Achieved Strategies

I wonder a lot these days where this crazy world is going. If I were to gauge the world by what I hear on the news I’d say we all need a hand basket.  That’s where my mind goes on my off-days.  But idealism and optimism are strong anchors in my belief and perspective. For that I’m grateful.

To position this post’s trajectory into the workplace, specifically leadership, idealism and optimism aren’t enough to cause change in this crazy world, in business.

No. They are merely leadership prerequisites for today’s complex workplaces, businesses.  Leaders who want to cause change must reach deeper in their abilities: a place that is unfamiliar perhaps for many.  Today’s leaders of change must be audacious.

Audacious change leaders have three core drivers that help to guide their people and the business through change.

Willing to Stand Alone. Leaders of change will face resistance no matter how engaged employees are.  I’ve come to learn that as humans we like familiar. We like predictable. And when they are messed with, we struggle accepting what is changing. But that’s all part of the journey that is change.  An audacious leader of change anticipates this and is willing to stand alone guiding people through the journey.  Unwavering leadership is reassuring.  Though you may stand-alone in the belief that the change will be better, it is a temporary loneliness.

Willing to Put Butt on the Line. It is an audacious act of leadership to stand for a better tomorrow in the face of people’s struggles to accept a different way. Nonetheless, audacious leaders are willing to take the heat, anger, and even venomous words from those who don’t want to change.  How? Well, having change supporters certainly helps.  But the steadfastness that comes with audaciousness is a result of the leader putting his or her butt on the line. It’s a commitment to do what it takes to help people on the change journey.  It’s a reminder to the leader that the game of change can be won.

Willing to Go Beyond Own Comfort and Experience. Let’s not forget that the journey of change affects the change leader, too.  He must be willing to explore how the unfolding circumstances will push him beyond his comfort levels and experiences. It is what helps him relate to what employees are going through. It equalizes the “playing field.”