Do you see some success and then take the foot off the gas?
The Greek Philosopher, Heraclitus, says, ‘Change is the only constant’. ‘Change is the only constant’. We may not like it, but change is happening when we are sleeping! It doesn’t matter what we are doing about change, the world is changing around us! So for you and me as leaders within our organisations, business, churches, and families, we need to ask ourselves if we are prepared to change. The work is not easy and Kotter’s 7th principal for change, ‘sustaining acceleration’, is where many change efforts are derailed. #LeadershipDevelopment #Coaching #Training #WorkingGenius
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The Greek Philosopher, Heraclitus, says, ‘Change is the only constant’. ‘Change is the only constant’. We may not like it, but change is happening when we are sleeping! It doesn’t matter what we are doing about change, the world is changing around us! So for you and me as leaders within our organisations, business, churches, and families, we need to ask ourselves if we are prepared to change. The work is not easy and Kotter’s 7th principal for change, ‘sustaining acceleration’, is where many change efforts are derailed. Let me tell you a personal story.
As a young man, I had dreams of investing. And like many of us I started off in low paying jobs. So I would save my cash and I would hit some milestones, 10, 20,000. And then I would see that TV and think ‘oh, it’s not much’ and there would go a couple thousand. Next thing I knew, half of my deposit was gone. It wasn’t until I came to understand this principal of sustaining acceleration. Starting a goal or change process or resolution is not the hard part. It is keeping it going that is tough.
If we consider the good old New Years Resolution. The exact numbers are different in every research paper. But they all reflect the same understanding. Fewer than 10% of people will manage to meaningfully engage with their change effort. In fact, the vast majority of people have given up by the time we turn the calendar to February.
With every small win you and your team see and experience your leadership gains credibility and trust. It is easy in these moments to think ‘Ah, we are well on the way, I can stop pressing in, momentum is rolling, the hard work is done’. But this is the time when it is most important to continue your work towards that change. I am not talking about running yourself into the ground. I am not talking about ridiculous hours that lead to burnout. I am talking about continued focus. I am talking about running the race with your eyes fixed on your finish line.
To use another picture. This is like learning an instrument. I have seen it dozens of times! A child starts learning, they love it and they are practising every day. They start to see some great success, and it feels so good to show friends and family what they have learnt. Six to 12 months in, the shine has worn off and they start skipping practise. Oh, one day off won’t hurt. But one day becomes two, three and four. Next thing they know the practise ceases, they stop seeing success and the instrument starts to gather dust in the corner.
If you really want to embed change within your personal life, your organisation, your family or your team, you need to be relentlessly focussed and disciplined. Today, I encourage you to see that metaphorical’ guitar in the corner, that project you know needs more attention, that issue in your organisation you have swept under the rug, take it out and make the decision to remain relentlessly focussed today.
One of the things I have learnt from being certified in the Working Genius is that some of us are naturally inclined to be disciplined and some of us aren’t. Understanding yourself in this way will help you to answer these questions, ‘Am I naturally disciplined in change efforts?’ ‘Am I possibly the cause of the change efforts that haven’t worked in my team?’ ‘Who in my team should I call on to help us persevere in projects?’ I can help you come to better understand yourself and your team so that you will see greater success. Call me.