Archive for Change Revolution
Have you stopped today to enjoy the sights and sounds of nature around you?
Many times we think we are living, but we are really just existing. We deal with the day to day and it feels like a grind.
We trudge through our day, doing our work, working on our to-do list (or lists), answering the phone and email, and trying to make “progress”. But we feel stifled, tired, worn out, stressed. We’re trying to figure out how to change things but everything we think of feels like too much extra work.
We often look for the big solutions and big changes when the little ones can have the most impact. A few weeks ago I wrote about the Value of Nature. How taking a few minutes to enjoy Nature around you can go a long way. Since that time I’ve made an effort to enjoy my back deck and the woods behind me as many days as possible. I’ve also made an effort to visit with some neighbors on their back patio.
Although my life is pretty chaotic at the moment (many major life events going on) my inner peace has been increasing on days that I’ve stopped to check out of work and the digital world and connect with Nature and neighbors. On the days I haven’t, where I keep my head down focusing on the list, telling myself I don’t have time to go outside, I find my stress continues to increase.
Life’s not perfect, it’s a rare moment that it is. It is, however for living, not existing. Instead of a “to-do list” why don’t you write a “do not do list” this week. Cut yourself some slack. Get real with yourself and those around you. Too often I observe individuals living in the in the “digital world” but missing out on the “real world” … and by that I don’t mean the contrived one on TV which isn’t all that real.
Put down the pen, leave the desk, turn off the TV. Ignore your iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Kindle, and Nook. Connect not only with others but with yourself as well. The world will not stop if you ignore the phone, email, twitter, text or chats. If fact, I believe it would be a better place with a little less of all of that.
Be present with yourself and those around you. Be real not digital. Look at your life one day, one experience, one encounter at a time. You’ll likely be much happier. I know I am.
Live your life rather than simply existing. Peace everyone.
Yesterday I was interviewed for a BlogTalk Radio Show by Heather Stagl of Enclaria. During the interview we discuss my own personal Change Revolution, how to start a revolution, courage, fear, and other related topics.
- Do I really care?
- Why do I care?
- How can I have an influence on this?
- What action can I take?
- What outcome am I looking for?
Each day you get a fresh start to decide how you want to approach life and your interactions with those around you. How do you want to behave today?
What is the Change Revolution?
It’s many things. The most important part being YOU!
You impact the people around you each day in more ways that you can imagine. How you act, react, and behave influences those around you.
I’m personally on a mission to bring positive change to both businesses and to the people around me. It’s not about dissatisfaction but rather about driving positive change. I first wrote about this in my article The Revolution of One.
We as individuals have more power than ever before. We can each take accountability for our own behaviors. Too often people slip into behaviors because it is easy. They think “I don’t want to rock the boat.” To this I ask if not you, than who?
I believe that we should say “I can make a difference.” I’ll do the right thing even if it might be harder to do.
I believe that we each set an example, whether positive or negative, for those around us.
I firmly believe that if enough people act as individuals to be accountable and behave collaboratively we can gain momentum and begin the change process, even if organizational leadership is on board.
For the American Revolution, it started somewhere, with someone believing things could be different. There was no leader at the top. It was individuals banding together because they believed things could be different. Eventually leaders emerged.
Who’s Involved in the Revolution?
I wrote about a few individuals who I believe are positive change leaders in my article about Penguin Leadership. I have another name to add to the list of Penguin Leaders, Heather Stagl. Heather is a blogger and radio host of “The Change Agent’s Dilemma: How to Influence Change Without Authority” on BlogTalkRadio. She is the author of the book, 99 Ways to Influence Change. Below I’ve included a copy of her favorite blog from last year, 3 Traps that Keep Change Agents from Getting the Support They Need.
Last month, Heather interviewed Garrett Gitchell (one of the Penguins), President at Vision to Work for her Radio Show. To listen to Garrett’s show click here. I’m up tomorrow, June 21st, for her 11 am ET show. Click here to listen to my show live.
