{"id":20742,"date":"2023-10-09T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?post_type=article&p=20742"},"modified":"2025-12-15T05:11:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T05:11:08","slug":"leading-a-period-of-change-can-be-a-heavy-lift-here-are-some-tips","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leading-a-period-of-change-can-be-a-heavy-lift-here-are-some-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Leading in a Period of Change Can Be a Heavy Lift \u2013 Here Are Some Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n 9 Oct 2023 <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Articles<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

Leading in a Period of Change Can Be a Heavy Lift \u2013 Here Are Some Tips<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Category<\/div>\n Leadership & Culture<\/a> <\/div>\n
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https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leading-a-period-of-change-can-be-a-heavy-lift-here-are-some-tips\/<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n\n\n
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Leaders Performance Advisor Bobby Scales uses the 30-60-90 model to outline his approach.<\/p>\n \n \n \n

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By Bobby L Scales II<\/h6>\n
When organizational change is needed it usually means something has not gone well.<\/h6>\n

Results may have slipped, your culture may have drifted. Perhaps the market is telling you there\u2019s something you need to improve upon.<\/p>\n

Recognizing the need for change is one thing, coming into a new environment and selling that change to the team you have inherited is quite another.<\/p>\n

We know change is difficult. Change can illicit feelings of fear and uncertainty and when those feelings arise, as humans we naturally go back to what is comfortable and safe. The problem is that more often than not what is comfortable and safe is exactly why the change is needed. Your team may feel isolated or alienated. Even when the change is 90% good, people are going to worry about the \u2018bad\u2019 10% and how it inevitably affects them. The leader needs to create an environment where people are willing and able to embrace change.<\/p>\n

Leading a team or organization through times of change is a heavy lift and there is no escaping that, but there are things a leader can do to give themselves the best chance during those first 90 days and beyond.<\/p>\n

Below is the \u201830-60-90\u2019 model I would follow if I were leading a team or department through a period of transition and development. For the uninitiated, the 30-60-90 model divides those first 90 days into three phases where you sequentially identify your team\u2019s issues, formulate your strategy, and begin to execute your plans.<\/p>\n

Know your personnel<\/strong><\/p>\n

Your first 30 days should be spent asking the people around you a ton of questions. You need to have an idea of what needs to change but, in those early days, you must get a proper gage of the temperature \u2018in the room\u2019. How are people feeling? What was the sentiment of the group previously? Allow them to ask questions of you. Find out about the \u2018who\u2019 first, then you can begin to ask questions about the \u2018what\u2019. It is important to ask what happened in the past and understand why things were done a certain way before. This will inform your ideas of where you need to go. It\u2019s impossible to do the latter until you win the people first.<\/p>\n

In my view, this is the most difficult phase during those first 90 days because you and your staff are learning and, oftentimes, you\u2019ll have new personnel either in management or in the rank and file \u2013 or just an entirely new group on both sides \u2013 because something has not gone to plan. You are not changing for the sake of change: you\u2019re changing because something needs to happen in order to grow whatever group you are part of.<\/p>\n

It is crucial to know your personnel, as former NFL Head Coach Herm Edwards memorably put it, you need to learn who is in front of you and to whom you are talking. Staff members cannot be bucketed into broad categories as you solicit their feedback. You need to understand each and every person on your team as an individual to fully understand where they fit or if you need to move on.<\/p>\n

Identify the right people, get them in the correct seats on the bus<\/strong><\/p>\n

One thing you\u2019ll find with long-tenured individuals is that they can become stifled or bored, which does not alter the fact that they may have some great ideas stifled because there is no real pathway for advancement and bored because there have been ideas that have been put forward and for whatever reason haven\u2019t gone anywhere. If you have a smart and sharp talent base, you need to afford staff members the space to run with those ideas. Another way to put it is that you need to make sure that your people are sat in the correct seats on the bus.<\/p>\n

