making-sense-of-change-management

their personal style, personal history and proximity to the proposed changes.And if people do not like the look of the future, there will be a reaction.The job of the leader in a merger or acquisition situation is firstly to ensurethat the team know things will not be the same any more. Second, he or sheneeds to ensure people understand what will change, what will stay thesame, and when all this will happen. Third, the leader needs to provide theright environment for people to try out new ways of doing things.Schein (see Chapter 1) claims that healthy individual change happenswhen there is a good balance between anxiety about the future andanxiety about trying out new ways of working. The first anxiety must begreater than the second, but the first must not be too high, otherwisethere will be paralysis or chaos.In a merger or acquisition situation there is very little safety. People areanxious about their futures as well as uncertain about what new behavioursare required. This means the leader has to create psychological safety by:• painting pictures of the future (visioning);• acting as a strong role model of desired behaviours;• being consistent about systems and structures.Mergers and acquisitionsBut not by:• avoiding the truth;• saying that nothing will change;• hiding from the team;• putting off the delivery of bad news.Chapter 1 addressed individual change by first introducing four schoolsof thought:• behavioural;• cognitive;• psychodynamic;• humanistic.243