Main Idea
You have changes in your mind that need to happen. You have the know-how to implement them. You have the determination and guts to face the problems. However, no one else in your organization thinks that they need to change. What do you do? Where do you start? Have you tried to implement changes and after a couple of years, you are back to where you started?
Expansion of Idea
As Peter Drucker said “To thrive in the new millennium, managers must do more than adapt to change: they have to lead it.” The job of a leader is to facilitate change before it is too late. The question is how to do it. The first thing you must do is to establish a sense of urgency. Sometimes that is easy, such as our nation’s financial crisis. It is more difficult when your organization is having a good year. Complacency is a real tough enemy of change. Sometimes you have to find problems inside your organization. Some leaders have had to manufacture the problems so that the importance is felt by all. When life is running smoothly, what incentive do you have to change?
A perfect example of this most everyone can relate to is weight loss. What motivates you to lose 20 pounds? What if your doctor told you that you would eventually die if you didn’t lose those 20 pounds? What if the time period was shortened from eventually to 6 months from now? That need would create inspiration to exercise and make more nutritious food choices.
Without the urgency to make a change, your business may drop a little in revenue. It may not even be a noticeable difference at first, but you are no longer growing and improving. The following year it slides a little more. Then the downward spiral hits and you can’t stop it. You need to figure out what needs to change, set a timetable, communicate the changes and timetable and then implement the changes, before it is too late. And when the changes work, you need to celebrate all wins, no matter how big or small (20 pounds, or just 2). Your team needs to know that they are on the right track.
Action Items
Evaluate the necessary changes and determine if a crisis is present.
If a crisis is not present, then determine if one should be manufactured.
Communicate the changes and the urgency for making changes.
Celebrate the wins.