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Getting Unstuck: Four Principles to Change Your Leadership – Part Four: Be Prepared

Be Prepared – Boy Scout Motto

Growing up I was a Boy Scout. Troop 300. In fact, I believe my mother held on to my uniform long after I was grown and gone from home. Those formative years being in Scouts was a great time to learn many adventurous things. 

The character lessons learned in Scouts –  things like being faithful, respectful, frugal, and kind are timeless. 

My friend and author John Patrick Hickey wrote a remarkable book entitled, Scouting Out of Uniform: How the Boy Scout Oath & Law can lead You to a Successful Life. It’s a great book, even if you are not a Scout or ever have been. 

In it, he writes, “ Positive people see the world and life around them for exactly what it is. They know troubles and difficulties are all around us. They face the same challenges of work, home, and life like anyone else does. Here’s the difference, positive people do not allow the difficulties of life to get them down and refuse to accept defeat.”

Click here to order Scouting Out of Uniform


When it comes to being stuck in your leadership as I have written about in this series – those times when we feel like we are in a fog, when we feel like we are in a rut, when we feel like we’ve lost momentum, and when we feel like we are not making any progress – we have a choice to make.

Before unpacking principle # 4, let’s review the principles thus far:

  • Principle # 1 – Be Present. Here we learned that when you are stuck is not a time to panic. It’s normal. Chances are, you’ve been stuck before and will be again at some point. 
  • Principle # 2 – Be Patient. Being stuck will not last forever but what you learn during these times will be invaluable to your leadership going forward.
  • Principle # 3 – Be Practical. You will hit your stride again so you need to be realistic about where you are and what you can do in this season. 

No one likes to be stuck. I get it. When stuck, you feel like you are being left behind, but it can be a great time of learning and growth if you manage it properly once the fog begins to lift and you re-emerge from the ruts you were in. And this is where the next principle applies.

Be Prepared – You have new opportunities before you

When you begin to emerge from being stuck, hopefully, you have come away with some fresh insights and things that you learned during that time. The point being, every experience that you go through – good or otherwise, is preparing you for something greater on the other side.

The lessons you learn when stuck will make you a better leader, but now you can use that knowledge to benefit others in their time of struggle.

The key to successfully emerging to the other side of being stuck is to be prepared for what’s next. The mistake many leaders make when stuck is in spending all their energy trying to get unstuck rather than just being in the moment and learning from it. In doing so, you might discover a few things about why you were stuck, to begin with like:

  • Your priorities were out of sync
  • You tried to do it all yourself
  • You were trying too hard to be a people pleaser rather than a leader
  • You forgot that you need to take care of yourself – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually
Emerging a better leader is not always a guarantee. Being prepared and utilizing your time wisely when you are stuck is essential. Click To Tweet

Final Thoughts

Being stuck is just a season you are in now. Discover the principles of being present, being patient, being practical, and being prepared. You’ve got this!

 

©2021 Doug Dickerson

Click here to pre-order my new book: Employee Engagement- Creating Space for Engaged Employees and a Healthy Culture

The new book releases on AUgust 30th!

Getting Unstuck: Four Principles to Change Your Leadership – Part 3: Be Practical

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Don’t try to solve serious matters in the middle of the night. – Philip K. Dick

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never really been a New Year’s Resolution type person. I seldom ever make them. And no, it’s not because I don’t think that resolution or goals are not important, but because it seems that it’s the only time of the year when we ever talk about them. Why?

I will, however, tip my hat to some of the funnier resolutions I came across for your reading entertainment. Consider these:

>  To become as fat as I was the very first time that I ever thought I was fat.

> To make as many people believe I’m normal before blindsiding them with my actual personality

> I’ve decided to leave my past behind me, so if I owe you money…I’m sorry..but I’ve moved on.

> My pants are starting to fit a little tight so I think it’s time I got serious about my New Year’s resolution to buy bigger pants.

Our resolutions, notwithstanding our most sincere intents, may not always be practical. But we forge ahead with them year after year in hopes something might stick.

