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Motivational Speakers as Change Communicators
The Keynote Motivational Speaker as a Trusted Source
The ability to impact an audience in such a manner as to produce both short and long term beneficial results rests in the keynote motivational speaker’s capacity to become a trusted source for his listeners. Knowledge is power, the power to effect productive change. Today there is a great deal of emphasis on change management.
The identification of ways of thinking, attitudes, processes, procedures and systems that are both susceptible to positive change and likely to produce the greatest benefits over the costs incurred, is the foundation of change management initiatives. However, identification and introduction of change management initiatives, does not necessarily result in achieving the desired change and its expected benefits. In fact, most change management initiatives fail to produce anything near the expected return on investment (ROI).
Why is this so? It is primarily because the initiatives are never properly communicated to those who are, on a daily basis, the implementers of the change initiative. This occurs for several reasons. First, the focus is typically on the identification and initial implementation of the change management initiative and communication to the user community is frequently almost an after-thought. Secondly, the organization typically does not utilize or, in many cases, does not possess, the “authoritative voice” necessary to rally the needed support to make the change permanent. Thus, before long, the “change” has metamorphosed back to looking strangely like the pre-change status. Quite literally, the “change,” though declared and blessed as the new and approved state, was never accepted by those who must live with it and they consciously or unconsciously, disregarded it.
Managers, typically and mistakenly, believe that acquiescence and lip service is acceptance, when in reality, acquiescence is usually a sign of passive resistance. The employees know that active, strident resistance will be met with disfavor from the management, however, passive resistance in the form of ignoring the change will most often cause the management to move on to new priorities, all the time believing that the change has been accepted and instituted, when in reality, it has not, nor will it be. Why does this happen? It is because there was never buy-in by those most affected by the change. No one ever “sold” them on the value of the change. There was no authoritative voice to convince them intellectually and emotionally to embrace the change.
By authoritative voice, we are not referring to “authority,” as in placing a demand, order or edict upon people, but rather an unbiased, trusted voice of experience, counseling a wise course of action. Unfortunately today, many times the voice of management is simply not trusted. In other instances, the necessary trust may be present, but the leadership is unaware of the need to speak convincingly about the change or is afraid to do so, fearing being seen as self serving or worse. Enter the unbiased third party, the motivational speaker.
A keynote motivation speaker with a strong business and organizational background understands the value of well conceived and designed change management initiatives as well as the need to have the employees fully understand, accept and validate the change initiative. Presenting the change(s) in a positive, benefit oriented context, the motivational keynote speaker can rally the employees around the change(s) in order to make their adoption both smooth and permanent. Motivational speakers that have a strong business background, including executive level experience, speak with the authoritative voice that is essential. Employees will typically listen, believe and accept what the motivational speaker says above and in broader context than they will their own organization’s leadership, even their own CEO or Chairman.
This is natural, as motivational keynote speakers are viewed as being an independent, unbiased, third party expert who has no ax to grind, no hidden agenda. To put it plainly, they are believable. It is this credibility which makes the veteran motivational speaker the perfect authoritative voice to carry the change management message to the organization’s employees.
