Leaders of organisational change and reform need to be 'Pitchmen'
In 2000, writer and essayist, Malcolm Gladwell told the story of a dynasty of Pitchmen. These are the people who identified our needs in the kitchen and sold us the Veg-O-Matic, the Dial-O-Matic, the Chop-O-Matic and the bench top Rotisserie & BBQ. The success of the Pitchmen in enticing people to purchase items they weren’t aware they needed can be distilled to five key skills.
First, they could entertain. They captivated people with their story. They drew them in by appealing to their curiosity.
Second, they made sense of the gadget they were selling from the customer’s perspective. They demonstrated exactly where and how the gadget could be used to improve the customer’s life.
Third, the gadget was always the centre of attention. The Pitchman told the story and demonstrated by the customer’s attention was always on the gadget.
Fourth, they recognised ‘the turn’ or the moment when the story became a sale, or the moment when marketing shifted to business. This is the moment when intellectual curiosity becomes changed behaviour.
Finally, they could tell the same story with many different variations. The customer did not hear about the gadget once and were then left alone to decide about whether to purchase. The Pitchman never let up, they never lost the customers attention.
The leaders of organisational change and reform must be Pitchmen. They must be constantly persuading the workforce to engage intellectually with the idea of change; but most importantly, they are seeking a voluntary commitment to a change in behaviour. This cannot be compelled; this must be won through strength of argument and persistent communication.
A random reflection on re-reading Gladwell's essay in 2016...
Thanks for taking the time to read this post.
[The views expressed here are the author’s and are not necessarily representative of those employing him, his family, or even those loosely acquainted with him.]