But what do you do when you feel stuck? In this series on being stuck, we’ve taken a look at what to do when you are stuck. And here’s what we have established so far – as a leader there will be times when you are stuck. Perhaps you’ve reached a plateau, your creativity is not as sharp as it had been. You feel like you are in a slump. You feel like you are in a fog trying to find your way out. 

So far we have talked about being present in the moment – not rushing the process when everything inside of us is screaming to get out of the rut as quickly as we can. We’ve been reminded that sometimes it’s OK to just be present in the moment and reflect and learn in this season the lessons we need to learn. We also talked about being patient. As much as we don’t like being stuck we have to remember that it won’t last forever.

There is a path forward and you will find it. So what’s next in the process? Let’s take a look at the next principle to change our leadership when we are stuck.

Be practical – You will hit your stride again so don’t rush it

If today you find yourself in a place where you feel stuck, let me once again tell you- be patient. This will not last forever. That being said, you also need to be practical with where you are in the moment and as you begin to find your path forward. Cut yourself some slack. Your momentum will come back and the fog will lift. But it may be a gradual emergence.

What your leadership and perspective look like on the other side of being stuck will likely look different from when you began – and rightfully so. Ruts and being stuck have a way of changing us. 

In your season of being stuck, you need to learn to be practical. You need to understand your new limitations and expectations and operate within them. The lessons you learn while being stuck can help you be stronger on the other side. Embrace where you are and what you can do while stuck. Practicality is in order here.


Final Thoughts

No one likes being stuck. But it doesn’t have to be wasted time or something that’s chalked up as a bad experience. Be present. Be patient. Be practical. You will be a better leader for it.

 

©2021 Doug Dickerson 

 

My new book releases on August 30th and is now available for pre-order. Click here to order my new book.

Getting Unstuck: Four Principles to Change Your Leadership: Part Two- Be Patient

Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears – Barbara Johnson

A story is told of two frogs that fell into a tub of cream. One looked at the high sides of the tub which were too difficult to crawl over and said, “It is hopeless.” So he resigned himself to death, relaxed, and sank to the bottom. The other one was determined to keep swimming as long as he could. “Something might happen,” he said. He kept kicking and churning, and finally, he found himself on a solid platform of butter and jumped to safety.

Like the two frogs, there are times as leaders when we find ourselves stuck and looking for a way out without sinking.

In part one of this series Getting Unstuck, I wrote about the need to be present in those times of being stuck. It goes against the grain in terms of what we want to do because we want to get unstuck as quickly as possible to move on to the next thing. But sometimes we need to embrace the moment and use it wisely to see why we are stuck and what we can learn from it going forward.

Right now in your leadership, you may feel you are stuck. In this fog, you feel like you’ve lost your edge and creative juices. You may not be able to put your finger on it, but you know something doesn’t feel right. If you’ve been there you know what I’m talking about. So let’s explore the second principle for getting unstuck and see what we can learn and apply that will help.

Be Patient – This won’t last forever

If by chance you are wired like I am, patience is not one of your finer qualities. I wish it were not true, but it is. I hate sitting in traffic, I hate waiting in line- especially for ice cream.  I hate meetings that crawl along and are going nowhere – all the while sitting there thinking of all the things I could be doing.  I’m not alone, am I?

That all being said, there’s one thing I’ve learned after several decades in leadership: being stuck is not permanent. Be patient. This won’t last forever. 

When we are stuck, we tend to magnify the situation and feel like we will never find our way out of our funk. It’s why being present in the moment that I wrote about in part one is so important. We want to get unstuck as quickly as we can and get moving. But being present in our stuck moments can be a valuable time of growth and that takes patience.

When we are present in the moment and exercise patience, we eventually begin to see not only what’s at work around us, but more importantly, what’s going on within us. First and foremost, leadership is an inside job. And when we are stuck, we must take the time for self-reflection. Click To Tweet

What’s got you stuck today? Is it a lack of clarity that you need or an attitude that’s gone awry? Have you cut yourself off from people you need to listen to and those who can hold you accountable? It can be any number of factors, but know this- it’s in your patience and being in the moment that will eventually move you forward.

