How do we create change?

It’s the million dollar question.  Or perhaps it’s the million dollar 3 questions…

Creating positive change in life and in leadership can be difficult.  It really is the essence of personal and corporate growth.  How can I (we) change to become better?

I was having this discussion recently with a CEO.  He wants to implement some changes in his life and leadership.  We talked about the 3 questions that everyone has to answer prior to creating any kind of significant change in their lives:

1. What needs to change?
2. What do I want to change?
3. What am I willing to do to create the change?

There is a very real difference in each of the questions, though there may not appear to be at first glance.  If we are honest with ourselves we can all look at our lives and our leadership and determine what probably needs to change.  However, that does not equate to what we want to change.

For example, many months ago I recognized my need to lose some weight.  However, if I were truly honest with myself I really did not want to change, so, therefore, I was unwilling to do anything about it.  Awareness of the need to change does not equate to a willingness to do so.

Change always begins with awareness, but the desire to change must be greater than the desire to stay the same in order for change to occur.  Or, conversely, the pain of staying the same must be greater than the perceived pain involved with the change.

Awareness of the need for change must transition into the desire to change.  One simple means of determining your level of desire to create change is in what you are willing to do about it.  If you are unwilling to do anything about it, then don’t kid yourself, you really don’t want to change.  No matter what amount of lip service you give to your desire to change, true desire to change is measured in action.

No action, no real desire.

Talk is cheap – commitment is measured in action.  We must learn to stop kidding ourselves into thinking that expressing a desire to change without any commitment to take action toward that change is valid and honorable.  As leaders, if we keep talking about creating change, but take no action toward that end, we will lose credibility with those we lead and create a cynical organization.

If you do not intend to do anything about a particular issue, then don’t express any desire to do so.  Your lack of action will break trust significantly.  Then trying to implement any change from that point becomes doubly difficult because you first have to win back trust and credibility, and overcome cynicism.

The only way to overcome these obstacles is with action: say what you are going to do and then do it.

I once consulted with a very large corporate entity.  We held stakeholder meetings throughout all levels of the organization in regard to creating positive change.  We received lots of great input from their employees.  When making our recommendations to the senior leadership team we expressed the need to take action as quickly as possible.  The consequence of not doing so would be a cynical staff that doesn’t trust leadership because they say one thing and do another.  Change would then become incrementally harder to create.

What happened?  Exactly that.  We did more stakeholder sessions a few years later, and the staff who were once enthusiastic about helping to facilitate positive change had resigned themselves to mediocrity, had lost trust in their leaders and were cynical about any new ventures proposed by the leadership.  The organization was now far worse off than it was prior to expressing a desire to change.

How do you create change in life and leadership?  Shift from what you see needs to change to what you want to change: and you can determine what you really want to change by what you are willing to do about it.

Actions speak far louder than words: prove your desire for change by your actions to create that change.