The title for the show is the “Revolution of One: Finding the Courage to Drive Change.” A few of the questions we will seek to answer include:
- What it means to be a Revolution of One?
- Who can start a revolution?
- How do you know you need to start one?
- What about driving change requires courage?
- How do you build courage?
- Where does it come from?
Need Some Help?
If you would like help working through your challenges, driving your individual or business changes, drop me a line. I’d love to help you either change yourself, change your business, or drive your own Change Revolution.
As promised, here’s Heather’s article…
3 Traps that Keep Change Agents from Getting the Support They Need
“It is common knowledge that in order for your change initiative to grow beyond your own span of influence you need leadership buy-in. The truth is you need much more than approval; as a change agent you need leaders in your organization to take action that supports your initiative.
The trouble is, leaders often don’t do what is needed to implement change, even if they agree it should happen. You may think, If only they would (fill in the blank), you would be able to make some real progress.
This lack of proper leadership support is the top challenge for most change agents. It frequently stays that way because change agents get stuck by the following traps.
1. “It’s not my place.”
Allison was a supervisor who had been given a special assignment to implement the recommendations that resulted from an employee survey. The biggest roadblock to improvement, she decided, was her boss’s boss, the very person who had commissioned the survey. Allison’s boss agreed but would not do anything about it. “What can I do?” Allison asked, “It’s not my place to address the issues with my boss’s boss.”
The organizational hierarchy can seem like an insurmountable hurdle over which to affect change. When the person whose support you need is outside of one degree of authority, it can seem like political suicide to attempt to do something about it. From this position of helplessness, it is easy to get stuck hoping he will figure it out on his own.
2. “That’s just the way they are.”
Dan was a senior manager who worked directly for the CEO. Dan’s key initiative to improve the company was to develop and solidify accountability to procedures. The CEO, while supporting the initiative verbally, did not want to abide by procedures himself. It was the CEO who had embodied the previously lackadaisical culture. “I can’t do anything about it. That’s just the way he is,” Dan lamented.
We often assume that the behaviors of others reflect an inner character trait. This assumption is so common that psychologists call it the fundamental attribution error. When you consider that someone will not support you because it is part of his DNA, of course you would automatically chalk it up as a lost cause. You get trapped knowing it is impossible to change someone else.
3. “He just doesn’t like me.”
John was a project manager who needed key data from the manager of another department. However, John’s phone calls and e-mails requesting the information were repeatedly ignored. John asked his boss to request the same information, and it was immediately handed over. “Maybe she just doesn’t like me,” was John’s reasoning.
This trap is the mirror image of the fundamental attribution error. Instead of thinking the lack of support is caused by her character, you think the lack of support is your own fault. Whenever you interpret her behavior as a personal slight – she doesn’t respect you, she doesn’t like you, she doesn’t trust you – it traps you with self-doubt. Insecurity is a lousy place from which to exert influence as a change agent.
Allison, Dan and John are composites of real change agents who were stuck. But none of their traps were inherently real. The traps were assumptions they made about the leaders and the organization.
The first step in getting out of a trap is to recognize that you may be in one. Separate the facts from your assumptions about them. From there, you can select a new point of view and step out of the trap, so you can find new ways to get the support you need to implement change.”
If you liked Heather’s article on 3 Traps that Keep Change Agents from Getting the Support They Need, you can read more of her blogs by clicking here.
Need to go with the flow? Nurture yourself with a little Nature.
Do you feel the onset of burnout coming? Do you want to refresh and renew yourself? Feel like you need a vacation but don’t have the time and money for one? Think small, not big.
Often we are moving so fast we don’t realize how much time we are spending inside buildings. Our minds and bodies need to periodically visit the world outdoors.
Connecting with nature – simply letting the sun shine on your face, listening to the birds, listening to the flow of water through a stream, dam or waterfall can be wonderfully refreshing.
Even small things like packing a lunch and sitting on a park bench rather than inside a restaurant can be a boost to both your body and your mind.