Final Thoughts

Being stuck is no fun. What’s worse is squandering the moment and not learning from it. Allow yourself to be present at the moment and be patient. You will come through this if you keep your heart and attitude right.

 

©2021 Doug Dickerson

Getting Unstuck: Four Principles To Change Your Leadership Part One: Be Present

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If you’re going through something, just know that you’re gonna come out on the other side. You’re going through it-you’re not stuck there forever. – Tina Knowles

In the early days of the Alaska Highway, I read somewhere that tractor-trailer trucks would make deep ruts in the gravel as they carried construction equipment to boomtowns up north.

Someone posted this sign at the beginning of the road: “Choose Your Rut Carefully, You’ll Be In It For The Next 200 Miles.”  Talk about your ominous warning!

It’s not an uncommon experience at times as a leader to find yourself in a place where you feel stuck. Being in that season as a leader can be awkward. You know that you’re there but you’re not quite sure why and what’s worse, you’re not quite sure what to do about it.

R. Narayana Murthy said, “Growth is painful. Change is painful. But, nothing is as painful as staying stuck where you do not belong.” And this is an important part of understanding why you are stuck and how to turn it around.

So what does being stuck look like? For each leader it’s different. Perhaps you’ve reached a plateau and you feel you have gone as far as you can in your current position. For another, it might have the characteristics of discouragement or frustrations. Perhaps you feel overwhelmed with no relief in sight with no direction on how to move forward. Does any of this sound familiar?

Being stuck at times as a leader is nothing new.  How you get unstuck will make all the difference. In this first installment of this series, let’s consider this first principle.

Be present in the moment

Being stuck at times in leadership is normal. And chances are, you’ve been stuck before. One of the worst things you can do is panic. It only makes matters worse. In times when you feel like you are stuck, why not embrace the moment, appreciate the new pace you now find yourself in, and use the time to reflect on where you are and what brought you to this point.

Years ago, I was snorkeling in the Bahamas. I had been out in the water much longer than I realized and my body was tired. I got caught in the wake of a passing boat and I was just too tired to continue. I began to panic. In doing so, I would go underwater, come up for air, and sink back down again, until a friend spotted me and realized what was happening. He wrapped his arms around me and told me not to panic and safely brought me to a place where I could stand on my own.

And this is why being stuck for so many leaders is dangerous. Not because you’re stuck but because you panic and you feel the need to do something about it. 

Here’s a thought for you – maybe you are right where you are meant to be. Maybe you feel stuck because God is trying to get your attention and speak to you and this is the only way it’s going to happen. Instead of trying to get out of it, why not see what you can learn from it. 

Margaret Storm Jameson, the English author, once wrote how when our minds turn toward the future, we spend an inordinate amount of time longing for it or dreading it. “The only way to live,” she said, “is to accept each minute as an unrepeatable miracle.” 

Right now you may feel stuck. You may feel frustrated and tempted to panic and possibly make matters worse. Why not embrace the unrepeatable miracle you have by being present in the moment? 

Final Thoughts

Jim Elliot said, “Wherever you are, be all there.” And this is the challenge and the first step to getting unstuck in your leadership – be all there. You may be in a season where you feel stuck but before you move past it, be present long enough to learn from it.

 

©2021 Doug Dickerson

 

Be sure to listen to Doug on The Cardinal Point Leadership Podcast

Hitting Your Target Takes Practice

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Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genius hits a target no one else can see. – Arthur Schopenhauer

Imagine what the game of bowling would be like if you couldn’t see the pins you were trying to hit. In 1933, Bill Knox did just that- and bowled a perfect game. 

In Philadelphia’s Olney Alley’s, Bill had a screen placed just above the foul line to obscure his view of the lane. His purpose was to demonstrate the technique of spot bowling, which involves throwing the ball at a selected floor mark on the near end of the lane. Like many bowlers, Bill knew that you can do better if you aim at a mark close to you that’s in line with the pins. He proved his point with a perfect 300 game of 12 strikes in a row.

