Finding Your Change Champions
This post is part of our change lifecycle series covering six steps: finding your leaders, power mapping, the Cookie Monster moment, moving your needle, your capacity for disruption, and determining your risk. Read our first series post about finding your leaders.
Mandy Carney had worked for Yeovil Hospital in Somerset, England, since she began her nurse training in 1984. As a senior nurse in a middle management role, she didn’t have much hierarchical power, yet everyone from doctors to patients trusted and respected Mandy’s point of view. When the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) needed to mobilize a new change initiative, it didn’t immediately turn to the hospital CEO — instead, it turned to Mandy.
With her wide influence, Mandy was what we consider a “change champion” — her power didn’t stem from a traditional org chart or title, but from decades of experience and connection with those around her. When discussing the change initiative, NHS Chief Transformation Officer Helan Bevan said, “People at the center of informal influence have far more ability to make change happen than people at the top of a formal hierarchy” — precisely why the NHS knew it would take buy-in beyond senior leadership to make change happen.
As your organization grapples with change, it’s crucial to recruit change champions across levels and departments to serve as point people for actualizing the organization’s new blueprint. When informal influencers like Mandy Carney are the change champions on your side, it helps propel impact and curb resistance. These leaders wield an intangible power beyond an executive-level, top-down approach. Where traditional figureheads like CEOs can use hierarchical power to sway employees into following their lead, change champions have unique ownership that comes with front line involvement and unique influence among their peers.
How to Find Change Champions
How does one find a change champion who meets these criteria? Tactics may depend on the size of your organization. In a team of six, likely leaders will rise to the top — a team of 60 will require a little more work. If a few change champions don’t immediately come to mind, see who volunteers, or even gets excited about the initiative. Has anyone recently requested opportunities for leadership development? Who is constantly advocating for others and working to improve their team? Try a peer recommendation model, or survey your employees to pinpoint who they respect, talk to, and trust.
Criteria to Look For
When assembling your team of change champions, we recommend looking for out-of-the-box leaders that:
May not have org chart authority, but do have influence
Are directly affected by the change themselves
Convey enthusiasm for the organization and/or initiative at hand
Hold respect from colleagues across leadership levels
Are “closer to the ground” and know what daily work should look like to make change happen
Ultimately, the role of the change champion is to generate motivation across leadership levels. Once you find them, their task is to energize, lead a team, create an open environment for collaboration, and serve as internal cheerleaders rallying for impactful change across the organization.
Ready to pinpoint your change champions? Get in touch with 18 Coffees — we’re ready to help.