Yes, a trip to the spa might be fun, but you can often get the same sense of peace and restfulness from a park. Plus, it costs a lot less!
My challenge to you is to find those small pockets of time in your schedule to take yourself outdoors. It can be something as simple as stopping at a park for just 15 minutes on your way home. Do you have a deck or patio? If so, when is the last time you had dinner outside? Try it, you just might like it.
Have a story to share about how you’ve found little pockets of time to let Nature provide a little Nurture for your mind, heart, and spirit? Click that comment button to share. Love to hear from you!
Is this a failure or a success?
First a shout out of Thanks to Jim Estill and John Wolforth for taking the time to hit the Comment button and share their thoughts on What Might Happen? I Wonder… last month. This pondering continues on with ideas shared in that last post. You can either blame it on John or thank him if you choose – this pondering a result of responding to his comment. It got me thinking about what success looks like.
I believe that success can be a tricky thing. It’s a moving target and always subject to interpretation. I’ve also observed that some of the individuals who I think are wildly successful don’t always feel so successful themselves.
I wonder how often we find ourselves measuring up short - but that is truly only in our own minds. That we focus on the missteps and the could haves, rather than the did haves and wasn’t that great!
Let’s go to my favorite source, yes Wikipedia, for a definition. “Success might mean, but is not limited to:
- a level of social status
- achievement of an objective/goal
- the opposite of failure“
Now let’s look at their definition of failure. “Failure refers to the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and may be viewed as the opposite of success.”
Hum, if we really think about it, we are in control here. We define the level of social status, the objective/goal, as well as what failure looks like. Pretty powerful.
It’s also important to remember that we all define success differently. What does matters isn’t my defintion, but how you personally define success.
Sometimes I think we fall in the trap of focusing on the big SUCCESS and we need to focus more on the little successes that we have all the time. Or that we get ourselves hung up on how others define success and trying to meet their measure of success rather than our own.
I bet if we thought about it hard enough we could find a small success each and every day. I know that this is something that I personally need to do more of – looking for those small, daily successes. We often look at our daily failures, why not look at our daily successes?
For today’s pondering I’d like to ask that you stop and ask yourself the following questions:
- Did I think about a failure today?
- Did I think about a success today?
- What did I think about this last week?
- How do I define success?
- Am I focusing on big SUCCESS?
- What success(es) did I have today?
- What success(es) did I have this last week?
- How might I feel differently if every time I thought of a failure, I stop to also think of a success?
You are the only one that can define success for yourself. You are in the driver’s seat. Sometimes success might be about walking away from an opportunity. Jonathan Field’s recent article Kill It to Build It reminded me of this earlier today. Jonathan had a business idea but decided to “kill it” as it took him off what he viewed as his longer term path.
The comments on his post and reactions were quite interesting. While most were supportive, it was interesting to note the mix of judgmental and non-judgmental. It made me stop to ponder how he felt after reading all the comments. If it made him question himself? I wondered how often we do this to others?
I think of life a both a juggling act and a tightrope walk. We are trying to find that balance between short-term and long-term personal, professional, and family goals. Often at the same time. Additionally we move from one rope to another so maybe we should add in that areal act where we have to also have faith to let go of one bar and trust the other will be there to grab onto. No wonder it’s often hard to feel a sense of achievement!
I think that maybe we need to adjust that success measure and realize that it’s not whether you dropped a ball or two, but rather you kept the other three, five, or seven in the air. Not that you fell off the rope, but rather you climbed back up and got moving again. It’s not that you missed catching the other bar, but rather you had the courage to let go of the first one. Each and every one of these is a success.
Remember, you define both success and failure for yourself. It’s something that I too need to remind myself on a regular basis. I’ve found that there is no tougher judge of what I have done than myself. Maybe it’s time to cut myself some slack or better yet, reframe how I measure success. Will you join me?
May you all be happy, healthy, and find success on whatever path you choose to take in life. Remember, the power is yours.