It’s quite impressive what Bill Knox did all those years ago to prove a point about spot bowling. And it points us today to understand important personal growth and leadership principles that we need to be reminded of once in a while.

Henry David Thoreau said, “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals,” and this is one of the secrets to success. We tend to focus more on achieving our goals than we do on who we are becoming as a result of it. 


Speaking of targets – what personal or professional goals are you currently working toward? One thing I’ve learned over the years is this – hitting your targets takes practice. Here are a few rules of thumb – simple reminders if you will, for hitting your targets and growing as a leader. 

Know what you’re aiming for

Your goals and targets need to be clear. If not, how else will you know if or when you’ve reached them? This is especially true for you as a leader within your organization. If your goals and mission are not clear to you, then how can you expect your people to follow you? Your goals and objectives have to be clear otherwise you’ll never hit your target.

If you want to get better, you have to practice

Your goals for personal growth and leadership will never be achieved simply because you want to achieve them. They will only be achieved when you take action! Your goals without action will only lead to disappointment and unfulfilled potential. A simple rule for success is that you must have skin in the game. If not, you are just daydreaming.

Small bites are better than big ones

A natural tendency is to take big bites when tackling a big dream. I get it. What I’ve found over the years is that when I tackle that big goal or project it becomes more readily attainable when I break it down into smaller bites. As you do this, you will also be developing your skills along the way and you will consistently improve as you move forward. 

Don’t shy away from big targets

Many times over the years I’ve seen people settle for smaller dreams than what was in their heart simply because they were afraid. I understand. But another thing I’ve learned along the way is this: bigger targets are easier to hit than smaller ones.

Writing in The Circle Maker, Mark Batterson says, “God isn’t offended by your biggest dreams or boldest prayers. He is offended by anything less. If your prayers aren’t impossible to you, they are insulting to God.” Can I encourage you today to be bold with your dreams, your goals, and your targets? I’d like to challenge you to aim for something bigger than yourself. Click To Tweet

Final Thoughts

We all have goals and dreams that inspire us. Make sure you know what you’re aiming for, put in the practice, tackle it one small bite at a time, and dream big!

 

©2021 Doug Dickerson

How Curiosity Advances Your Leadership

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We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. – Walt Disney

I read once about a sign in an English company that read: We’ve been established for over one hundred years and have been pleasing or displeasing our customers ever since. We have made money and lost money, suffered the effects of coal nationalization, coal rationing, government control, and bad payers. We have been cussed and discussed, messed about, lied to, held up, robbed, and swindled. The only reason we stay in business is to see what happens next.

There are many definitive traits of successful leaders worth emulating such as trust, empathy, intuition, listening, etc., but one of the ones that I would put high on the list is curiosity.

Curiosity is one of the most important leadership traits you can develop simply because the possibilities of possessing it are endless. Click To TweetI’ve heard it said that curiosity is the spark behind the spark of every great idea. The future belongs to the curious. And this is why curiosity is a game-changer in leadership.

Imagine if you will how curiosity could benefit your leadership and the life of your organization if you ignited that curious spark? Imagine how things would look if everyone else in your organization did the same? Let’s take a look at how curiosity could advance your leadership.

Curiosity breaks the mold of status quo thinking 

Status quo thinking is a mental rut that can be hard to break free from. It can be a crowded place and getting out of it can be challenging. When you develop a curious mindset, it will free you from the confines of the status quo. It will open up new approaches and solutions and can be just the spark you need to move forward.

Curiosity takes you from a ‘can we’ attitude to a ‘what if’ footing

Status quo thinking is safe and predictable and sticks with the known. Curiosity advances your leadership by taking you out of that mindset by unlocking the power of uninhibited thinking. It takes questioning from a ‘can we’ posture to the possibilities of ‘what if’. When you embrace a ‘what if’ mindset you now release a new level of momentum that doesn’t wait for permission.

Credit: Google Images

Curiosity is the creative engine that drives your leadership

Curiosity will advance your leadership in ways that nothing else will. When you or the people within your organization remain curious and dare to ask those ‘what if’ questions there is no limit to where you can go.  Curiosity is a passion that will take you places where others only wish they could go. It will cause you to ask more questions than most and not stop until you have answers.

