What does change do for you?

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!

What is the one change that you would like to make in you today?