The concept of courage has been front and center in my mind lately. For those of you reading for a while, you may have observed that I have been building up to this. There are connections, both directly and thematically in many of my blogs about driving change. Most specifically within The Revolution of One, Stop, Look and Listen, Anatomy of a Change Agent, Penguin Leadership, and Being Lionhearted©.
I believe that we are at multiple crossroads. I see the need for significant changes within businesses, within the political arena, and within social structures. All three of these are connected in multiple ways across multiple dimensions.
I’ve come to the conclusion that we don’t just need Change Agents, that we need Lionhearted Change Agents ©. That to truly drive the changes we need, more people will need to step out of their comfort zones. Many of us need to be more courageous more often. We must be aware of “social norming” and combat it at the source. Not just how we act, but also how we react.
After writing Being Lionhearted©, I posted the following question in Linked In.
What does courage cost? How is it rewarded or suppressed? It takes great courage to drive long term, sustainable change? What can be done to build courage in today’s environment?
I had several motivations for doing this. Not the least of which was to generate a dialog within a group of individuals who should already be Change Agents. To ask them to think further and deeper about courage. To encourage and challenge them to become more courageous themselves.
One of the participates in the on-line dialog is Bill Treasurer. Bill is founder and Chief Encouragement Officer at Giant Leap Consulting (GLC), a courage-building company. Bill established this company in 2002 to help people and organizations live more courageously. He is the author of Courage Goes to Work, a book about how to inspire more courageous behavior in workplace settings. His first book, Right Risk, is about how to take smart risks. It draws on Bill’s experiences as a daredevil athlete. Personally, I can’t imagine diving off of 100 foot platforms like he did! Yikes. Talk about Courage.
I had a chance to speak voice-to-voice with Bill regarding his background and experiences. Bill believes “…that with less fear and more courage, workers take on harder projects, deal better with change, and speak up more willingly about important issues.” I agree wholeheartedly with him.
Bill’s view is “…that individually and organizationally, people can generally be divided into two camps: safety-seekers and opportunity-seekers. During times of heightened anxiety or uncertainty, such as NOW, the Camp Safety swells with refugees. There is a danger in this flight to safety. Just when our organizations need us to provide ground-breaking (and tradition-defying) ideas, we are, instead, hunkering down underneath our desks.”
Below are some of Bill’s tips for helping you be more courageous at work. This list was extracted from his latest article, The First Virtue.
- “Be Mindful of the Risks of Not Risking. The risk of inaction is usually more perilous than the risk of action. As you consider a risk, be clear about the dangers of not taking the risk, too.
- Ask the Holy Question. Here are the four most important words you’ll ever learn in the English language: What do you want? Most people don’t take the time to answer that question with specificity. Those who do, however, are in a much better position to figure out the actions they need to take in order to get what they want.
- Have Something to Prove. Take on challenges that cause you to have to prove yourself to yourself. When the going gets rough, having something to prove can be a source of energy and motivation.
- Make Forward-Falling Mistakes. Making no mistakes is just as dangerous as making too many. Have a “mistake ratio,” a good balance between not making enough mistakes and making too many. As long as the mistakes you make are forward-falling, you’re making progress.
- Harness Fear. Fear is a normal, natural and necessary part of the work experience. While uncomfortable, fear has energy, and that energy can be useful when facing tough challenges. Harness your fear by spending time with it. The more you experience the thing that you’re afraid of, the more desensitized you become to it.
- Jump First. The best way to encourage those around you to be more courageous is to be more courageous yourself … first! Ask yourself, “When was the last time you did something courageous that probably left a favorable impression on the people you work with?” In other words, when did you last jump first?”
You can learn more about Courage Goes to Work, Bill’s international bestseller, at www.couragegoestowork.com. Bill’s newest courage material, Courageous Leadership: Using Courage to Transform the Workplace, comes out in early 2011. It’s an off-the-shelf courage-building training program being published by Pfeiffer. Personally, I can’t wait to see it.
