Anticipating and mastering change are the two biggest single factors driving personal and professional success in today’s turbulent marketplace. They are both a science and an art. 90% of the population occupy the problem reaction zone where they struggle to respond to everyday crises and setbacks. The winning 10% live in the outcome-creation zone where they thrive on flux and fluidity. Where do you live?
In this 5-minute video, I want to give you a masterclass on change readiness by sharing the Change Readiness Flywheel that will enable you to crush the challenges of change that are coming at you fast and furiously. This Change Readiness Flywheel seems simple but it’s the result of extensive research and neuroscience that I conducted together with my co-author, Dr Diane McIntosh.
Are you ready to change by being change ready? Then let’s begin with curiosity. Curiosity is the gateway to change because it’s the eagerness to learn. What do you really want to know? What do you really want to learn? How can you help others learn? If you ask the questions and you’re passionate about the answers, you will find them.
Opportunities are in front of you, so scan your environment, your market, and your customers. Interpret what you’re seeing. Share it with trusted colleagues and confidantes. What are you looking for? Why is it important? How are you sharing it? Dialogue with smart people is the breakthrough action. Being Change Ready is a team sport.
Then you must plan. What’s your WHY that will motivate you to take on the impossible? What’s your desired outcome that is irresistibly exciting to you? and what’s your strategy for achieving success? What will motivate your customers to act? What’s their main goal? How can you help them achieve it? That’s the secret sauce.
Nothing happens until you win others over. You need to make them see you as their ticket to the show. There is nothing cheap about talk. It’s the bridge between where they are and where you want them to be. You are your words and your words are you. So what do your customers want to hear? What are their fears that you must assuage? And how must you talk to them so that they make you their partner of choice?
Life is always in flux, so like the US Marines, you need to adapt, improvise and overcome setbacks and wrong turns as they occur. Failure is never final if you never quit. So what do you need to modify? How can you help your customers improve by a little or by a lot? What are the speedbumps facing them? Unleash your inner McGuiver by using whatever is around you right now?
Success builds on success so store and exchange best practices. That’s what I’m doing right now with this video. Record what works. Make sure you’re being best in class because nothing less will cut it. Compare notes with colleagues and customers. What are they seeing that you’re not?
We’re only as good as the ecosystem we nurture so grow your Change Alliance. Who are the operators you must align with? Who are the prospects you must network with? Where do you physically need to be? I’ll tell you right now, it’s not at home. Get out there if you want lightning to strike you.
In the end, it’s not about who’s right. It’s about who’s left. Sustain your passion for progress. As Steve Jobs said, stay hungry, stay foolish. Love the game even when you don’t. And above all, enrich others lives. That’s been my mission over the past five minutes. Now, please, pay it forward.
