What three things business owners look for in a change agent

I recently held an event at the University which gave me the chance to speak directly to business owners about what qualities they think make a good change agent.

All businesses need change to grow and thrive and often, someone is employed especially to make that change happen (or someone within the organisation becomes that change agent). But what makes a change agent good at what they do?

This is a question I have long been researching and I wanted to host an event which not only allowed me to speak directly with local business owners but also gave me the opportunity to share findings from my recent British Academy Fellowship project.

During this project, in collaboration with Inoapps Limited, a consultancy organisation which specialises in supporting the implementation of Oracle applications, I developed a Change Agent Toolkit.

Now was my chance to put this Toolkit into practice and to show business owners how it could help them.

It's all about change

We had around 30 businesses attend the event, called ‘Collaborating to Unlock the Potential of Change’, and, to begin, I asked participants to consider change in their own organisation. I asked them to reflect on the following four questions:

1. What perspective do I want my change agents to bring to the role?

2. What level do I want them to work at to create change?

3. What role do I want my agent to play?

4. What personal attributes, experience and knowledge do they need?

Following these reflections, I asked them to pick their top three priorities from a selection of 30 essential qualities that a change agent would need to tackle a specific change project in their company. Here is what we found…

Top three qualities

1. There was a general agreement across groups about the importance of what participants described as ‘soft skills’, attributes such as being likable, able to influence and convince others, and commanding the respect of peers within the organisation were very popular choices. Many participants shared that where knowledge could be acquired, a change agent who had these soft skills would help build trust, reduce resistance, and create a positive atmosphere that is conducive to successful organisational change.

2. We explored a variety of perspectives on how ‘opinionated’ we would want a change agent to be. Some participants argued that an ‘opinionated’ change agent would provide clear direction and a sense of purpose to drive change forward, would inspire confidence and effectively advocate for change. On the other hand, other participants were concerned that being too opinionated could lead to resistance, conflict, and alienate some team members who may feel that their ideas and concerns are not being heard.

3. It was suggested that a change agent who had ‘low ego’ would be an asset to most change scenarios. Describing someone as ‘low ego’ typically means that the person is humble, not self-centred, and doesn't let their personal pride or self-importance dominate their behaviour or interactions. A ‘low ego’ individual tends to value teamwork, be open to feedback, be empathetic, collaborative, and flexible. Being ‘low ego’ was often a quality associated with some of the other soft skills mentioned previously such as being approachable, reliable, and focusing on collective goals and the well-being of the group.

It was a productive and insightful event. The ideal change agent then is maybe not quite what you would expect. Someone who has soft skills, isn’t overly opinionated and who has a ‘low ego’ seemed to be the preference of the day.

Our conclusion from the day was that if you're looking to enhance your change management strategy, consider incorporating these qualities into your team.

For more information about our change agency approach to change, please see Organizational Change Management: Inclusion, Collaboration and Digital Change in Practice.