As we look to organizations, we do so with the understanding that in every organization there is a current “leadership lid.” Nothing brings forward the current leadership’s lid as much as change does.
Leadership is often made or broken by the trials of experiencing change. Leaders rarely acknowledge the toll that leading change takes on them personally. The personal impact can be enormous.
Executives find a way to adapt to new business situations such as establishing a start-up, growing a business, negotiating mergers and acquisitions, downsizing, or restructuring. Yet many are ill equipped to deal with the obvious personal dimension of executive leadership, especially when faced with change. Thankfully, there are preparations that one can take to ensure success.
Before we embrace change we must look objectively at ourselves by asking some tough questions:
- How do I limit the organization?
- Does my current view of my leadership team limit their progress?
- What blind spots of mine are hindering the organization’s performance?
- What personality characteristics of mine hurt the organization as it faces change?
Questions such as these are necessary to develop our own internal understanding of how well we will lead others through change.
It is about nurturing our ability to get beyond our own set of thinking, which is based on experience…and may not be steeped in reality.
Stop and ask yourself: How well am I leading through change and what is the impact it is having on me personally?
A common assumption is that a leader can go through a “change” and not be affected by it. This is simply not the case.
The rules of the game are uncertain and may have to be developed along the way. As the context and assumptions of the situation are changing, understanding and clarifying our habitual behaviors is critical.
Factors such as mission, initiatives, goals, and priorities will ensure that the basis of the change is appropriate and that it does indeed solve the “right problems.” Many organizational changes are initiated based on false assumptions and understanding – our blind spots. These surface due to a lack of personal awareness.
A leader’s primary role must therefore be to test and validate that the changes will lead to an improved state…for all parties, not just themselves.
The leader that aspires to lead change must often be the first to be transformed in order to lead the change in question. He or she must also assess how their mind-set will have to be transformed by the very change that they are expecting others to experience. At an emotional and visceral level, they must be able to understand how this change will impact themselves before they attempt to lead others through it.
Leaders must have a strong sense of self-awareness prior to leading any change initiative. Knowing one’s strengths and constraints can create a conviction of informed optimism that can infect, motivate, and mobilize others. In contrast, those who plunge head long without a deliberate personal change plan will often find themselves questioning their abilities and commitment in the midst of the change…as will those whom they lead.
Identify your blinds spots and change yourself first in order to help lead others through change. It’s your duty as a leader.
To your continued success!
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