Episode 38: Why asking beautiful questions, prioritisation and communication help change succeed, with Sudha Sharma

Leadership Amplified by Dr Karen Morley

As someone who’s seen a lot of change in her life Sudha Sharma has some terrific advice for approaching it successfully. In Episode 38 of Leadership Amplified we have a powerful conversation about influencing others for change, and Sudha shares her very human-centered and pragmatic approach. She says that ‘in the corporate world where results matter, you can’t achieve them if you don’t take care of people.’ She’s focused on doing that, and helping other leaders do the same. She says ‘Post-COVD there is no playbook on how to deal with a team.’ The old one doesn’t work, but what takes its place? She says that influence is key to the leadership playbook moving forward. How leaders influence now needs to be adjusted – teams are looking for clarity because of course there’s less of it. To hook into what’s important to them - helping them to see more clearly - means identifying and articulating the why of change in clear and simple terms. She says that people are so much less concerned about the what than the why of change, but that most effort in organisations is spent on the what. Shifting the balance is a key way to shift engagement with and openness to change. Her three key pieces of advice for the new playbook are: Use the power of beautiful questions – using beautiful questions helps you to understand what others’ concerns are and then to frame issues and change requirements in ways that will inspire them. Workload is a challenge, so you need to help people to PRIORITISE, making sure that people understand why we are doing - this is a way to help them focus their limited energy Communicate consistently with an emphasis on connection. Sudha reminds us that we actually remember very little of what others say and leaders need to take this into account. And repeat. Consistency and simplicity are key to getting the point across and making it stick. Leaders’ intent really matters, as does how they show up and what they say and do. These basic things influence others more than we realise. 🎧 Listen in to our conversation to discover more about how to influence and lead change: there are some great insights and I’m sure you will enjoy it. #motivation #influence #transformationalchange