Les Brown once said, “Curiosity about life in all of its aspects. I think, is still the secret of great creative people.” And he’s right. Curiosity will advance your leadership unlike anything else. 

Final Thoughts:

In a lot of ways, curiosity and passion might be seen as interchangeable. I believe as Elizabeth Gilbert said, that “if you let go of passion and follow your curiosity, your curiosity might just lead you to your passion.” And this is why it’s so important. Never lose your sense of curiosity. It’s the secret ingredient to your leadership.

 

©2021 Doug Dickerson

What the Wright’s Teach Us About Leadership

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You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet – Theodore Hesburgh

In A Savior for all Seasons, William Barker shares a story of a bishop from the East Coast who paid a visit to a small, midwestern religious college around the beginning of the twentieth century. He stayed at the home of the college president, who also served as the college’s professor of physics and chemistry.

After dinner, the bishop mentioned that he thought just about everything in nature had been discovered and that all inventions had been conceived.

The college president politely disagreed and said he felt there would be many more discoveries. When the bishop challenged the president to name just one such invention, the president replied he was certain that within fifty years, men would fly.

“Nonsense!” replied the bishop. “Only angels are intended to fly.” 

The bishop’s name was Milton. Milton Wright. And he had two boys at home- Orville and Wilbur- who would prove to have greater vision than their father. 

Emerson said, “People only see what they are prepared to see.” And this will always be one of your challenges in leadership. The progress you make as a leader is connected to your ability to overcome negative influences and voices around you and from within. Here are a few lessons from the Wright’s that can guide you on your leadership journey.

You will never move beyond the limitations you create in your mind

As long as Milton Wright had the mindset that all inventions and creations had been made, his potential was limited to that. He was not prepared to see beyond it. And as such, his ability to see into the future was restricted.

Be careful in your leadership not to make steel traps in your mindset that will prevent you from seeing all of the unlimited possibilities before you. As Thomas Edison said, “Hell there are no rules here, we are trying to accomplish something.” Don’t allow a negative mindset to get in the way of progress.

If you want to fly, you will have to leave some people behind

The restrictive thinking of Milton Wright didn’t prevent his sons from doing what he only thought angels should do. They made history despite him. And this is the mindset of all successful leaders. It’s a law of leadership that you must learn. Not everyone will or should take the journey with you. It Click To Tweet

Andy Stanley said, “Vision is a mental picture of what could be, fueled by a passion that it should be.” And this is the driving force behind leaders of accomplishment. Success will come to you on your terms when you spread your wings, apply yourself, and possess a willingness to leave some people behind who don’t share your dreams and vision for a brighter future. 

The future belongs to those who dare to dream

Things always seem impossible until someone does it. I would like to think that Milton Wright looked back on what he said on that trip and had a change of heart after what his sons accomplished. 

Orville Wright said, “If birds can glide for long periods of time, then…why can’t I?”. And that is precisely the mindset that caused him and his brother to make aviation history. And history is full of similar stories of individuals who dared to ask the questions, who dared to take the risks, and who dared to dream of a better tomorrow and found a way to make it happen.

Final Thoughts

If there’s ever been a time for strong leaders who have a dream and vision to rise it’s now. Be willing to dream and see what others don’t. Be willing to leave the skeptics behind you, and dare to dream and act for a better tomorrow. 

Are you ready to fly?

 

©2021 Doug Dickerson

 

Four Ways Pride Hurts Your Leadership

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It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels. – St. Augustine

Ronald Reagan once told the story about a speech he delivered to a very large crowd in Mexico City. After he was finished he sat down to scattered and unenthusiastic applause. Reagan said he felt embarrassed, and even more so when the next man who spoke, a representative of the Mexican government who was speaking in Spanish, was being interrupted virtually every other line with enthusiastic applause.

Reagan said to hide his embarrassment, he started clapping before anyone else and longer than anyone else until the US Ambassador leaned over and said to him, “ I wouldn’t do that if I were you; he’s interpreting your speech.” 

