What to remember as you manage change

Image credit: Depositphotos.com

It would probably be accurate to describe changes happening and coming to the automotive aftermarket as “seismic” given the advances in vehicle technology and increased number of hybrid and electric vehicles. So recent advice from leaders to handle seismic change may be helpful to leaders across the industry.

For Rupal Hollenbeck, president of Check Point Software Technologies, she said every leader has to listen, learn, adapt and be agile.

“Remember to put people at the front,” she added during this summer’s Collision Conference in Toronto. “When you put people at the front, and you really take a look at those human connections, you move back into this balance of what I call ‘people first, then processes, then technology.’ Technology has to enable the process that enables people to connect better, to be more productive, and to progress in life and at work.”

Leaders need to take a deliberate stance to bring that into focus, Hollenbeck said during the panel discussion, How to Lead in Times of Seismic Change.

“You listen and learn from your people first and foremost,” she said.

People nowadays are more mindful of the work they’re doing, said Rob Francis, chief technology officer at Booking.com. People want to connect to a purpose and a mission. You need to have people who care about what you’re doing on your team.

This feeling is something that could be connected to the COVID-19 pandemic. While such a black swan event could be simulated, there are ripple effects that can’t be, such as the impact on human connections, work habits, the family unit and more, Hollenbeck pointed out.

“All of these things, we couldn’t anticipate. Being on the other side of it, all of that needs to be injected into what happens next and how we prepare for the next,” she said.

Whether you think such an interruption could happen again or will happen again, businesses need to be prepared for it by thinking of all the things that could be impacted.