My hope is that you can find a bit more courage within yourself. That you not just Own Your Elephant , but that you Find Your Lion Inside. That you take positive action rather than just observing or standing aside. It takes time, courage, and energy. I’m hoping that you can find a bit more inside yourself and join my Change Revolution. Cheers.
Are you Being Lionhearted © or are you just one of the crowd?
The second day of the World Business Forum 2010 is complete. The speakers today talked about economics, the environment, politics, culture, product selection, survival, and the film industry to name a few. One theme that emerged for me was the need for courage.
This is something that I have been pondering for a while. The courage that it will take from many individuals, both on their own and working together to drive true, lasting, sustainable change.
Do you have the courage to:
- Focus on the Long-term, not just the Short-term?
- Change the way you make decisions?
- Make the less “popular” choices?
- Make the choices for sustainability?
- Speak the truth, not just what sounds good?
- Dig into the details, not just the sound bits?
- Be a Leader, not just a Manager or Executive?’
- Talk about the Elephants in the room?
- Change yourself?
Courage comes from many places and many sources. But must come from within to be sustained. Are you courageous? I’m working on my Lion’s heart. Come join me.
More to come about Being Lionhearted: The Courage to Change © soon. In the interim, see the WBF Bloggers Hub for comments and questions about being courageous.
Book to come – ebook or other tbd.
In the interim, visit the Ponders & Insights over the next weeks and months for more on this topic.
I would love to hear back from you about how you are courageous, when and where you have had the courage to change, and what you feel it takes to stand up and go against the crowd to do what you feel is right.
Do you have stories about having the courage to change yourself and to be an example to others? If so, I would love to hear them.
Are you putting all the pieces of what you learned together? Will you talk about what you see and the Elephants in the room?
The first day of the World Business Forum 2010 is complete. The speakers entertaining and educating.
The questions for me are:
- Was the audience really enlightened?
- Did they truly listen to the messages, not just the words?
- Will they truly take the core messages back to their businesses? To think about what it means to truly lead, not command and control?
While World Business Forum 2010 Day 1 is gone, the content it not? When you do as Collins suggests, stopping one day for every two weeks of booked time (come on, try it), I encourage you to ponder, think, reflect, and visit or revisit the Bloggers Hub. You’ll learn something new, provoke your thinking, and challenge yourself. I promise! I do every time I go back.
Articles related to what was learned, shared, discussed, and reflected on during the World Business Forum are forthcoming over the next weeks and months. My thanks to all the great bloggers, guests, and speakers who challenged my thinking and helped me to continue to drive myself and my thinking forward. Cheers all.
Elephant #1: We don’t truly value stopping to think, to reflect, to ponder.
We tend to value action much more than reflection. Doing over creating. I’d like you to stop and think about that. I’ll talk more about the motivation, drivers, and factors that drive this in a future blog.
I’m willing to talk about the Elephants in the room. The truth of what it takes to change a company, to change a culture, to change yourself. To be the Elephant Whisper. Are you willing to talk with me?
Elephant Whisperer: Strait talk about the Elephants in the Room ©
Book - ebook or hard copy tbd. Look for a series of blogs/articles on this topic in the interim.
Would love to hear back from you about the elephants that you see, how people deal with them (or not), and your personal stories.
One drop goes far...
I recently have been reflecting on the concepts of Systems Thinking and Systems Dynamics. How so many things are interconnected. How various choices I make are connected together and impact myself and others, both immediately and at a later time. I’ve also been thinking about how things we learn as children often affect our behaviors as adults.
For those unfamiliar with Systems Thinking, it is a style of thinking (and analyzing) that looks at a myrid of elements and how they affect each other. It is a process of understanding how things influence one another within a defined “system.” I often refer to this as holistic thinking or thinking holistically.
If you are interested in learning more about this concept, you can go to the Systemswiki for more information (in addition to Wikipedia, of course). You might also be interested in System Dynamics.