That embarrassing moment for Reagan is a lesson that we can all learn from as leaders. 

John Maxwell said, “There are two kinds of pride both good and bad. ‘Good pride’ represents our dignity and self-respect. ‘Bad pride’ is the deadly sin of superiority that reeks of conceit and arrogance.” And this is the trap as leaders we must avoid.

If not careful, we can fall into the trap of writing our own headlines, believing our own headlines, and finding ourselves detached from reality in our leadership. So how do we keep that from happening? What are the traps that we need to avoid? Let’s begin with these four.

The trap of an unbridled ego

Pride hurts your leadership when you have an unbridled ego. An unbridled ego will cause a host of issues for you personally and for those around you. It will make working with you or for you unbearable. So long as you think everything revolves around you, because of you, and for you, then the capacity of everyone around is held hostage to your ego. 

A leadership 101 principle states, very simply, “it’s not about you”. For the sake of your own personal growth and development, and for the benefit of those around you, check your ego at the door.

The trap of false humility

As the pendulum swings back in the opposite direction away from pride, it often lands with false humility. There are times, as Maxwell’s quote points out when ‘good pride’ is in order. But when you are purposefully fishing for a compliment to draw attention to yourself, or by downplaying things, it can have the opposite effect. 

As a leader, you can be proud of your accomplishment without being full of pride or conceit. You can graciously accept the praise from another person without clothing yourself with false humility. Simply be gracious and give credit where it’s due.

The trap of complacency

Complacency is one of the most dangerous traps to be on guard against as a leader. String along a series of wins and accomplishments, and before long you can begin to take for granted that success and winds will always come this easy. 

Each season of leadership that you find yourself in will require more from you than the previous one. Click To Tweet If you want to grow as a leader and reach your fullest potential you will have to fight the urge to settle, the lure of contentment, and the temptation to believe that the sacrifices of today are enough for the accomplishments of tomorrow.

The trap of going-it-alone

One of the dangers of pride in leadership is the belief that you can go it alone. We’ve been created and designed for community and relationships and when surrounded with like-minded people we can accomplish more than we ever could by ourselves. Pride says, “I don’t need anyone”, and is one of the most debilitating qualities in leadership. 

Final Thoughts

Working on our pride as leaders begins by acknowledging it and allowing ourselves to be held accountable for it. Don’t allow pride to put a lid on your leadership. 

 

©2021 Doug Dickerson

How Change Impacts Your Leadership (Part Two)

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They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself. – Andy Warhol

Change is a necessary and constant companion in life. Often we don’t like it, we are slow to embrace it, and sometimes we despise it. But change is a consistent disruptor in life. Like it or not, change happens.

In leadership, how well you adapt to change can be a game-changer. Consider the story of the toy company Lego. Founded in 1932 by a Danish carpenter, Lego began small with wooden toys and simple plastic building sticks. 

Credit: Google Images

For generations of kids growing up, like myself, building with Legos was a favorite pastime. No one would have ever thought that the popular toy would go away. But it almost did. In 2003, Lego almost went bankrupt as a result of over innovating.

To stay competitive it streamlined its business model by changing the way it managed innovation. By taking the time to see where and why it went wrong, Lego adapted to change and it remains a popular toy today.

Critical to any leader is knowing when change needs to happen and is willing to implement it. But why the resistance? Why do so many leaders self-destruct because of an unwillingness to embrace it? 

In part one of this series, I identified the first three obstacles on how change impacts your leadership: comfort zones, habits, and attitude. All of these in some way or another affect the way we respond to change. 

It’s time to take a look at the final three obstacles to change that impact your leadership.

Negative perceptions

Being a change agent is not easy. People are creatures of habit and once settled in routines and ways of doing things seldom want to see it change. One reason why change is so hard is the negative perceptions that surround it. And usually, this is created by opponents of change out of fear or lack of clarity surrounding it.

If you want to successfully navigate the waters of change you have to get out in front of it, anticipate the negative perceptions to it, and make the case for it. Click To Tweet It’s been said that perception is reality, but a negative perception of change can be a death-knell if not handled properly. 

