In a feel good transformation, leaders try to drive organizational change without pushing people to comply. Instead, the goal is to create so much momentum and buzz around your initiative that people are attracted to join without coercion.
The reality is that change makes people nervous. Most of the time people are not evaluating your initiative on its own merits. They are simply checking to see who else is participating before they get involved.
Even those who agree with you and support your work, will still be looking for signals that can increase their confidence in you before they jump in to participate.
An effective way to build people’s confidence is by using social proof. This is a key principle in Cialdini’s model of persuasion. If you can get visible support from leaders or peers that people trust and respect, it will feel safer for hesitant colleagues to participate in your initiative.
So part of our work is to secure backing from a respected executive, an influential peer, a key customer or an external expert. You also need to make sure that this support is public and visible.
An endorsement received in a board meeting with leaders is only helpful if some of those leaders are willing to publicly endorse your initiative.
Even more powerful is active contribution and participation. If you can get some leaders to visibly participate in activities related to your goals, this will be a strong signal to the rest of the company.
Not everyone will be a champion or early adopter of change. Most people will take a wait and see approach to your work. Your job is to find early adopters among your leaders and peers. Working with these early adopters to get early wins will give you the initial boost in credibility that you need.
Making this participation visible through storytelling will provide the safe space for others to join in.
This is the underestimated power of social proof.