How’s business? Are you flying up high in the clouds or are you hustling to shift things around for you? No matter where you are today, we all face uncertainty and disruption at one point or another.
This is exactly where a lot of businesses in Ontario are these days. With all the changes at the provincial and federal level, many are grasping for air, trying to keep it together and stay afloat. What is it that’s discouraging you? What’s so hard that it makes you wonder how in the word you will get through?
Change. The most feared and despised word in dictionary. It can be unpredictable, unexpected and threatening. But it can also be exciting, progressive and transformational.
Today I want to help you look at change from a different perspective. To help you stop despising it and start leveraging the power of change. And hopefully to transform the way how you succeed in turbulent times. As a leader it’s important that in tough times you focus on the following priorities.
1. Keep in mind the definition of insanity
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. ~ Unknown Click To Tweet
Change forces you to think outside of the box, challenges your existing approaches and helps you improve. When done well, change can significantly improve your results and maximize your success. Sticking to the same old just because “we’ve always done it this way” is not going to move you forward. To create new and improved results, you need to change the input. When significant changes happen in marketplace, industry or economy, what brought you where you are now is not going to take you to the next level.
Pro tip: Stop wasting your time and energy on complaining and start thinking how to best leverage the situation at hand.
Look at change as opportunity to improve things and create new results. Click To Tweet
2. Be a positive example
People do what people see, not what they’re told. (Read more on this topic here) As a leader it is your responsibility to be in charge and lead the way through disruptions. This is why I prefer to use term change leadership instead of change management. You can’t manage change, but you can lead your people through it. Negativity catches on like a fire (and you’ll see a lot of it in the midst of disruption)… but so does positivity. Light shines the brightest in the darkness. When times are tough, that’s exactly when you need to dig deep, stay put and be a “CAN” person.
Pro tip: Invest in your own growth and development to be ready to lead when the times are tough. When things start falling apart, it will be too late to catch up.
Improve your leadership now. When times get tough, you will need all you'd learned to succeed. Click To Tweet
3. Support your team
Change can be challenging. Not just for you, but for your people as well. Find the ways to support your people through tough times. Find and empower trailblazers to help them shake things up and create the momentum. Protect and support those who are resistant to change and utilize their strengths to prevent potential disasters and problems. Every team member has a unique talent they bring to a table. Help them see their role in change initiatives and stop pushing cookie cutter approaches on everyone.
Pro tip: Celebrate team diversity and tap into team synergy. (More on this topic here)
4. Get help
In the midst of crisis we tend to go into survival thinking. Negativity kicks in and creativity seems to avoid us. We can’t see the forest for the trees in front of us. This is a great time to bring in external help. Someone with a different perspective who will challenge our thinking and navigate us in the right direction. A coach, a consultant, thinking partner, mastermind group, someone who is not focused on the trees, but can pin point the path. The faster you do so, the bigger the advantage you’ll have compared to your competitors.
Pro tip: Get help before you need help to move forward fast and get ahead of the game.
If you are in the midst of major disruptions, looking to improve things around, we can help. Contact us today to discuss your best approach to moving forward and maximizing the opportunities in front of you.
