IN THIS ISSUE:

What does it mean to manage change? Change may be inevitable, but how does a successful organization approach it? Is change something to ‘manage’? Read article

Frog Pond: Reflections from a Values-Based Organization. From ‘Hokey’ to ‘Helpful’: Our Changing Attitudes Towards Coaching. Sage Portfolio Group staff receive coaching as a workplace benefit. Interestingly, some needed to try coaching before they believed in it. Read article

What’s Out There. Deep Change. Robert Quinn’s book is next up for our Sage Portfolio Group book review. Get a sneak peek here. Read article

The Culinary Coach. Calabacitas. Change of seasons got you longing for hot summer days? Try our recipe for calabacitas. Turn down the heat, or crank it full blast! Read recipe

If you would like a printable version of this newsletter, please visit www.sageportfoliogroup.com/archives.html

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What does it mean to manage change?
By Jennifer Dawson

It's September, and change is in the air. Committees and work groups are back from their brief summer hiatus with a fluster of emails and a new meeting schedule. Like squirrels, we're scampering around in a focused preparation for the upcoming season, and things can feel a little nuts.

Change, of course, is inevitable and necessary. Sage Portfolio Group coach Sylvia Goodeve, who has been a change agent within a corporation and now coaches executives through personal and organizational change, puts it in perspective. "If there isn't change, your organization is dead," she says. If change is essential, it warrants some attention in every organization.

'Change management' is like so many commonly used phrases: hear it enough times and it loses some of its meaning. 'Managing' change, to me, sounds a bit like 'breaking' a horse; we ride that change 'til it's exhausted and collapses, spirit broken. Why 'manage' change? Why not 'embrace' it, or 'foster' it, or 'grow' it?

I pitched this interpretation of 'change management' to Goodeve when we spoke about change. It became immediately apparent that she carried none of the baggage about managing change that I was clearly lugging around. 'Managing', for Goodeve, was not antithetical to 'embracing', 'fostering' or 'growing'. "Managing is just a process," she said. "There is a process identified to provide the structure necessary for the change to come to fruition." This sounded a bit like change manager as gardener, diligently tending change until it bloomed. I liked that metaphor better than the rodeo one.

Goodeve outlined the necessary components for successful change within organizations. But first she cautioned that, while I may think of change as a bed of roses, most people experiencing change fear the unknown and are anxious about an uncertain future. This was why the 'management' component was so critical.

Organizations need to prepare for change in a conscious, methodical, open manner. In short, successful change requires doing your homework. Goodeve, taking on the role of change management coach, fired off a series of insightful questions. "What are the goals? What does the organization want to get out of the change? What does the change look like? What are the ideal outcomes? Who are the people that are going to be impacted? What is their perspective on the change?" And still more questions. "What resources are needed, both financial and human? Who is the change agent, the person responsible for leading the process and doing the follow-up? What is your communication plan? How will you share the vision and get buy-in? Where are the logical places to establish check-points, evaluate progress and confirm that everyone is aligned?" It wasn't so much that the change itself needed to be managed. It was the organizational context—the people, policies, and procedures already in place—that needed to be prepared and supported to accept and benefit from the change.

Unfortunately, change management in many organizations is a code word for damage control. "Usually a company will realize they need to manage a change pretty late in the process. They've made a decision, they've announced it, and there's been a reaction or they realize they don't have everything they need to make the change happen successfully. Then they hire a team of consultants to help." Instead, Goodeve recommends that organizations take an approach that "change happens", and train managers to be effective change agents, able to manage the process internally and secure outside expertise when necessary. "Some changes are very emotional and sticky and it can help to bring in an unaffected third party to play change agent for awhile," Goodeve advised. "But the change process is still controlled by the organization itself."

One of the resources Goodeve recommends to an executive team and internal change agents is an executive or corporate coach. "A coach is an impartial third party that they can use to help them work through things. The coach's goal is to help them move forward, to navigate the change in the best way possible, and to help share a different perspective. A coach will call them on things when their perspective is skewed. People don't necessarily choose to be involved in a change," she stated, "and negative feelings can develop."

The most effective organizations, Goodeve acknowledges, have change management as part of their corporate culture. Since the processes and supports are in place at all times, the organization is nimble, responsive and automatic in its response to change. Organizations with a change management culture don't just attend to the big changes, either. Change is encouraged and welcomed because it isn't regarded as something that diverts attention and resources; instead it defines the way the organization does business, and the resources, expertise and planning are already in place. These organizations 'grow' change. And I bet some have great gardens, too.

 

From Hokey to Helpful: Our Changing Attitudes Towards Coaching
By Melanie Parish

Sage Portfolio Group offers a unique and affordable coaching option that we call 'coaching gym'. Like a fitness gym, a coaching gym provides unlimited monthly access to services and programs for a monthly 'membership' fee. The coaching services are provided in a one-on-one format by telephone and email, and we offer the occasional group format teleclass to members who are working on a similar issue.

We offer this coaching gym access to our employees and contractors as a workplace benefit. I felt it was important that my staff who do not have coach training receive direct experience with coaching, not only to enhance their professional and personal development, but to increase their understanding of what it means to work for a coaching company. I want those associated with Sage Portfolio Group to truly believe in the products and services we offer. Our staff have been using the coaching gym for about six months now. They coach on their own time and we allow flex time to make it all work.

In the beginning, there was a bit of resistance. Some staff thought it might be hokey. When I explained my reasons for their participation, they humoured me and gave it a try. As time went on, I started to see them get more and more engaged with the process.

