What’s your favorite season?
When you love something, you never want it to end. Without looking it up, I’m sure that’s probably a lyric in a dozen different songs; Summer of ’69 comes to mind. There’s good reason for it though; when our circumstances are bringing us joy, peace, and fulfillment, we just want the good times to go on forever. Our lives are inherently difficult, sometimes we go for days, months, and years without a seeming moment of joy. But then there are those moments when things just seem to be working. It could be the start of a new job, a new marriage, the birth of a grandchild. Maybe it’s one of those rare moments in life where you just feel like all you could ever want is exactly what you have. But these moments never seem to last. The inevitability of change forces its way into our ecosystem. Often uninvited, it causes disruption and forces us to move out of our cozy little circle. Like a sleeping cat being pushed off his favorite pillow, we cry out “I need this to stay the same, please don’t let it end!” We become so desperate to keep the good times rolling, that we delay the necessary change that leads to healthy growth.
What happens to the leader when they can’t let go? Unfortunately, there’s another tendency we have as humans as well; the tendency to get bored. When a leader tries to hold on to a perfect moment with perfect momentum and a perfect organizational chart, things will eventually start to get stale. There’s no remedy for it, as you can’t force people to love doing the same thing repeatedly for ten, twenty, or thirty years. Think about what your life would be like if you never left high school. It was awesome right? Lots of friends, few worries, and even fewer needs. But if we are being honest there is nothing cool about being a sixth or seventh-year senior. After a while it just gets sad. Think of the leader who won’t upgrade their design software, or those who won’t embrace new technologies relevant to a younger generation of clients and a fresh workforce. Eventually they lose their relevance and are passed up by those who can more easily embrace the changes necessary to move the organization forward.
Take five minutes and consider, have I been trying to hold on to a moment of stability or a season of calm when I should instead be moving the organization forward? What are some key battles I’ve been avoiding that need to be settled so we can be ready for the future?
It’s not always easy or popular to move the organization into a season of uncertainty and unknown. However, you should also consider that an organization that isn’t going anywhere probably doesn’t need your leadership; a manger will do just fine. Commit today to have the courage to face the future of your organization, and approach the uncertainty with the strength of a true leader…
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