One of my favorite ways to think about leadership involves the concepts of relationship, real change, and shared purpose. I discussed relationships here and here, so in this video I briefly discuss real change.
Don’t change for the sake of change. Make sure you make a compelling business case for change that is aligned with your shared purpose. Wherever you find yourself in your organization, the leadership question is “What is the right thing for me to do today to advance this change toward our shared purpose?”
The lesson of the sigmoid curve is to change before you are forced to change. If you wait too long, change becomes very uncomfortable and may even put you and your organization in competitive peril. It is better to change early and force your competitors to play catch-up.
Tomorrow I will discuss shared purpose, so stay tuned!
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Bret, I have to tell you I love your statement about leadership being about “doing the right thing” as opposed to management which is more interested in making sure things are done right.
In this current climate, change has certainly become a popular buzz word, innovation being the other one. And you’re absolutely right that change without purpose is a disservice to everyone. It is interesting, though, how we can be so wary of change and yet still commit to change without any clear understanding of why.
Looking forward to hearing the next segment of this piece, Bret. Though you caught me off-guard with the suit – think you’re spoiling us with all those beautiful vistas.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
November 11th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Your comment is an excellent addition to my thoughts, Tanveer. I appreciate the clarity your insight adds.
I wear a suit to work every Thursday so I try to record a video in “my costume” that day for those in my audience that need to know I own a few
Thanks! Bret
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