Leaders On The Grow
Leaders on the grow
CMA Management
Apr 2001
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Authors: Jim Clemmer
Abstract:
Hundreds of management teams and thousands of people are dealing with change. Some are proactively making change happen; others are watching it happen and scrambling to react. When it comes to change, people have four choices: 1. Ignore it, 2. Predict it, 3. Control it, or 4. Grow with it. The first three choices eventually lead to stagnation and decay. Leaders on the grow intuitively recognize the timeless principles, including: 1. Life is change. It is one of nature's mighty laws. Growth is optional. 2. Do not deny life by searching for complete stability and predictability. 3. If the rate of external change exceeds our rate of internal growth, we are eventually going to be changed.
Full Text:
In the middle of a meeting a few years ago I caught myself saying, "Once we get through this crazy period and things get back to normal..." Then it hit me: I had been saying this for at least a year or two. As our company scrambled to move into a strong market leadership position, we were initiating endless waves of changes and (we hoped) improvements throughout the organization. I interrupted myself with the question, "Do we seem to be consistently talking about change as if it's a temporary condition to be endured until calmer times return?"
"Yeah, it's as if we're battening down the hatches and waiting out the storm," one executive responded.
"But," another executive observed, "we've got to learn how to work in the driving rain and high seas because things aren't going to slow down unless we scale back on our vision, goals and rate of growth".
And that could be deadly in today's fast-moving market. We'd be following and trying to keep up rather than leading and setting the pace.
The discussion went on to mark a turning point for many of us. We began to realize we needed to accept
CMA Management
Apr 2001
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Authors: Jim Clemmer
Abstract:
Hundreds of management teams and thousands of people are dealing with change. Some are proactively making change happen; others are watching it happen and scrambling to react. When it comes to change, people have four choices: 1. Ignore it, 2. Predict it, 3. Control it, or 4. Grow with it. The first three choices eventually lead to stagnation and decay. Leaders on the grow intuitively recognize the timeless principles, including: 1. Life is change. It is one of nature's mighty laws. Growth is optional. 2. Do not deny life by searching for complete stability and predictability. 3. If the rate of external change exceeds our rate of internal growth, we are eventually going to be changed.
Full Text:
In the middle of a meeting a few years ago I caught myself saying, "Once we get through this crazy period and things get back to normal..." Then it hit me: I had been saying this for at least a year or two. As our company scrambled to move into a strong market leadership position, we were initiating endless waves of changes and (we hoped) improvements throughout the organization. I interrupted myself with the question, "Do we seem to be consistently talking about change as if it's a temporary condition to be endured until calmer times return?"
"Yeah, it's as if we're battening down the hatches and waiting out the storm," one executive responded.
"But," another executive observed, "we've got to learn how to work in the driving rain and high seas because things aren't going to slow down unless we scale back on our vision, goals and rate of growth".
And that could be deadly in today's fast-moving market. We'd be following and trying to keep up rather than leading and setting the pace.
The discussion went on to mark a turning point for many of us. We began to realize we needed to accept