Change is Business

Change is business in this new world. A world of dramatic globalization. A world shaped by a communication revolution with zero end in sight. A world where 9-5 has been overshadowed by 24/7-365. A world where technology has given the 17-year-old next door the leverage to create some serious heat in your industry. 

This new world relentlessly delivers change. The marketspace is now raw excitement. It's also made business and life itself very unpredictable. Change is the new reality. Understanding the reality doesn't necessarily make going through change any easier. 

1. Be in the Business of Developing Leaders

The only way any organization - and any human being, for that matter - can win in the ring with change, is to start developing leadership capacity in everyone. This is the single most important business discipline required to overcome change. An organization is the sum of its parts - all people in all roles. If a leader hasn't invested in developing the people, or has turned a neglectful eye on the importance of all the parts, the sum of that organization will unfortunately be less than zero.

An organization who develops the leader in everyone will not only adapt beautifully to the changing conditions, it will actually lead within its field.

2. Be So Good They Can't Ignore You

Great words of wisdom from Actor Steve Martin.  Be so good they can't ignore you. No matter what your craft is, or your industry, or your position, become so good at it, you'll make it impossible to go unnoticed. Committing yourself to mastery at what you do, is the only standard to hold yourself to in times of change. Anything less, and you'll be left behind. So shift from victim to virtuoso.

3. Change Provides Free Business Consulting

Intelligent enterprises understand that hard business conditions deliver free consulting advice. During intense times, you have the chance to discover your weaknesses and become aware of your constraints. During times of change or chaos you have the opportunity to line things up and square things off that you might under normal circumstances neglect. The upside of change is it provides positive pressure to make you pivot and become even more efficient, effective, and profitable. "Sometimes knowing your weaknesses can be your greatest strength." Howard Schultz

4. Refuse to Major in the Minors

The best leaders stay staggeringly focused on the biggest To Dos. They have the fiery resolve to have an almost military like concentration on their best opportunities and refuse to be sidetracked by anything else. Find the inner discipline to stick to the majors and say "no" to the minors.

5. Take a Step against Stagnation

Take a step ahead - even if you're not quite sure where you are going. There is no perfect choice in business or in life. All we can do is make the best choice when action is necessary. Forward movement has power. It will advance your life in one way or another. Doing nothing in the face of change, on the other hand, is the worst thing you can do. Doing nothing is the beginning of the end.

6. Change has an Outstanding ROI

While others resist change, refusing to grow with it, embrace it and use it to your advantage.  Leverage it to promote your leadership abilities.  Exploit it to build a stronger business.  Capitalize on it and maximize its return.  According to bestselling authors and management consultants Hammer and Champy "70% of business reengineering projects [aka changes] fail."  In times of change, many businesses fall off course or drop out of the race entirely.  Your best business opportunity is to become part of the 30% who actually win at change and advance simply because others can't stomach the course.

7. Regain your Stride by Managing Processes

Rosabeth Moss Kanter a professor at Harvard Business School, suggests the importance of establishing "certainty of process when there can't be certainty about decisions." Harvard Business Review. Even though you don't know details, decision or future outcomes, you can be certain about setting your priorities, goals, and action items such as scheduling meetings with key players.  Reground yourself by managing the processes surrounding change

Source: Robin Sharma

Ways to make 2010 your best year yet

Robin's new book "The Leader Who Had No Title: A Modern Fable On Real Success in Business and Life" will be published by Simon and Schuster in March. Many of the ideas below come from it.

• Remember that leadership isn't about your position. It's about your influence.
• Get fit like a pro athlete.
• Lift people up versus tearing people down.
• Protect your good name. An impeccable reputation takes a lifetime to build. And 60 seconds to lose.
• Surround yourself with positive, ethical people who are committed to excellence.
• Remember that even a 1% daily innovation rate amounts to at least a 100% rate of innovation in 100 days.
• Believe in your dreams (even when others laugh at them).
• Measure your success, not by your net worth but by your self worth (and how happy you feel).
• Take an intelligent risk every 24 hours. No try-No Win.
• Watch "Man on Wire".
• Regardless of your title at work, be a team builder.
• Remember that business is all about relationships and human connections.
• Say "please" more.
• Say "thank you" more.
• Know your Big 5: the five things that need to happen by the end of this year for you to feel its been your best year yet.
• Read your Big 5 every morning while the rest of your part of the world is asleep.
• Be willing to fail. It's the price of greatness.
• Focus less on making money and more on creating value.
• Spend less, save more.
• Leave everything you touch better than you found it.
• Be the most positive person in every room you're in.
• Run your own race.
• Stay true to your deepest values and best ideals.
• Write a handwritten thank you note to a customer/friend/loved one every day.
• When you travel, send love letters to your kids on hotel stationary. In time, they'll have a rich collection to remember your travels by.
• Be a problem solver versus a trouble maker.
• Rather than doing many things at mediocrity do just a few things-but at mastery.
• Honor your parents.
• Commit to doing great work-whether anyone notices it or not. It's one of life's best sources of happiness.
• Give more than you receive (another of the truths of happiness).
• Have your 1/3/5/10/25 years goals recorded on paper and review them weekly.
• Be patient. Slow and steady wins the race. The only reason businesses that went from zero to a billion in a year or two get featured in magazines is because 99% of businesses require a lot more time to win.
• Underpromise and then overdeliver.
• See part of your job as "a developer of people" (whether you work in the boardroom or the mailroom).
• Wear your heart on your sleeve. When people see you're real, they'll fall in love with you.
• Be authentic versus plastic.
• Remember that life wants you to win. So get out of your own way.
• Consider that behind every fear lives your next level of growth (and power).
• Eat less food.
• Drink more water.
• Rest when you need to.
• Write your eulogy and then live your life backwards.
• Demand the best from yourself.
• Remember that the more you go to your limits, the more your limits will expand.
• See everything that happens to you as an opportunity to grow (and therefore, as a precious gift).
• Be obsessed with learning and self-development.
• Become comfortable alone (you are the only person you get to be with your whole life).
• Smile. It's a stunningly effective way to win in business and life.
• Reflect on the shortness of life.
• Be bold when it comes to your dreams but gentle with those you love.
• Remember that success is dangerous because it can kill drive/innovation/passion and going the extra mile. Be successful yet stay hungry.
• Be of deep value to this world.
• Own beautiful things but don't let them own you.
• Use excellent words.
• Laugh more.
• Don't complain, gossip or be negative.
• Plan as if you'll live forever but live as if you'll die tomorrow.
• Feel free to pass these lessons on to those you want to help.

Written by Robin Sharma, January 3, 2010. For more information visit robinsharma.com.

Posted via email from Edward Anil's Blog