doug smith training

Change, while necessary, can also provoke fear. Solving problems requires change.  Given a choice, it's easy to shy away from the fear of change. We hold onto our problems when change causes fear. Stay centered, manage those emotions, and reach for courage instead of fear. What if you DID solve that problem by changing the process, the situation, or the interpersonal dynamics? You can. Fear might just be the excitement you feel from the shift of the solution. -- doug smith 

  As a recovering perfectionist, I've tried to make peace with temporary solutions. I do still want everything to be perfect (and to STAY that way) while also learning that even my best ideas are transitional at best. Things will change. I will change. You will change. Our ideas and solutions will also need to change. If we can stop thinking that solutions are final our problems won't seem so troubling. Because whatever we don't solve NOW can still be solved later.  What do you think? -- doug smith

Change is not a burden. Change is proof of life. -- doug smith

How do you feel about what change does to the past?  Or, not even the past, how about the present? So often it feels like we trash what is in favor of what could be. While change IS inevitable and necessary, it is NOT necessary to create bitterness and resentment in the process. What was got us to where we are and now that it's time to move on (because it is ALWAYS time to move on) we can take what was wonderful and leave the rest. We can honor the past without living there.  Renewal does not need to mean rejection. Go for the new, yes -- while remaining grateful for whatever got us where we are. We've done much recently to destroy tradition. Maybe we could explore what makes some of that tradition worth holding onto. What do you think? -- doug smith  

How do you feel about rules that are imposed on you? A new procedure, a different process, some change that feels awkward and unwelcome? Most people hate that sort of thing. That means that when we as leaders seek to make a change it's worth considering how many voices we've allowed into the conversation. Do people feel included? Are they likely to approve of some new restriction? It's harder to follow rules that you didn't approve. The best way to influence that challenge is to give people a voice, and, then listen. -- doug smith 

  A problem is a change in need of a push. Push. -- doug smith

  Have you ever felt a sudden change that you did not approve of? Maybe your company decides that you have reduced hours. Or, maybe your boss decides that the promotion you were counting on is best given to someone else. Change is like a dance we did not choose the music to. Change is like an invitation to a party filled with strangers. Change rocks our world, and only sometimes makes it better. How are you using change to makes things better? Good luck is a change you can approve of. Bad luck is a change that you do not approve of, but that happens anyway. Change basically does not care what you think. The choice is still up to you. Which next change gives you positive choices? Where is your best choice? -- doug smith

It may be comforting to lean on what we've already learned, but it's not enough. That doesn't mean that we need to abandon everything that we've learned, just to pay attention to what is changing. We can rely on learned foundational principles like continuous learning, ethical leadership, participative leadership, respectful communication and other core strengths that serve us well and that still matter. We also need to react to and find ways to manage brand new learning. Just exactly WILL we lead completely virtual workforces? How WILL we manage misinformation? What SHOULD we do about creating fair opportunities? There is much to be learned, but then again there always HAS been much to learn. The challenge now is to keep up the pace, to distinguish truth from deception, and to treat people with respect while building our own flexibility. What we've learned is important. What we still must learn is critical. -- doug smith 

Have you ever struggled with a change? Struggled to adapt to someone else's change? Struggled to influence others to follow your change? Change can be tough. Balance may be the key. Balancing stability and change, so that you avoid being overwhelmed, seems like such a great idea. Shouldn't it be easy? Balancing stability and change is the easiest thing in the world -- just like riding a bike in a hurricane. No, it's not so easy. If discouragement sets in, remember all those times you've changed before and roll with it. Change isn't hard -- it's unavoidable.   -- doug smith

Have you ever procrastinated on changing something that you knew needed to be changed? I sure have. I once worked with some producers who were consistently late in paying their premiums. I knew they were late, but for several months could not figure out how to remedy the situation. What if I upset the producer and they took their business someplace else. I wasn't happy about it, and neither was my boss. It was not the time to wait and see, it was the time to change the process. We did eventually, but not before the issue became a problem. Every problem points to a change that's been missed. Change delayed just gets in the way. -- doug smith

