While I hope everybody picked up one gem from the blog series, I hope even harder that people will see the benefits of acting. It is not uncommon for the Return on Investment for projects I take on to be in “the triple digits” over a one year period. For example:
- Simply giving sales people a structured process can boost results 30% or much better
- Writing down a business case wins financing to expand
- Developing a young leadership team that paves the way for that succession plan you’re itching to execute
These are all straight forward tactics, but they all require a leader to change and lead the change. We all have some instinct to squash personal change, when presented. My parents came from the Greatest Generation and placed an enormous value on self-reliance. I choose an engineering profession that rewards individual innovation. I wrestled to overcome this modeling and accept that these values are not optimal in a management environment.
There are three major themes that describe resistance to change:
- Lack of confidence: lacking confidence in skill, process, or market
- Over-managing: relinquishing control of details undermines authority and creates vulnerability to failure
- Too much confidence: A belief that current results will continue forever
But amazingly, I find motivation to make a change is even more significant than resistance to change. People need to believe that they can create the future they long for. They also need to cope with objectives that are 100% self-directed. There are no deadlines in creating success.
I would like to end the series with an invitation to speak with me about how you are creating success and the challenges that come with it. I don’t assume that scheduling a talk with me in any way suggests you would want to work with me. And you can pick phone, zoom conference, in-person, or whatever format suits as a platform. If interested, click the link in the email.