Lead Where You Are - Getting Out in Front of Change
We wont spend time talking about the amount or pace of change, everyone knows change is constant and the pace is only accelerating. So rather than resisting change or trying to manage it, what’s the best strategy?
Constantly get out in front of it. Become an agent of change and lead it. Don’t wait for it to happen to you, make change happen for you. In this excerpt from our new ebook, Lead Where You Are, due to be released January 2020, we highlight a model for leading change.
See the Possibilities in Everything
All around us are possibilities for change. We often miss these opportunities because we are too busy trying to navigate the change happening to us, which ends up draining our energy and enthusiasm, while creating a negative impact on our results. Just sit and think for a moment of all the possibilities for change around you right now in both your personal and work life. These changes don’t need to be anything monumental, sometimes small changes can make the biggest differences. When we are leading change, we are not sitting around waiting for things to happen to us, we are always thinking and imagining how we can challenge current and past thinking, actions and behaviors.
NARRATIVE CASE STUDY
Remember the Blockbuster example before? They failed to adapt and see possibilities in their own industry. So why does a company named Family Video still have hundreds of locations with thousands of employees? As the sole-surviving video rental chain, how have they been able to keep their doors open? By seeing possibilities. For starters, they own their own real estate instead of renting, which has helped avoid poor lease negotiations. That is certainly a wise business decision, but that doesn’t explain why people still keep coming into the stores to rent videos. People keep coming in and keep renting videos because they have created a different atmosphere for the customer. The focus is on creating an experience for the customer when they walk in. People enjoy walking into the store. Family Video has also partnered with a pizza chain to open up locations right next door. You can call to order a pizza and a movie and have the delivery person deliver both right to your door. They also decided to purchase all their movies instead of participating in the standard revenue-sharing model, which allows them to keep all profits. In an industry where almost all of the competition has shut down, Family Video chose to see different possibilities.
THINK INCREMENTAL, NOT MONUMENTAL
As we said earlier, change does not have to be monumental. Incremental changes can be just as effective, and sometimes even more so. We have to remember that our focus should be on the things we can control, things like our attitude and behaviors, enhancing our relationships (more on this later), and looking for service and product enhancements for both our internal and external customers. There truly is possibility in nearly every aspect of our lives and businesses. The key is just to practice and cultivate your ability to recognize the change as an opportunity and not as a barrier or obstacle to our success.
“You’ve done it before and you can do it now. See the positive possibilities. Redirect the substantial energy of your frustration and turn it into positive, effective, unstoppable determination.”
– Ralph Marston