Leadership and change are obverse sides of the same coin. Unfortunately, when many leaders say “change,” what they really mean is “you have to change!” Such leaders flaunt three immutable laws of human nature:
- The first: the only person any of us can change is the one we look at every morning in the mirror
- The second: what a leader does is far more important than anything they might say
- The third: the more we push those we would have act differently, the more they push back
We can’t change people, but we can inspire them. In building a new tomorrow, challenge is the start of it, creative tension is part of it, but inspiration is the heart of it. To work our way through discontinuous change, to move people, to inspire them, give ‘em a little ELVIS:
- Excellence isn’t optional
- Let your behaviour be the team’s compass
- Values provide the context that allows people to act in concert
- Involve the team in not just the “what” but in the “how”
- Share yourself
John O. Burdett is founder of Orxestra® Inc. He has extensive international experience as a senior executive. As a consultant he has worked in more than 40 countries for organisations that are household names. John has worked on organisation culture for some of the world’s largest organisations. His ongoing partnership with TRANSEARCH International means that his thought leading intellectual property, in any one year, supports talent management in many hundreds of organisations around the world.
