be. Failure is a great teacher: I’ve become more conscious about the contribution I can bring to the change effort and the complementary skills that I need in the broader team. Lastly, there’s no magic formula but if you bring a good dose of empathy, remain curious and are willing to experiment with different approaches, you’ll be successful.

I joined Mars Brazil 4 years ago as a tax manager, serving PN and MW. During the first 2 years and half I conducted a change management in the area and then I was invited to lead the shared services center, keeping the current tax role and assuming, additionally, accounting, treasury and payroll. Consequently, I joined the transformation team to support the FoT implementation for Mars Brazil operations, which was much more challenge in terms of change management.

Leading more people, through the change management, it was relevant understand how the change impact differently each person of the team. From that point, I needed to identify how to support them to deliver the best of each one, with patience, resilience and work, focusing on the priorities.

The most challenging part of this experience was to balance the ordinary activities with the change management despite a unclear view of the final stage. Another challenge was change the lens from the micro activities to a more holistic perspective.

I improved my communication skills, being more directly and leave the team work when I delegate, avoiding micro management. Be focused on what was under my control.

All my professional life is about driving changes. I used to lead a lot of transformational projects like ERP systems implementation, processes re-design and roll-out etc. I enjoy revealing and activating triggers driving step change in business performance. For sure, I am change-dependent, when one transformation is delivered, I need another one.

Take people on board early – the earlier you start to co-create, the more tailwind you get.

Do not ignore the resistance – listen carefully to opponent’s opinion, ask 5 why and dig deeply to understand the good intent behind initial negative reaction.

Incorporate different views into your picture of success – the more perspectives you get, the richer and better thought over your end game is.

People are naturally afraid of changes. The first natural reaction is: “No. We have already tried – it does not work. It will not work.”

You need to think over very carefully how you are going to motivate people. I truly believe motivating is about appealing to people’s core values and interests and not about manipulation. So, the biggest challenge is to build trust which allows speaking to people openly and understanding their values.

When I started working in MGSF Russia Head role my first thought was: I am here to make a big Positive Change. How can I set up a framework which would make this Positive Change everyday life and key idea of the Hub?

As a result of this, I launched a Continuous Improvement framework which:

+ highlights in all transparency existing problems and opportunities for improvement

+ maps initiatives to 3E and I (Efficiency, Effectiveness, Experience and Insights)

+ gives a chance to every Associate of MGSF Russia to be a Transformation Hero via delivering important projects resulting in visible Positive Change.

Nowadays CI framework is a distinctive practice in MGSF RU enabling over 10% annual savings and tons of soft benefits.

First in my family…we were immigrants so that brought a lot of changes from early stages. Then from reading, I am not talking any specific type of books, anything you read will give you a taste of alternative realities. Finally, from having many different assignments, in several different countries. That was like the Masters Degree on Change Management, both personally and professionally.

You cannot prepare for every possible outcome. Of course, you need to do your homework, but you need to be willing to react/adapt to unpredictable situations. Moreover, you need to be confident you, and your teams, will be able to cope with unpredictability.

You are not necessarily fully aligned with some changes, or maybe you do not have all the information you would like to have, still at a point in time you need to trust the process (or the reality of change, if that were the case, and make the best of it).

Experiences accelerated the need to find ways to improve everything I do. The more you go through changes, the more you internalize the phrase “change is the only constant”…but also gives you a better appreciation for some of the really important constants in your life…like family and values.