As I was reading in the wiki, the following came to mind.
Every choice I make,
Every action I take,
affects those around me.
I am both the stone and the ripple in the pond of life.
May I also be one with the pond.
I’d like to ask that you stop and reflect on a few things:
- How your own behaviors and style of interaction affect others?
- What it means if someone has a “positive vibe” or a “negative vibe”?
- How the positive or negative energy of others can affect you?
Have you ever heard the following phrases? Do you know what they mean?
- They are an energy vampire.
- They sucked the life right out of the room.
It is my hope that my actions have a positive influence not a negative one (a One not a Zero) as I continue on my quest for a revolution in the pond of life.
Will you join me in creating positive ripples, not negative ones? May we infuse others with energy, not drain them.
How can you Fire up your Heart to help drive positive change?
I find it interesting to observe how “Change Agents” interact with each other. How they listen (or not), whether they speak respectfully (or not), as well as their willingness to change themselves (or not). One of the first steps we can take to help manage change is to manage ourselves and how we interact with others.
A colleague of mine, Ron Leeman, posted the following description during on online discussion.
- A clear mind that is not cluttered with unresolved issues, unexamined motives or pre-conceived ideas.
- Eyes that can see beyond today.
- Ears that can listen to other points of view.
- A nose that can sense opportunities and timing.
- A mouth that can speak out with honesty and respect.
- A heart that can feel others’ pain and respond to it.
- A fire in the belly that provides passion and responsibility and makes you want to get up in the morning.
- Skillful hands that can do work as well as strategy.
- Light feet that can move swiftly when the timing is right.
- The soul of a warrior with a deep sense of honor, perseverance and along with a willingness to act decisively.
I found it a useful metaphor to reflect upon - to ponder how these traits can help me be a better Change Agent and a better person overall. I would add to the above list:
- That the mind be active and continually seek to fill itself with knowledge and information. That it focuses on the ability to synthesize and apply that knowledge.
- That the heart is open and honest, genuine and true both to itself and to others. That it seeks to understand and is kind to others. We all make mistakes and have “bad” days.
- That the soul feels like an ”old soul,” with the ability to reflect on the past. To appreciate where it currently is as well as where it is going.
As I continue on my personal and professional journey, I challenge you to join me. To find ways to make improvements to all parts of yourself: mental, physical, emotional, and psychological. I ask you to join me in my on-going quest to drive a change revolution. To help create an environment (both in and outside of the workplace) that brings engagement and involvement rather than frustration and discontent. To foster a revolution of change 1+1+1 ad infinitum.
One person at a time can truly make a difference. I’m hoping that today that person can be you.
Thanks Ron, for seeking to make a difference as well as always sharing in a respectful and open manner. Cheers. May we have a chance to lift a physical toast not just a metaphorical one someday.
Do you feel like you are trying to juggle the world in your hands?
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it takes to be a Change Agent.
- What does it really mean to be a Change Agent?
- What does it take to drive lasting change?
- How much physical, mental, and emotional energy does it take to make changes and truly make them stick?
Let’s be honest, it takes a lot of energy to change. It can be an enormous amount of energy, especially when you are trying to project positive energy into a group. The more places in your life you are working to make changes, the more people you are trying to impact, the more energy it takes. I’ve recently determined that I’ve been trying to be a Change Agent in too many places at once – juggling too many balls at once. I had hit my personal “change fatigue” wall. I had lost my energy and was feeling like a Zero (O). (For more information about what I mean by a Zero, refer to my first blog, The Revolution of One). I was concerned about my ability to remain upbeat and positive. How had this happened? I didn’t want to be a O. Yikes!
After talking with a colleague the phrase “coming from a place of hope” suddenly ran through my mind. What the heck? I realized that I was feeling more optimistic than I had the last several days. I started to analyze (what, me analyze something?):
- How did I feel mentally, emotionally, and physically at that moment in time?
- What did this phrase mean to me?
- Why had it come to mind?
