Of course, change is inevitable and, if there is such a thing, it is more inevitable today than ever before. But, while the pace of change is faster than it’s ever been, it’s the slowest it will ever be again.
You have two basic choices when it comes to change:
- You either wait for change to find you and then you react
- Or you get out in front of change and take control
I’m not even going to discuss the first one as I’m guessing you can simply look around and understand what that looks like and where it will lead. What I will say about it is that this is a fool’s choice. To paraphrase an old saying, “A fool and his success are soon parted.”
Take control
Looking at the second one, you control change only when you decide what the future looks like for you and commit to making it a reality. You need to be able to close your eyes and describe what success looks like as well as describe all of the critical elements that need to be in place in order to drive that success.
To make changes to your business, you must be able to describe your:
- Growth rate
- Profitability
- Value Proposition
- Marketing/sales process
- Skills/behaviors on the team
- Resources to which you need access
Of course, this list could go on. The key is that you and your entire team must understand how you need to evolve and grow in order to stay out in front.
(If you’re interested in getting serious about defining your future, let us know and we’ll be happy to share an exercise that will help you do just that.)
The Vision is just the beginning
If only it were as easy as simply defining your future; but of course, it isn’t. In addition to the Vision, you must:
- Take the time to explain to the team WHY it is necessary to make the Vision a reality.
- Establish and share a formal plan of how you will move from where you are today to the organization you must be tomorrow.
- Make sure each team member understands not just how they will be impacted, but also how they will be expected to contribute to the execution of the plan.
- Communicate all of the above, and your progress to each, on a regular basis.
Team buy-in
Way too often when a change initiative is introduced to the team, the team simply grins, rolls their eyes, and says under their breath, “This too shall pass.” As you would expect, nothing ever really changes.
However, when you take the time to make sure the team understands where you are going, why you are going there, how you will get there, and how they will be impacted and expected to contribute, they will stop fighting against your change initiatives and start fighting with you to put them in place. They will do so because they now understand where the change initiative fits into the bigger picture.
As with most things guys, this ain’t (as a friend explained recently) “science rockets.”
