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It is a common truth that change has always been a major issue for many organizations, the same way it has always been a shared characteristic of human life as well. For many people, change is usually perceived has been hard because most often than not, it is something that pull people out of their comfort zones and which also forces them to change their habits, which of course, makes them highly uncomfortable. So, to ignite any significant and lasting change in leadership does not happen overnight. Smart and effective leaders usually put in place systems that facilitates any change they want to see, both at the level of the organization and the people who works in such organization. In other words, effective leaders are deliberate and conscious about making any change. Therefore, change becomes inevitable for long term success and survival of any organization and its people.
Listen to Podcast: Conscious Change-making in Leadership
How Leaders Influence Change
#1. A New Mindset
Conscious change-making in leadership begins from having a new mindset towards change and towards organization growth and development. Most times, influencing a new change into an existing status quo don’t usually go along well. So, with change comes a new mindset; new organizational mindset, new team mindset, et cetera. Let me show us the words of Jesus in Mark 2:21-22. It says: “No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.” In other words, what Jesus was saying in essence is this: No one builds a new thing on an old, faulty foundation. A new change must simply be greeted by a new mindset and new ways of doing things, if that change would ever last.
#2. Identify Every Resistance to Change and Get Rid of Them
Resistance to change is the act of opposing or struggling with alterations or transformations that modify the status quo. Most times this resistance can manifest itself in one individual, or even in the workplace as a whole. It is usually the unwillingness to want to adapt to altered circumstances. In conscious change-making, every leader must be aware that there would be one form of resistance to the set of changes that are being introduced. Jesus also showed us that people would resists change. In Luke 5:39, the Bible says: “And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, “the old is better.” You see, people have this natural proclivity to stick with the old, the status quo. That is why in conscious change-making, the leader must be ready to identify the manner and form of resistance to the change and therefore do something to nip it in the bud.
#3. Being Deliberate About the Change Process
Change don’t just happen. Change takes place over time and it usually follows a process. The biggest error any leader could make is to try to enforce change by neglecting the process that it takes. Jesus was conscious enough to lead the change and to also follow through the process of the same change. If you read Acts 1:1, the Bible says: “The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach…” So, Jesus led the change and he also showed by way of examples how people can relate and embrace that change through the things that He did or was doing.
Let me round off the podcast with this popular quote by Charles Darwin. It says: “It is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself.” If the change that is being introduced would last or not, it would be completely dependent on how everyone responds and adjusts to it. But as leaders, we must never forget that at the forefront of any change process is the leader, leading that same change and also embracing it wholeheartedly.
I believe you have learnt something on today’s episode of Leaderview. Please don’t forget to share this podcast with as many people that you know would benefit from what we have shared with ourselves today and also drop your comments in the comment section. Till next time on Leaderview, I remain Abiola Obayomi. Thank you for listening.
[Centre for New Dimension Leadership]