I realized that I had unexpectedly had a “state change”. While I was still feeling tired and overwhelmed I was now a bit more optimistic. Not the “light at the end of the tunnel”, rather from a glass half-full rather than half-empty perspective. It’s the place I want to be. I believe that we can add or subtract energy from others around us individually and in groups. That how we feel and the emotions we project affect others. As I talked with my colleague, I’d been talking about the business environment, my views on change, and my sincere desire to have a positive impact on those around me and on business at large. There have been huge amounts of stress in the work environment this past year (and at home too) for almost everyone.
I wasn’t trying to execute anything, just talk about my perspectives and beliefs. I explained that if I have a personal mission to have a positive impact on others. That I believe in cascading impacts. That if I could positively impact one person, they could have a positive impact on someone else, so on and so forth. That we could together have a large, positive impact on the business environment. Our own Revolution of sorts. I think we need it in the business world.
In describing my fundamental beliefs, I had found some new energy. I remembered the “root reasons” (vs. root cause) that I am a Change Agent. By simply talking with me and validating my thoughts and work, my friend had been a Change Agent for me - providing some much needed positive reinforcement and new energy.
It can be hard being the person that rattles cages, raises red flags, and points out the elephants in the room. Candidly, it’s stressful and exhausting. I don’t enjoy raising the flags or talking about the elephants, but someone needs to in order to drive long-term, sustainable change.
Talking about problems, challenges, and pink elephants often raises fear and worry in others. This can take excessive amounts of emotional energy to help manage effectively. It’s something that most people are afraid to do, but something that must be done to make real and lasting changes. You can’t drive successful change if you aren’t willing to discuss problems and history. If you are not honest and “real” about situations, there will simply be some head nodding in the room when you discuss new or desired behaviors. When people leave, they will go back to their old behaviors – quicker than you might think.
What my friend had done for me was to validate that while I can’t please everyone and might feel personal stress about acting the “troublemaker,” what I was doing was important. I had left the conversation with a renewed sense of purpose and personal hope. “Coming from a place of hope” described how I was feeling at the moment. It struck me that this too was a powerful thought. That where there is hope, there are possibilities. Where there are possibilities, change can happen. That having a feeling of hope had actually helped counter my feeling of exhaustion (no, not all of it, but some).
I stepped back from myself to acknowledge that I can’t be “on” all the time as I had been trying to do. That it’s not realistic to think you can always be a One (1). While I do want to drive a Revolution, (see The Revolution of One), there are times I might need to be a O, at least for a little while, so that I can go back to being a 1 later on. That in the real world, unlike my technological metaphor, there are in-between states – ½, ¾, 5/6. Those are also ok places to be.
So I decided that for the next several days I’ll focus on the idea of hope, recognize the bumps in the road, acknowledge that there are day’s I might need to be less than a 1. I’ll remind myself, work on feeling, and believe that I am coming from a place of hope and that’s good enough for now. I’ll accept that it’s ok to be a ½, neither a O or a 1 for the time being. I’ll be a ½ with hope for a better tomorrow and the belief that with some rest and sleep (not always the same thing) that I could go back to being the 1 that I want to be.
So my personal lesson for today was to hold tight to hope and possibilities. To accept that when you can’t be a whole (1) it’s ok to be a ½. Give yourself partial credit.
Change is hard. Being the Change Agent can be even harder. Change is tiring and never happens all at once.
So my wish and hope for all of you is that you too find a piece of hope today and each day forward. That you give yourself credit for what you have accomplished, rather than focusing on how far you still have to go. That you find your own place of hope, piece of inspiration, and some renewed belief. This can come from the smile of a colleague or a child, taking time to stop to look out a window at the flowers and trees (or the snow if it’s winter). Find something in your environment around you that you can draw inspiration and hope from. Stop, Look, and Listen not to understand others better, but to pause for yourself. To give yourself a break and some personal recognition.
