Change, Choice, Challenge, and We!

What is change? The management and leadership literature are full of definitions of change and each definition focuses on a unique aspect of change in its own way. To me, change means nothing but an ongoing mission to invest, time, energy, attention, and other resources either to become the better version of self or to make the world around a better place to live for the present and future generations. So, in a nutshell, change is “to make or become different for the just cause”.

This simple definition clearly indicates, change is a combined outcome of two sets of interrelated fundamental forces: desire, dedication, and discipline to change at the individual level, say forces X and desire, dedication, and discipline to change other significant stakeholders around for the just cause, say forces Y. The intricate relationship between these two sets of forces of change can be mathematically expressed as XY=C, where C stand for change, which cannot be zero but it increases exponentially with the passage of time as evident from the fact that since the dawn of civilization, we have been in constant struggle with nature either to change the surrounding to our advantage or to change ourselves to adapt in the surrounding. And since then, these two aspects of change – to make or become different - are going hand in hand even today and will continue to go forever in days to come even at a much faster pace than ever before.

From the change equation: XY=C, it can be clearly inferred that neither X nor Y can be zero as C is a non-zero entity because everything is continually changing in harmony with each other including the universe and all its constituents since the origin of the universe. Therefore, we as an individual or as an organization have only two choices to make: either to embrace the change on a continual basis to change ourselves for just cause or allow external forces to change us! Not changing as per the need of the hour is not a choice at all to opt for a longer duration, especially in a highly dynamic disruptive VUCA [Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous] world. And if chosen to make such a choice- not embracing change as per need of the hour, can lead only to one certain outcome and that outcome is surviving no longer in this world! As no one including human-created organizations, in this world, want to vanish from this beautiful world, embracing continual change is the only choice to make.

As everything around us, living and non-living or natural and human-made, is directly or indirectly interdependent on each other, expecting a change in the outside world without embracing change at the individual level or expecting change at the individual level without embracing changes taking place in the outside world is impossible! How to make a continual change possible in line with the need of hours is an art. And this art to create and paint the envisioned beautiful world with the brush of change requires us to realign and develop our capabilities including mindset as per the need of the hour.?What knowledge, skills, abilities, mindset, and capabilities we need to possess, or we need to develop to embrace, initiate, manage, handle resistance, inspire, lead, and sustain change successfully depends on who we are and what we want to be in future as an individual or as an organization!

The response to questions: who we are and who we want to be, depend on our deeper self-awareness and connect with the ultimate purpose. Both as an individual and as an organization, first we need to discover and identify our ultimate purpose so that we can have necessary ESCAPE velocity (Expedition/mission, Strategy, Celebrate success & failure alike, Action, Purpose, Evaluation & Review) to develop a purpose-driven vision statement and direct our time, energy, attention, and other resources to develop and materialize the vision through conscious successive change initiatives by developing expedition or mission, strategy, action plan, plan to evaluate action, and mindset to celebrate success and failure alike. In order to be an effective change leader, we must do the following seven things:

To assess where you stand with respect to “what to do to be an effective change leader” and your current level of self-awareness in this regard please devote time to the following self-help exercise:

The second most important factor which we need to take care of before embarking on the change initiative is investing time and energy to identify “what to have to be an effective change leader” to embrace, initiate, manage, handle resistance, inspire, lead, and sustain change initiatives successfully over a period. In order to be an effective change leader, we must imbibe and cherish the following seven pairs of qualities [7 Cs]:

To assess where you stand with respect to “what to have to be an effective change leader” and your current level of self-awareness in this regard please devote time to the following self-help exercise:

These two aspects [what you need to do and what you need to have] are the most important aspects which need to be taken care of to plan, initiate, inspire, manage, lead, and sustain the changes successfully over a period. Although people and organizations have tremendous potential to change for just cause irrespective of who they are in the current situation, they both need an escape velocity to transition to where they want to be from where they are. This escape velocity to change comes from the third most important factor: at what level people or business leaders can operate from within or what kind of mindset they have, in addition to what they have and what they do.

Human being operates at multiple levels. And these levels have been categorized into five levels as per the Being Centered Leadership Theory propounded by Mark Kriger and Louis W. Fry:

a)????What is appropriate to the context (Level-V: The sensible/physical world)—this level represents the "Fixed/Finite Mindset."

b)????What is appropriate based on vision and values (social construct of reality) to society (Level-IV: Images and Imagination)—this represents the "Visionary Mindset."

c)????What is appropriate, keeping self and others in mind (Conscious leadership- Level-III: The soul)—this represents the self-aware (Body, Mind, Heart) "Social Mindset."

d)????What is spiritually appropriate based on love, service, and power of being in moment/presence/now (Level-II: Spirit)- This represents the "Spiritual Mindset" which gives rise to the possibility of self-transcendence and deepening connectedness with all things in the universe.

e)????What is appropriate based on a feeling of oneness and constant reconciliation of apparent opposite (Level-I: Being)—This represents the "Infinite Mindset" where there is no win or loss—only adding value to the world and to keep on going is the ultimate success.

Therefore, what you do or what you can do depends upon two factors –

1.????At what levels you have developed yourself to operate within? The highest is the level-I- The being level. Thus, your willpower to invest time and energy in developing yourself to operate at a higher level (level I: Being level is ultimate) will act as the escape velocity to the envisioned change and transformation initiatives.

2.????What traits/competencies/qualities/values/potential you have developed and inculcated in yourself or your people? Thus, the willpower to invest time and energy in developing self and others in terms of traits/ competencies/ qualities/values/ potential will act as the escape velocity to the envisioned change and transformation initiatives.

Irrespective of who you are today or what you do, you can design the world you wish to live through conscious successive change initiative by your dedication and commitment to operate at a higher level from within which in turn will help to develop?and acquire capabilities mentioned under ?“what to have to be an effective change leader” and to do the seven things mentioned under “what to do to be an effective change leader”. These three factors: what to do, what to have and at what level to operate from within to be an effective change leader, provide much-needed ESCAPE Velocity to design the world you love to live and leave in legacy for present and future generations. First, be flexible to operate at a higher level from within and be clear about the purpose of your life – The true why and calling. Then create a vision based on the true purpose of your life. Develop expedition/ mission, break it into SMARTER (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely, Evaluate, Review overall direction) actions, keep on evaluating the outcomes of the actions on the ground and learn to celebrate the success and failure alike without giving up.?

Knowing what to have, what to do and how to operate at a higher level from within to materialize the successful change in the world?is easy but executing the same in real life is full of challenges worth accepting to succeed: how to stay motivated in the lonely journey of change leadership, how to connect and keep the motivation level of others so that they keep on marching towards the ultimate purpose, how to stay on track despite adversities, how to build resilience among people, and how to address resistance to change and ensure timely necessary support to all the stakeholders despite competing requirements, ?are some of the real challenges where many of us falter while leading and managing the change! To be a more effective change leader, first, have a purpose-driven holistic vision and be a change role model by behaving like an ideal change leader: who operate at the highest level (Being Level) from within, invest time & energy to acquire what to have qualities (7 pair of Cs) and do and follow what to do (ESCAPE) continually to inspire others around to become part of vision and mission, thereby encouraging them to contribute to materialize the dream of which they themselves are part of!?