Erika Andersen, author of Change from the Inside Out: Making You, Your Team, and Your Organization Change-Capable
Bill Ringle and Erika Andersen discuss what it really takes to change at the personal, team, and organizational levels for small business leaders.
>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.
Interview Insights
Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview
- Head to a conversation assuming that people’s words and actions are done because they believe what they are doing is right. Listening with curiosity and an open mind not only makes for a effective and healthy interaction but also makes us more understanding of the other person.
- Change should be meaningful for both the leaders and the people in the organization. So when considering to make changes, leaders should also think why this change will be beneficial and compelling to their people.
- Before executing change, leaders should find out which internal group will be the most affected by this change, how it will affect them, what kinds of problem will arise once it is implemented, and what they need to let go and start. Considering these factors help form solutions that help these group transition through this process from having a difficult time, to feeling rewarded, and finally seeing the changes as something normal.
Read the Show Notes from this Episode
- “Assume positive intent.” This quote guides Erika in her life and in her work. [01:24]
- The importance of going into a conversation having in mind that the people are doing what they do because of positive intent. [01:59]
- Erika talks about her friend and business partner Jeff, and how assuming he has positive intent despite doing something he knows she does not like, made her listen with an open mind which allowed her to know the reason behind his action. [02:53]
- Why change is hard for most people. [04:36]
- The concept of homeostasis and why it could be in our nature to resist change. [05:01]
- The first stage of change is called the proposed change. It is when change comes to us. [06:23]
- In the second stage of change, we ask why this change is happening. [06:41]
- When change comes to us, we want to know what happens after it. [07:34]
- In her concept of change, Erika defines normal as something that our peers, leaders, or people we admire do or are doing openly. [09:10]
- Erika shares when and why she got into podcasting. [09:53]
- The true story of 1850s physician Ignaz Semmelweis and his proposal to wash hands and disinfect pre-surgery makes for a great example that change can be so easy and simple yet very hard to do. [11:30]
- Leaders influence change. Erika shares how their county leader was able to use this privilege to help people resisting vaccination understand that it is not only easy but also rewarding and normal to get vaccinated. [14:42]
- Clarify the change you want to do or implement and why it is needed. [16:38]
- After getting clear about changing, weigh in the rewards and risks of doing so. [17:37]
- When leaders are contemplating change, they must not only think of what value this change can give them but also consider why it would be meaningful to their employees. [18:12]
- An advice on what managers should do if they are having trouble creating an elevator pitch for change. [19:02]
- Erika answers what makes a good employee stay? [19:58]
- David the president of Spectrum Reach Media Sales, is undergoing a big change in how they do business from rating-based, which has been the way of media companies for 50 years, to impression-based. David and his senior management team answered important what, why, and hows before deciding to move in this direction. [22:06]
- My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [28:55]
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Expert Bio
Erika is the founding partner of Proteus, a coaching, consulting, and training firm that focuses on leader readiness. She and her colleagues at Proteus support leaders at all levels to get ready and stay ready to meet whatever the future might bring.
Erika advises leading executives in companies like NBCUniversal, Tory Burch, GE, Madison Square Garden, HULU and Viacom, focusing with them on organizational visioning and strategy, team development, and their own management and leadership evolution.
She also shares her insights about leading people, staying ready for the future, and creating successful businesses through her books and speaking engagements, and via social media. Erika is one of the most popular leadership bloggers at Forbes.com, and is the author of Leading So People Will Follow, Being Strategic, and Growing Great Employees, and the author and host of the Proteus Leader Show, a regular podcast that offers quick, practical support for leaders and managers.
Contact Info and Social Media for Erika Anderson
Resources Mentioned During the Interview
Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.
- My Quest for the Best interview: 133: Make Learning Sweet – Featured Interview with guest expert Erika Andersen
- Proteus International – consulting firm helping leaders envision a better future and build stronger skills.
- Proteus Leadership Show – Erika Andersen interviews business leaders.
- Be Bad First: Get Good at Things Fast to Stay Ready for the Future by Erika Andersen
- Ignaz Semmelweis – discovered that the incidence of puerperal fever (also known as “childbed fever”) could be drastically cut by the use of hand disinfection in obstetrical clinics. Puerperal fever was common in mid-19th-century hospitals and often fatal.
- Pat Ryan – founder and retired chairman and CEO of Aon Corporation.
- Spectrum Reach Media Sales – discussed in the case study of organizational change.
- Proteus International – consulting firm helping leaders envision a better future and build stronger skills.
- Proteus Leadership Show – Erika Andersen interviews business leaders.
- Be Bad First: Get Good at Things Fast to Stay Ready for the Future by Erika Andersen
- Ignaz Semmelweis – discovered that the incidence of puerperal fever (also known as “childbed fever”) could be drastically cut by the use of hand disinfection in obstetrical clinics. Puerperal fever was common in mid-19th-century hospitals and often fatal.
- Pat Ryan – founder and retired chairman and CEO of Aon Corporation.
- Spectrum Reach Media Sales – discussed in the case study of organizational change.
Books Authored by Erika Anderson
