Consulting Process Role Play

During the allotted sixty minutes, my most important objective is to ensure that I'm emotionally speaking to the needs of the CEO. While the logical mind matters, we must first disarm and put our potential client at ease by speaking to her emotions. John Kotter shared, "show a truth that hits their feeling, that changes a behavior." This is not only important within the entry-stage when attempting to earn the consulting opportunity but will be essential when we seek to receive buy-in from senior leadership.

What strategies would I use when speaking to the emotions of the CEO?

I would look to establish trust. After our initial interview, I will demonstrate that I actively listened to the described needs and most significant challenge. Additionally, I would ask relevant questions which show that I am genuinely committed to providing a solution that solves the CEO's dilemma. Next, I would share my relevant experiences with implementing a change plan that is most similar to the situation that matches the integration of two prominent national health care providers. And finally, I would provide a simple, easy-to-understand (and implement) change model to guide the organization into its desired results. That change plan is Kotter's 8-Step Model.

Below you will find the outlined details that I would reconfirm and share with the CEO during the sixty-minute meeting. Further, the full description of Kotter's models:

Identified Needs:

• An effective change plan that can be universally understood and adopted with ease

• For change plan to be quick moving and to have very successful results

Greatest Challenge:

• Getting Senior Leadership to agree and get aligned on needed changes. They must buy into the entire process.

Questions:

• Could you elaborate on your timeline?

• What are some of the objections you foresee senior leadership having?

• What specific individuals may we have the most difficulty with, and what do you know about their specific interests?

• How will you evaluate the level of the change plan's success?

Kotter's 8-Step Model for Leading Change:

Step 1: Create a sense of urgency

• Emotionally impact folks to rally around change

• Logic or data is secondary to emotions

• Share why change is a necessity

Step 2: Build a guiding coalition

• Represent several functions and be from different layers of the org chart

Step 3: Form strategic vision and initiatives

• Embedded within the vision must be your targeted and strategic initiatives

• Vision must be simple to understand and easy for employees to share

(These three steps will help to create the climate for change)

Step 4: Enlist a volunteer army

• Enlist supporters to share the vision across the entire organization

• Lean on the work you've done building a coalition (step two) and developing a vision (step three)

Step 5: Enable action by removing barriers

• Empower individuals by eliminating barriers such as complacency, budgets, regulation, or commonly accepted ideas that contradict the change initiative.

Step 6: Generate short-term wins

• Acknowledge and celebrate wins along the way because implementing change takes a while

(These three steps focus on engaging and enabling the organization)

Step 7: Sustain acceleration

• Build on the change, cement it, and help it evolve

• Mitigate that the change disappear over time

Step 8: Institute change

• Create systems that permanently locks in the change

• Keep senior leadership engaged in the change

• Celebrate individuals who continue to adopt the change

(The final two steps lend to implementing and sustaining for change)

Submitted 2/28/22