In a business world where change constantly challenges the status
quo, leaders must be willing to take risks to meet the challenges of
change. Without change there can be no growth. Yet, the leadership
challenge becomes an issue of how to assimilate change in a way that
enables your organization to quickly grasp opportunities brought
forth by change, and at the same time understand that because people
absorb change at differing speeds, they will begin to display
inefficiency and burnout if they are pushed to behave beyond their
maximum thresholds of resiliency. The ultimate leader’s challenge,
therefore, is to balance the risk of absorbing major
changes with the capacity at which the organization’s people can
function without suffering burnout and dysfunction.
The Comptroller General of the United States, David Walker, has some
good advice about getting people to understand the importance of
being able to accept change. He says that a leader first needs to
demonstrate that you are on a “burning platform.” “By that,” he
says, “I mean that the status quo is unacceptable. That there is a
need to change and if we don’t change, there are going to be adverse
consequences for the organization and/or the individuals.” He
stresses that people need to understand the need to respond to and
move through change in order to make as much of a difference as you
can make. Responding to change effectively also puts you in the best
position to keep you ahead of your competition. Here are some ways
you can risk to respond and grow:
Create an environment that encourages risking to change.
Change is often difficult and many people don’t like it. So it is
important for a leader to create an environment in which change is
looked upon very favorably. When people are willing to take risks
and challenge the status quo, celebrate it, acknowledge it, and
champion it. When risks are celebrated, a spirit is created that
sends the message to people that taking risks is a good thing to do.
Initiate change before it’s called for.
Don’t sit back and defend how far you have come. “You get paid for
growth,” says David Novak, Chairman and CEO of Yum Restaurants. “I
see a lot of leaders, who aren’t that good as leaders, defend how far
they’ve come. They start to rationalize how much success they’ve
had. You get paid not for what you’ve done,” he says, “but for what
you are going to do and what you are going to do to make sure that
you continue to grow.” It’s great to be proud of what has been
accomplished, but the true leader is never satisfied; he knows there
is always more that can be accomplished if you just challenge the
status quo.
Just do it—make the decision.
Sometimes the fear of challenging the status quo sets in because
there’s a reluctance to move on a new idea. “If you have all these
great ideas of what to do and you bring them to someone and they just
sit on them, you generally will compromise your view a lot and will
just settle for mundane changes,” says Ann Hambly, CEO of 1st Service
Solutions. A decision—good or bad—is better than merely sitting on
things Hambly believes. “I stop and think—what is the worst thing
that could happen if I made the wrong decision? I would say that
nine out of ten, if not more, are reversible. If I make the wrong
decision, I can always change it later,” Hambly says. There is
nothing worse than working under someone who cannot make decisions—
all that does is stunt growth and inhibit the ability to positively
challenge the status quo.
Develop a Learning Attitude.
Taking risks to stay abreast of the times can either lead to
successful new ventures or provide important lessons to help guide
future decisions. So, rather than fear taking risks, look at risks
as learning opportunities. As a matter of fact, the next time you
get your team together, instead of asking only about successes, ask
about things that were not as successful as had been hoped. That’s a
way to test whether you have learned anything going forward.
Successful individuals and successful companies continually listen,
learn and lead. It is a never ending process.
Here are some questions to ask yourself to test your own risk-taking
ability:
- What kind of a risk taker are you?
- How do you encourage others to take risks?
- What lessons have you learned from risks you have taken?
- What’s the next “burning platform” to be addressed in your organization?
- How do you go about generating new ideas?
- What do you personally do to demonstrate the importance of embracing change?
James Nicholson, President and CEO of PVS Chemicals says it best:
“When a leader is unwilling to take risks, you risk “freeze-framing”
your organization. Ouch! That’s a stagnating thought. True leaders
understand that risk means growth and that to sustain growth in a
fast-paced, ever changing global market, they must be decisive, ready
to turn on a dime, and willing to take risks. With status quo,
you’ll never grow.
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