Do you come across people who tell you "you
have changed" and you immediately go on the defensive or feel guilty about it?
Here’s the thing – life is NOT static, so
why should you be?
Actually, if someone were to see you after 10 years
and tell you “you haven’t changed a bit!”, what would that feel like?
I know I would feel proud that I have held
onto my looks, my image and my innocence of 10 years ago…On hindsight though,
isn’t it a shame that the world has passed us by and we are still where we were
10 years ago from our persona perspective?
If we have not added the lines of
wisdom on our face, if we have not incorporated the maturity of experience in
our behavior and style, we are like new wine in the same old bottle. Tasteless
on the inside and same packaging on the outside!
Think about this for a while and ask
yourself, What am I missing out on by resisting change?
On the other hand, if you have embraced
change with all your heart and body and you are living life to the fullest, and
you receive an enthusiastic compliment ‘Gosh, you have changed!’, does that give you a sense
of achievement?
At the work-place, change is a
tricky subject – I know of an incident where a woman who was hesitant of
speaking her mind or speaking at all in meetings (wanted to blend in, instead of stand out) went through a transformation
and put herself out there with being more direct and having a paradigm shift
with her confidence level at work. Suddenly, she went from a person who meekly
did what she was told to being a person who had a mind of her own.
Leaders at
work have a conundrum – how do they deal with such changes in an important
co-worker? They would sometimes probably want the meek co-worker back since that is what they are familiar with. On the other hand, why not channelize this new found confidence
into challenging her constantly so she can go the extra mile – for herself, for you as a leader and
for the organization?
After all, as a leader, you are expected to constantly address a changing market, changing business demands, changing cost pressures, so why not changing team dynamics?
Leadership is all about constantly changing
yourself to adapt to your constantly changing environment!
No comments:
Post a Comment