3 ways effective leaders navigate change
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Effective leaders are able to navigate change by finding delight in discomfort, continuously looking to improve even when experiencing success, and setting ambitious goals that require bold changes rather than maintaining the status quo. They avoid getting complacent when achieving targets and instead stay focused on gaining momentum. Leaders must be comfortable with change and view disruptive moments as defining opportunities to catapult themselves to the next level rather than grasping the past.
3 ways effective leaders navigate change
- 1. 1 3 Ways Effective Leaders Navigate Change By Zubin Poonawalla Success naturally makes you comfortable. You want to enjoy your success, so you tend to slow down... just a little, you let yourfocus slip... just a little, you play it safe... just a little. It might be hard to see this in yourself, but it's easy to see it in the world of sports. How many times have you seen teams lose their momentum & then lose the game because instead of playing to win, they began playing not to lose? They get ahead, but then they pull back & stop playing with the intensity that earned them the lead. In fact, twenty point lead swings are hardly uncommon in the NBA. The same temptation traps business leaders. As you exceed expectations & hit yourtargets, your team might feel like they are cruising for their best year ever. Then, all of a sudden, you shift your focus from gaining momentum to sustaining momentum. The moment leaders change focus, momentum vanishes. Most teams just can't seem to "run up the score" on their opponents. The challenge is that humans are all hardwired for comfort. In business, the stakes are high. Leaders who "grasp the past" are quickly left right there... in the past. Leaders who seize the moment to change are catapulted into a brighter future.
- 2. 2 Here are a three steps to convert distressing moments of change into defining moments of change. Find delight on your own discomfort. The way to keepyour momentum is to seek discomfort. This does not mean you are never satisfied with yourself or others. Rather, it will provide a healthy alertness of where you can improve. By delighting in this state of discomfort, you will be more relaxed & more likely to see creative ways to improve. In other words, it will help you stay on the offense & thrive versus playing defensively & merely surviving. By capturing this mental state of delighting in discomfort, you will easily be able to evacuate your comfort zones. If you do not change, you limit yourlife & yourleadership. Leaders who "delight in discomfort" say, "If you are always changing, it never feels like you are really changing." In other words, delighting in discomfort makes you comfortable with change. It defines the way you change. When you feel like you are cruising to victory, take a look around... but not only at your opponents. Look for anyone, any team, who is the very best at what they do. Compare yourself to them. What are they doing that makes them bigger, faster, better, smarter than you? Excellent leaders are never satisfied, nevercomplacent. It's easy to look at those U are beating & feel pretty good. Looking at those who U can learn fm, those who might have better "game" than U do keeps U humble & focusedon improving our own game.
- 3. 3 Lead beyond the status quo--always focus on the next level. Here is an acid test to determine if U are leading for the status quo versus the next level. If U can achieve Ur goals doing "business as usual,"then Ur goals are not big enough & U won't get to the next level. Ur goals should force changes, require tough decisions & inspire bold actions. The next time U are feeling comfortable, enjoy the moment... but just a moment. Then, seize that very next moment to change!