Second-Level Change Management

Healthy companies face frequent change. As a leader, you’re often responsible to see that those changes are successful.

As you move up in your leadership role, one of those changes is how you manage change itself.

When you’re a first-line manager, most of your role involves helping your team members absorb the change and adapt to it. You may lead them through brainstorming exercises to make adjustments to tools or processes. You may spend time simply listening with empathy to fears and concerns. Your focus can be on helping your team members directly weather whatever storm is coming their way.

When you’re managing managers, you become responsible for second-level change management. The leaders who report to you are personally dealing with the change. They may need the same kind of help you’re used to giving your individual contributors.

But they also have an additional burden. They’re responsible for helping their team members. And when change is infrequent, they may not feel prepared to be the kind of help their team needs.

As a leader of leaders in a time of change, you’ll need to process your own response to the change, help your leaders respond personally, and help those leaders in supporting their own teams.

If you’d like to explore what second-level change management may look like for your organization, let’s talk. Visit stevedwire.com/talk to start the conversation.