Wednesday, January 7, 2009

STOP! CHANGE PERSPECTIVE AND START LEADING


By Pablo J. Perez, Executive and Business Coach

During the last weeks, our economy has been facing a great challenge which has affected our thought process about the future. We have been surrounded by bad news and negative thoughts, feeding the fear of the unknown, which could inhibit leadership behavior. Our need to be safe causes us to be fearful in those uncertain situations. This is the right time to make a pit stop, refuel, and clean the windshield to get our business or career ready for the next race.

A classic characterization depicting our current situation is a drawing by Dr. Scott Simmerman (www.squarewheels.com). The drawing shows a man pulling a big heavy wagon by a rope from the front. In the back of the wagon there are a couple of guys pushing as hard as possible to help from behind.

If we take a look at the picture from a different perspective, from the viewpoint of where we are, we see that there is a significant impediment. The wagon has square wheels. Unfortunately, from the leader’s location, at the front of the wagon, he or she can’t see the square wheels. Likewise, the people in the back who are pushing the wagon can’t see the square wheels either. Ironically, in this drawing, the wagon is loaded with round wheels. If they discover those round wheels, they will be able to take those wheels out of the wagon and replace the square ones.

Stopping our daily activities and changing our perspective allows us to have a different view of problems. Consequently, the new perspective presents a chance for a wider array of potential solutions, usually better ones than our originals.

When I say you should change perspective from time to time, I am not suggesting you should reinvent your business or your career. You need to assess and maximize your strengths in order to take advantage of the opportunities that are present. Part of my mission as a coach is to help clients embrace change, and to use the resources they already have inside the organization to produce a higher quality of results. In doing so, we work on improving teamwork and aligning everyone to mutually committed goals. However, I cannot command my clients to change. I only provide a proven process that provides a path toward change. The process not only positively affects the individuals involved, it improves organizational results.

Most people avoid change because they don't like being changed. When change comes into view, fear and resistance come along, often despite the change’s obvious benefits. People fight change because they:

· Fear losing something they value, or
· Don't understand the change and its implications, or
· Don't think that the change makes sense.

Some people believe that no change = security. I would say that no change = no potential.As Albert Einstein said, “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” And if you do what you've always done, you will get the same results!!

It is a great time to STOP and take another look at your organization or career. A pause in your daily activities to recognize the impediments is the first step in addressing them. Once you acknowledge the impediments, you can create a new roadmap to your success.

Contact me today to learn how Activate Group helps individuals to increase their success and works with organizations to attain consistent revenue and profit growth rates of at least 20% annually. Call (305) 722-7215 or e-mail me at pjperez@activategroupinc.com.

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