Leading Change

"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." ~ Charles Darwin

Effective leaders need to see what changes need to be done, and then lead their people to make the change.

This is one of the biggest challenges for many leaders. The leader themselves may prefer not to change when they don’t have to, and then they need to be able to motivate other change-resistant people to make the change, too.

Consider taking a cold, hard, even pessimistic look at what may change in your industry in the next few years. Make a list and write down what you think might change. Then look at each item on that list and think about the optimistic side of it. Is there an opportunity there to increase market share or be an industry leader in an new revenue stream?

When we are doing strategic planning for our company, we forecast a pessimistic outcome for the coming year and an optimistic outcome. We then “hedge our bets” and set things up so that we can pivot as reality reveals itself. Are we going to have a lot of business? Are some of our revenue streams going to dry up? Can we add offerings that might add new programs, if the old ones are not as popular? Can we add more options for people to take our more popular programs?

Make responsiveness part of your team’s culture. It’s easier to be responsive if you pre-think the likely possibilities and develop plans to take opportunities when they come, as well as some plans that mitigate negative options.

(image generated using Midjourney)