What is it about change that so many of us find so stressful? What if we could look at it in a new way? What if we could think of change as an opportunity? An opportunity to exercise and expand our creativity? An opportunity to learn and grow…to become more than we are today? What if we could embrace the unknown, rather than face it with fear?
Think about the things that have changed in the last 5, 10, or even 20 years of your life.
My husband just bought a new Blu-Ray DVD player (we’re not always early adopters!), replacing the DVD player we’ve been using the past 10 years. This made me think back to when I was in college and the first couple of years after school, when we would rent VCRs from the video store to watch movies on the weekend. I remember being assessed a 50 cent fee for not rewinding movies, on occasion, before we returned them…and how some people even bought VHS tape re-winders, in addition to the VCR, just to do this faster!
In looking back through photos recently, it occurs to me that while we still have one camera that actually requires film, we haven’t used it for nearly 10 years. I’m not confident I would know where to buy film for it now!
I could go on with additional examples, and I’m sure you have your own list of all the things that used to be “the” thing you had to have, which are now collecting dust in the attic, the basement, the local thrift and antique stores…things change. Time goes on. We have to adapt or be left behind.
As a leader, we must change; we cannot rest on our laurels.
I’m reading several books right now (I don’t have them all with me right now, so plears forgive me for giving you the exact reference for this), and in one of them there is the story of a company that manufactured horse whips – back in the time of horse-drawn carriages. The company was totally focused on making the absolute best whips available; and they were successful. The problem was, this was the time when automobiles were becoming more popular and available, and fewer people we traveling in horse-drawn carriages. Hence, the need for horse whips decreased dramatically. The manufacturer was caught unaware, and his business failed.
He wasn’t paying attention to what was going on in the market around him and he missed the winds of change. The result for him and his employees was life-changing and not in a good way.
Today, spend some time reflecting on your attitude toward change. In what ways are you anticipating a future that is different from today’s reality?
What do you need to be doing to prepare for that change, so you don’t miss the boat (so to speak) and end up with the VCR re-winder and the horse whip manufacturer?