First, I heard that it was helpful to have an outside opinion. Then a staff member told me she had been working through a specific problem in the coaching gym and she felt she was making progress. Slowly, I started to notice that my staff were regularly scheduling their time in the coaching gym. Then another employee took the time to tell me how much she really enjoyed the coaching gym and how powerful it was for her. We have been hiring a new employee for our organization this week. "Make sure to tell him about the coaching gym," a senior staff member said. "It's a really cool benefit!"

I am fascinated by the slow and steady change that has taken place in my staff as they have grown to accept and then embrace coaching. Offering coaching to our team allows us to show them that we are different, we are dedicated to their ongoing growth as individuals, and they have a resource to access that will support their problem solving and learning. We believe in our employees and our ongoing positive relationship with them, and the coaching gym helps us stand out as we recruit some of the best talent in our industry.

For more information on Sage Portfolio Group's Coaching Gym, click here.

Frog Pond: Reflections from a values-based organization is a monthly column that explores the connection between business and social responsibility. The title for the column comes from the last, but perhaps most profound, of the five values upon which Sage Portfolio Group has been built. We call it "frog pond". Sitting beside the frog pond at Sage Portfolio Group's head office in Dundas, Ontario on a warm summer evening with a glass of wine and meal made from locally grown organic produce has taught us to value local roots and global consciousness, quiet contemplation and sharing with others, dreaming big and common sense. Articles written for this column take the abstract principles of Sage Portfolio Group's "frog pond" value and make them both real and useful. Dip your toe to test the water or dive right in!

Deep Change
By Jennifer Dawson

Robert Quinn's book, published a year ago, promises to be an enlightening and inspirational read that goes beyond a narrow, superficial definition of 'change management' to examining how we can become change agents for ourselves and our organizations. Online reviewers call it "life-changing", "leavened with practical examples and exercises", "mandatory reading", "inspirational", and appropriate for those "willing to engage in extended self-examination." Our copy of Deep Change just arrived from the publisher, and I'll be putting some otherwise unproductive bus-and-plane travel time to practical use by reading it for our next Sage Portfolio Group book review, to be published later in September. Will I end the summer of '07 as an "internally driven leader" who has been "transformed from victim to powerful agent of change"? Stay tuned to find out.

What's Out There is a monthly column highlighting thought leaders and trail blazers in the business world today -- people, organizations or subjects that push boundaries, break down barriers or build bridges in novel or unexpected ways.

 

Calabacitas

I first tried this side dish at a little restaurant in Albuquerque in the late 80s. I am not sure whether it is a regional dish or if it was unique to this restaurant, but I experimented and came up with my own version. It's a summer favourite in my family, served with beans and a main dish like tacos or enchiladas, or with potatoes and a green salad.

We receive weekly delivery of an organic food box from a local farm and, with the exception of the green chile, we usually have most of these ingredients in our weekly box. I'm a bit of a chile aficionado, so I bring back a stash of Bueno Frozen Green Chile from New Mexico when I return from a trip south. For those who are less likely to travel internationally for their chile consumption, "Old El Paso" brand canned green chile is fairly easy to find in the Mexican foods section of any Canadian grocery store, and works well in this delicious dish. For those who prefer their food cranked down on spicy scale, use mild green chilies. If it is still a bit spicy for your taste, add sour cream and extra cheese.

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves crushed
1/2 medium onion chopped
3 zucchinis
1 cup corn
1/2 cup fresh roasted green chilies (Anaheim peppers) or 2-3 small cans
1 cup grated extra sharp or sharp
3/4 cheddar cheese (optional)
Salt to taste

In a skillet, heat olive oil to medium. Sauté onion and garlic until clear. Add zucchini. Cook until the zucchini is firm but cooked through. Add corn and green chilies. Salt to taste. Top with cheddar cheese. Serve.

The Culinary Coach is Melanie Parish, founder and CEO of Sage Portfolio Group. Good food is about culture, community, family, physiology and fun. Each month we share one of Melanie's tried-and-true recipes, or some of her kitchen wisdom, in celebration of the power of food to strengthen, nurture and inspire. Cheers!

This month's contributors:

Melanie Parish, CPCC, PCC, is an accomplished speaker; executive and team coach; entrepreneur; and is the founder of Sage Portfolio Group. She has a 20 year background in sales, marketing and business development. Melanie regularly works with business owners who want to create incredible, profitable businesses. She has been a coach since 1999. Melanie is certified through the International Coach Federation and The Coaches Training Institute.

Jennifer Dawson is a cultural anthropologist, researcher and writer for Sage Portfolio Group.

About The Leading Edge:
The Leading Edge is published monthly by Sage Portfolio Group and written for a readership that includes coaching clients, human resource professionals, business leaders, fellow coaches and the occasional aspiring gourmand. Our goal is to offer a combination of wisdom and wit--sourced from our own in-house experts and other respected leaders in the field--in an easy-to-access e-zine format. A hard copy version is published bi-annually. We welcome editorial questions, comments and story ideas; please direct these to the editor, Jennifer Dawson, at jen(at)sageportfoliogroup.com. If you find value in the articles we invite you to pass them on to a friend with the recommendation to sign up directly for The Leading Edge at www.sageportfoliogroup.com. Articles from The Leading Edge can be reproduced in an in-house publication provided that Sage Portfolio Group is credited for the article.