You've probably heard this expression since you were a child: "do as I say, not as I do..." or some variation. And yet, as leaders, we often expect people to adopt a change we haven't fully supported or even adopted ourselves. That new software. That new attendance policy. That reviewed customer service skill. We cling to the past even as we promote the future. That's not for you. If you are a leader in a hybrid environment and you spend every working day at the onsite work location -- what kind of picture of hybrid does that paint for your team? How supported will your hybrid team members feel if they can only gain your support in the office? If you catch yourself promoting something that you don't do, that's cause for reflection. Asking someone else to change something you haven't already changed is curious indeed. If people have to ask "why" then it's clear you're not already doing what you want them to do. -- doug smith  

"I don't like change..." "What is it about change that you don't like?" "All the disruption! All the chaos! I just get used to something and someone changes it." "What's your plan?" "Excuser me?" "What do you plan to do about it? "What CAN I do about it? Change just keeps coming at us relentlessly. I hate it!" "What if things are actually getting better?" "Impossible!" "Think about it. What if you could have frozen time fifty years ago? Would you really rather work in a coal mine? Would you really rather deal with unchecked disease and infection? Sure, things are challenging now, but if you go back into any period of time in recorded history, things were much worse." "So what should I do about that?" "Maybe stop complaining. Maybe stay positive. Maybe, as as responsible high performance leader work to create positive change." "Hmmm." What do you think...

High performance leaders know that any initiative takes both logic and emotion, but which comes first? Which will get you moving, and which will keep you on course? Knowing that you can't live without either one, it's useful to organize the team in ways that optimize your chances of success. Logic usually waits for emotions to express themselves before anyone cares about logic.  Tune up your team's emotions, or the logic will fall flat.  -- doug smith

When it comes to problem solving, when it comes to change, when it comes to leadership -- agreement is what propels you forward. Reach agreement on the motivation for your initiative and the rest is scalable details. -- doug smith

It's much harder to tell someone how to change than it is to show them. And, they're much more likely to believe what you show than what you say. Change first, and then others might follow. -- doug smith  

Before you change anything, ask yourself "what's the goal?" because once you've changed it, there it is! -- doug smith

What you don't change changes anyway. Why not choose?  Take charge now. -- doug smith  

  What do change and negotiation have in common? They are both: Asking people to change Easier planned than executed Subject to opposition  In today's edition of the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation Sunday Minute , James Sebenius provides seven tips on how to handle a big negotiated deal that is falling apart or facing opposition. He states the Amazon decision to back out of an agreement to build a major business center in New York as an example. It seemed like a done-deal, (a meaningful change) and then it fell apart.  Change management efforts also frequently fall apart. That's frustrating and career-impacting for anyone involved in the change. Like a deal gone sour, a failed change project is agonizing. Here are seven tips from the article. I think that they are excellence advice for managing a major negation AND managing a change project: Never take success for granted in a complex, multiparty setting. Stay informed about local opinions regarding the issues...

Do you believe everything that you believe? Every once in a while it's useful to question what we believe. When we take all of our beliefs for granted, they can outlive their usefulness. Not the core beliefs -- but the seemingly insignificant ones that stand in your way, beliefs like "luck is for the lucky," and " it's too late to make a difference now," and "if I can't convince someone I have to just go ahead and do it anyway..." Our heads are filled with stories we've heard over and over, we've told ourselves over and over, so many times that they rattle around on auto-pilot taking us to places we don't want to go anymore. We've inherited many stories that do us no  good. It's OK to let them go, -- doug smith  

  Are you bumping up against tradition? As leaders we are often breaking barriers. We're constantly knocking down walls. Sometimes, we're stepping on toes. We change things because that's what leaders do but it does matter how we change. Are we graceful, or clumsy? Are we considerate, or brutal? Are we deliberate, or chaotic? Change is necessary because it's where growth happens. Doing that change we can forget about or even demolish tradition. "If it mattered we'd keep it," right? It matters. How we handle tradition tells our team how we will eventually handle each and every one of them. What has been placed there before us has been trusted to us. We can improve it, always. Must we ever destroy it? Seldom. Ignore tradition and you'll lose stability.  Lost stability and there's no telling where you'll end up. We can drive change and still honor tradition. That means learning more about both. -- doug smith