I ask that you can continue to join me as we make our own Revolution at whatever level you can, one day at a time, one person at a time, one situation at a time. For today, I’ll continue to focus on being a Change Agent-at-Large, even only at half-strength. I’ll keep my hope for better tomorrow. I absolutely believe that together we can change many things. A little bit at a time isn’t simply good, it’s GREAT.
So here is my “true confession.” I actually drafted this article several months ago. Life (and all the winter flu varieties) simply got out of control and I never finalized this post. Some days I felt a bit guilty, but I worked to remind myself that any forward progress was good and 1/2 was ok. I asked myself if it really mattered if the story went up in October or in January. You, the reader don’t really care do you? As I start the New Year and seek to post articles and stories more actively, I pulled the draft of this article out and made the final edit.
So what are the key messages I hope you take from this article?
- Being a Change Agent is hard work. It can be stressful and exhausting. But if you don’t do it, who will?
- It’s critical to rattle the cages, raise flags, and point out the elephants. If you don’t talk about them and address them, it is unlikely that change with “stick”. Again, if you don’t do it, who will?
- There is a great level of stress that comes with always being “on”? A simply analogy is a light bulb. It gets hot and burns out quicker if it is always on. When natural light is available or no one is around, shutting it off prolongs the life of the light bulb. We need to do the same for ourselves.
- Have you thought how “change fatigue” applies not just to change programs, but to yourself also?
- Are you planning appropriate breaks for yourself and within your change program?
- Are you taking care of yourself physically, recognizing how your health impacts your ability to create change?
- Are you giving yourself appropriate mental breaks?
- Are you giving yourself the credit that you should?
- Are you recognizing that any forward progress is good, even if it took longer than you had initially planned or scheduled?
- Are you familiar with the concept of diminishing returns?
- Can you recognize when you have reached that point?
- Can you tell yourself it is ok to step back and not work on something for a while? Regain your energy and start again. You will likely get farther.
A huge THANKS and virtual hug to my friend Ron for providing positive feedback in a time of need. A shout out of THANKS to my spouse, Bruce, for his on-going support of my efforts big and small, including providing feedback on this blog. He rocks.
Wikipedia defines revolution as follows:
A revolution (from the Latin revolutio, “a turn around”) is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.
Amidst the corporate chaos and on-going organizational changes there lies a source of power, power for change. There are the People.
People come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and viewpoints. There are many, many viewpoints. Sometimes it seems like too many. Have you heard the joke that if you ask 4 recruiters their opinion on a resume you will get 5 answers? If you’ve been looking for a job lately you know that this is not just a joke, often a reality.
Often the different viewpoints seem opposed and are a source of chaos, but if you seek to understand not just respond, they can be a great source of information and power. How often do you stop to try and truly understand another’s viewpoint and how they reached their own personal conclusions? What attitude do you bring to the interaction? Are you focused on listening to a different viewpoint or are you focused on winning an argument?
When you interact with others today are you going to be a 0 (Off) or a 1 (On)?
Attitude truly does make a difference. The Beatles sang of One being the loneliest number yet in the Matrix we saw how significant the impact of “The One” could truly be. We can all be Agents of Change. The revolution starts with yourself and your attitude, not with others and theirs. We can influence others but we can only truly change ourselves.
Binary language focuses on Zero and One, Off and On. There are studies showing that when collaboration is involved, the sum can be greater than the individual parts. Where One + One + One = Four not Three. Where there is the addition of understanding and alignment of objectives vs. the subtraction of position and personal power plays.
When you interact with others today and make decisions related to your job, your department, your organization and programs, are you going to be a 0 (Off) or a 1 (On)?
Faith Fuqua-Purvis is the founder of Synergetic Solutions LLC, a consulting firm specializing in Strategic Change. She is a strategic thinker, a proactive leader and an experienced coach, helping business implement transformational changes by aligning people, organizational structures, and operational activities with business strategies. You can find her complete profile at LinkedIn.
Photo credit: clix This article first appeared on The CIO Assistant’s Blog on July 1st.
