The science of change—and the art of it, as it clearly involves both a detailed, systematic approach alongside a painter's flair for vision—is central to a leader's daily routine. Learning how to better use the friction created by your communities' resistance to your ideas to generate warmth and energy for your mission is essential to your own personal growth, and that of your organization. On this topic, I invite you to read an excerpt below from What Leaders Believe, a new book by myself and Dr. Whilliam White which will be available soon.
Change begins when life begins and of course ends when we fall into the grave. Leading in a climate of change, while maintaining a focus on the future, is no easy task. The constancy of change will always require that our vision reflect alternative realities as the living social system within which we thrive tends to fluctuate. Helping others to remain focused and encouraged about an uncertain future in the face of difficulties tests a leader’s ability to accommodate change. Knowing that vision and future depend upon expanding horizons, and exercising inclusion rather than exclusion, predetermines that the inevitability of change is accepted rather than rejected.
A vision of growth or evolution must constantly expand beyond its perceived origins. As certainly as change is continuously a part of human existence so is the presence of ambiguity and the inevitable choices caused by the paradox of our realities. Providing direction in a storm of change is the life of a contemporary leader.
To emerge as a leader is one thing; to create an environment in which one can always manage sustainable change is another. It is essential that we weave each layer of our leadership strategy as though it was a fine fabric in which each thread is carefully interwoven into a group or organizational structure and links us to others in a way that fosters dominance. Left to its own devices, an organization will settle for routine activities and the status quo, almost certainly becoming resistant to change. But change is essential to the emergence of new leaders. For established leaders to change or in time give way to an emergent leader requires constant pressure upon an organizational system and the resistance of others. Should everything else fail, we must make fundamental changes in our own personal style. That means we attempt to change who we are and reinvent ourselves as we introduce new ideas into an organization.
Leading in a climate of change, or for that matter leading to create a climate in which continuous change takes place is possible only if we can communicate our vision to others, encourage them to feel positive about what we desire on their behalf, and improve the acceptance of change by increasing everyone’s capacity to accommodate it. This helps others better understand their environment and portrays it as an ever-changing entity, giving them comfort as they deal with the obvious paradox between change and resistance and the ever-present ambiguity that exists in everything we do.