All people want to be challenged in their job. People want to feel they can master their job and excel in their role and grow into more. As a manager, that can mean being secure in the fact that you are not the smartest person in the room. Part of the first 30 days is understanding that and then folding that into your plan.<\/p>\n

It also speaks to your authenticity as a leader. Yes, \u2018authenticity\u2019 is a buzzword these days but, when you\u2019re creating an environment, people want to know you are real. You have to be yourself, you have to be honest, and you have to be up front. It goes hand in hand with your integrity. People need to understand that you\u2019re still doing the right things when no one else is watching too.<\/p>\n

With the right questions asked of the right people, we then turn our attention to days 31 to 60. This phase is about formulating your plan and how you\u2019re going to put all the pieces into play. Towards the end of that period you need to tell your group: \u2018this is what we\u2019ve got here and these are the answers I got from you all. This is not me making this up because I was not part of this group before. Here\u2019s how we got here, these are the answers I\u2019ve gotten from you and this is the path forward as I see it for this group\u2019. You have to lay out your vision and plan for innovating or iterating in your environment and, when you have buy-in, it alleviates a lot of those questions such as \u2018what\u2019s in it for me?\u2019<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what\u2019s in it for you: a chance to grow your career that you didn\u2019t have before because you were stifled. You were bored and now you have the opportunity to stretch your legs and run with it.<\/p>\n

It is also a question of communication and there also needs to be an intentionality to your strategy. There are key people you should have identified inside your department that are your influencers, people whose words and actions carry weight. It is important to communicate effectively with and through those people.<\/p>\n

Full steam ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n

By the time you reach day 61 you\u2019re going full steam ahead as you put your plan in place and you let your people run with it.<\/p>\n

Your plan must also be nimble. Having a process and a framework is important but if market factors change then you will need to have the space to amend your approach. In that scenario, you need to be honest and open. You need to communicate that message in a way that is supportive rather than aggressive. Again, it comes down to communication and being genuine in gathering people\u2019s ideas about how to remedy the situation when things are not going according to plan.<\/p>\n

It is amazing what you can ask people to do when they feel like they are part of a team and in the know.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n

\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":20744,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[20],"pathway":[295],"topic":[297,301,296],"sport":[322],"class_list":["post-20742","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadership-culture-performance","pathway-leadership-development","topic-adaptability","topic-agility","topic-culture","sport-american-football"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLeading in a Period of Change Can Be a Heavy Lift \u2013 Here Are Some Tips - Performance Institute<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leading-a-period-of-change-can-be-a-heavy-lift-here-are-some-tips\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Leading in a Period of Change Can Be a Heavy Lift \u2013 Here Are Some Tips - Performance Institute\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leading-a-period-of-change-can-be-a-heavy-lift-here-are-some-tips\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Performance Institute\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-15T05:11:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/10\/GettyImages-1480749492-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1722\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leading-a-period-of-change-can-be-a-heavy-lift-here-are-some-tips\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leading-a-period-of-change-can-be-a-heavy-lift-here-are-some-tips\/\",\"name\":\"Leading in a Period of Change Can Be a Heavy Lift \u2013 Here Are Some Tips - Performance Institute\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leading-a-period-of-change-can-be-a-heavy-lift-here-are-some-tips\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leading-a-period-of-change-can-be-a-heavy-lift-here-are-some-tips\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/10\/GettyImages-1480749492-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-09T09:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-15T05:11:08+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leading-a-period-of-change-can-be-a-heavy-lift-here-are-some-tips\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leading-a-period-of-change-can-be-a-heavy-lift-here-are-some-tips\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/leading-a-period-of-change-can-be-a-heavy-lift-here-are-some-tips\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/10\/GettyImages-1480749492-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/10\/GettyImages-1480749492-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1722,\"caption\":\"MIDDLESBROUGH, ENGLAND - APRIL 07: Burnley Manager Vincent Kompany celebrates after Burnley had sealed promotion back to the Premier League after the Sky Bet Championship between Middlesbrough and Burnley at Riverside Stadium on April 07, 2023 in Middlesbrough, England. 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