What drives change?
Posted on 22. Mar, 2012 by Susan Wright in Conscious Leadership, Life Coaching, Personal and Professional Development, Team Development
Today I read a collection of articles, and although the topics were seemingly diverse; healthcare, innovation, work-life, they are merged on one central theme – change. It’s not overtly stated in the articles, as often change is a big bad scary word! But as my clients and readers know, this is my area of specialty – I understand it first-hand, and I also love what it can bring – creativity, movement, action, and meaningful results.
Change can come at us whether we want it or not – but it’s truly a catalyst for better things to come – the challenge is being patient and knowing how to manage the process. It’s also helpful to understand what drives change so we can intuit or at least appreciate what’s coming next!
For so many people and organizations today, it’s fair to say, we often don’t know what’s coming next. Ambiguity or uncertainty is the name of the game. There are many coping mechanisms but they’re just that – coping, not so productive and certainly numbing at times. During these uncertain times people may speculate, entertain ideas, ruminate; and worse, play out their fears! What if instead people’s attitudes and mindsets became the drivers of change and not all the things we can’t control?
It’s easy to get caught up in the downward spiral – it’s fairly contagious and mostly counter productive and incredibly ineffective and dis-empowering. To open up, create movement and capacity you may want to get caught up with what you’re thinking, saying, and doing to create positive impact, sustainable results and hey what about innovation?
Healthcare, innovation, work-life -Â are driven by beliefs, values, ideas, and who holds these: people! Somehow we start placing more credit in processes, things, “factors,” and laws that govern how and when change occurs. Naturally, these things matter, but just how much credit and control can we allow for these influences?
You can influence and drive change, it might just be a question of what, how, when, where and why? Keeping in mind the topics I reviewed today, I began to ask – Do I want better quality health outcomes, do I want an effective and fulfilling work-life, how do I influence innovation? There are a few things central to these questions, those being: the conversations, beliefs, attitudes, and mindsets we have, and how those create the conditions in which change happens. When I coach someone in their professional and personal life – they might ask a similar question about work-life and through conversation, build awareness about these internal drivers of change; likewise, it’s just as relevant for teams, entrepreneurs, and organizational leaders to do the same. When teams and leaders consider how they can create innovation or impact at a systems level – they ought to check-in with the quality of their conversations, their level of engagement, and their commitment to managing that process.
I’ve titled this post with a broad question yet essentially, the answer lies within you. You can and do drive change. So what are you doing to develop your inner wisdom to be in step with change? Let’s also consider the collective wisdom of groups and leadership teams responsible for implementing change to inspire creativity, excellence, and innovation.
In a large meeting last night, a wise coach stated, “2012 is not the end, it’s the end of the way we do things.” I couldn’t agree more, as a new way is emerging, although ambiguous and uncertain. You do have influence, and can embrace your creativity and wisdom to make great things happen. Now that you’re in the driver’s seat – what mindset, tools, and skills will you develop to forward action and create meaningful results?
We can all benefit from a guide, someone to navigate in this uncertain and exciting time – for more information on how I work with leadership teams, partnership organizations, and individuals, I invite you to contact me – let’s start the conversation.
Be the change.
Susan
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