You can overcome negative perceptions of change but only as you skillfully make the case for it, and communicate the consequences of what happens if you don’t. 

Guarded traditions

When time-honored traditions collide with the headwinds of change is when tensions are at their peak. to change is at its peak. One camp wants to move forward and innovate while the other wants to hold onto the traditional ways of doing things. Managing change while respecting the past can be done, but it takes a keen leader to make it happen.

But if traditions are guarded at the expense of progress you stifle the growth that could be yours. While change is inevitable, positive outcomes from it aren’t if you have people working against it. Get the buy-in first.

External forces

There will be times in your leadership when change is brought about by circumstances you have no control over. Covid is a case in point. Many businesses were forced to pivot and make changes in record time just to survive. Regretfully, many didn’t. While you can try to plan and anticipate any and every potential obstacle that can come your way; you’re not going to get it right one hundred percent of the time. The unexpected happens. We like to believe that the force is with us. The truth is, sometimes it’s not.

Final Thoughts

Leading change is one of the greatest challenges you’ll face in your leadership. But also one of the most rewarding when done right. 

©2021 Doug Dickerson

How Change Impacts Your Leadership (Part One)

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Change before you have to. – Jack Welch

How well do you embrace change? Is it in your nature to be an early adapter to change or are you one of the last to get on the change wagon? 

It’s been said that the only constant in life is change. And while that much is true, some find it more difficult to embrace than others. To be sure, not all change is bad, and not every change is worth embracing. Somewhere in between is the tension that is real for many.

One of the most infamous changes in business history occurred back in 1985. Pundits referred to it as the “marketing blunder of the century”, and the backlash was more like a customer rebellion.

The formula for Coke had not been tampered with for 99-years. But in 1985, they changed it, and “new Coke” was released. Coke customers were not impressed. The new formula was a bust. Customers stock-piled the original Coke in their basements, the customer service hotline which normally received 400 calls a day was now receiving more than 1,500. The message Coke customers delivered was simple – the old formula has worked for

Coke Ad from 1985.
Credit: Google Images

99 years, why change it?

It took just 79 days for Coke to reverse their “marketing blunder” and revert to their original formula. It was a painful lesson at the time for Coke, and one from which every leader today can learn from.

Leading at the speed of change can be challenging. How you manage it, lead it, and how you compel others to change is important. But first and foremost, it’s an inside job. If you are not willing to change, then you may be the obstacle to progress your organization needs. 

In this two-part series, I will explore six obstacles to change that hold leaders back. In this post, let’s take a look at the first three.

Comfort zones

One of the chief reasons why we resist change as individuals and in our organizational structures is that we get settled in comfort zones. It’s an autopilot mindset that we are way too comfortable with. It’s the proverbial ‘new Coke’ formula mindset – it’s been the same and has worked for 99-years, why change it? 

In our comfort zones, we tend to protect the status quo and become guardians of the past. If you are a leader stuck in your comfort zone you are a leader who needs to embrace change.

Habits 

Most of us are creatures of habit. And just like our comfort zones, we tend to stick close to the familiar. At times, embracing change may require relinquishing old habits for the sake of growth. But old habits can be blindspots. So long as you don’t see how your habits stand in the way of progress we will never be compelled to change.

Your leadership in many ways is an extension of the habits you’ve developed over time. Ask yourself if those habits that served you well in years gone by are still useful today? What habits need to change for the sake of change? 

Attitude

Oftentimes, it’s not change itself that’s problematic, it’s our attitude towards change that’s the issue. The reason in part, I believe, is that we go straight to negative thoughts about change. We think it’s going to be something bad. We fear the unknown so we hunker down determined to preserve the way things are. We like the formula just the way it is.

If you want to be a change agent within your organization, you have to model the attitude you hope to see in others. Change is challenging enough as it is without your negative attitude to deal with. 

Final Thoughts

In Part 2, I will close out How Change Impacts Your Leadership. Until then, I challenge you to look at areas of your leadership where you tend to resist change and how different things would look if you didn’t.

 

 

©2021 Doug Dickerson