See the Need, Be the Change!

This week's inspiration doesn't come from a biography or a great leadership book. It comes from a t-shirt I recently saw at the Easton Mall in Columbus, OH. I was sitting in a book store coffee shop waiting on my wife to finish shopping (where I've spent about two of my twenty years of marriage! Two more I've spent waiting for her outside a ladies bathroom!). Anyway, sitting at a table close by was a woman wearing a black t-shirt with bold block lettering that spelled "Change Agent." Of course, this got my attention. Trying not to stare, I finally made out the small print beneath this title" "See the Need, Be the Change!" I loved it!

This t-shirt reminded me of one of my favorite quotes. Arun Gandhi has quoted his grandfather, change freak Mahatma Gandhi, as stating "We must become the change we want to see." How do we do this? We see the need, and be the change! So often we are tempted to wait for others to act. We complain about the world in which we find ourselves, and wish "somebody" would do something, but we feel powerless to make a difference. So we close our eyes to the need. We refuse to be the change.

The message this week is simple: Resolve this week to look carefully around you for opportunities for change that can make a difference. Then resolve, in at least one instance, to be the change that is needed. Don't underestimate the change this will require. It may require you to perform an act of service that sacrifices your dignity, that requires humility that is uncomfortable. Or it may require the courage to speak up for others who cannot. It may require you share an idea at the risk that it may be laughed at or rejected. Most of all, it will require action. Not talk. Not criticism or complaining. Action. Do something. Take a risk, and make a difference. Then take a moment to share with us what you resolved by leaving a comment to this post. Who knows, you may become the change you've wanted to see for so very long!

Change Leaders Embrace Humility

I once heard it said that there is no package as small as a person all wrapped up in themselves. This caution against pride is a bit humorous, but so very true. Not only can pride destroy relationships, corrupt organizations, and prevent personal growth, it can also be a major barrier to transformational change.

First, it is a barrier to change in the life of the one attempting to be a change leader. A change agent full of pride will never be a change leader. Nobody will accept feedback, encouragement, and coaching from a leader full of pride. This is an easy pattern for a leader to slip into, though. A good leader is supposed to have the answers, right? A good leader has experience and education that can enlighten their team, and when the pressure is on to make change quickly a leader must lead by the force of their confidence and pride. The problem of this approach is lack of sustainability. At best the organization won't "own" the change, they will simply comply. At worst the organization will fall apart due to infighting or resignations. The result is the same: half-hearted support of change that will backslide at the first opportunity.

Secondly, pride is a barrier to change in the life of the one who needs to embrace change. "How dare that leader come into this organization and pretend after a few short months that they know how to do my job better than I do!" This is unfortunately an all too common form of resistance to change. While the attitude can be justified any number of ways, in the end its root is pride. Sometimes a resistance to change is little more than offense taken to personal pride. Change is seen as a threat to a person's influence and power base because it levels the playing field between experienced icons and inexperienced newcomers. Just ask the former leaders of General Motors who wrote off the threat of the newcomers at Toyota. GM finance executive Nancy Rottering, who quit in frustration in 1987, said the attitude at headquarters was, “We’re GM. We know everything, we don’t need to change.”

This discussion reminds me of a great little story about a navy captain and lighthouse operator, well dramatized by the clip below (you can download this clip at changefreak.com/links)...