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4 Ways to Manage Change With the McKinsey Influence Model
How can leaders and founders get their teams on board with a big pivot? How do we think about influencing others and creating change in a group? Why do some changes stick, while others fall apart almost immediately?
As a consultant at McKinsey & Company, one of the earliest frameworks we learned was called the influence model. It’s a great way to think through how to actually create sustainable change in an organization.
See this recent McKinsey article on the influence model and this decade-old article that started it all.
The Influence Model
The McKinsey influence model is built on four tried-and-true pillars of sustainable change:
- Role modeling
- Understanding and conviction
- Talent and skills
- Formal mechanisms
All this is centered on one theme: what can I do, as a leader, to actually cascade down a change that I’m trying to make in the organization? This is relevant for any leader, but for startup founders, trying to architect the culture and mission of their new team, it’s especially important.
