Change is hard at first, Messy in the middle ad Gorgeous at the end!

It was an early November day in 2015 and I was closing in on the best performance of my 15+ years in sales when I received a call about a job opportunity working with sales teams in North America help develop, train and implement strategies that would aid in the changing demands of Digital Sales in North America. I was intrigued by the challenge, something inside me was drawn to the challenge but “How could I leave the position I was in, given my recent two-year run of blowing out my objectives and truly enjoying every minute of it?”

I went home that evening with the job description in my head and analyzing why I would be so drawn to the opportunity. I kept finding myself saying the same thing over and over again: “I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I feel like this is where I need and want to be.” It would be a completely different role than I had ever done before. I have been in sales my entire career and this would be working with sales teams to develop and implement new strategies to aid in the evolving demands of the business. Sharing this internal debate with my wife, she quickly reminded me to look at my Strength Finders analysis. When I pulled it up and began reading it I realized that it was almost word for word describing role and responsibilities of the proposed opportunity. 

After some more careful thought, I pursued the opportunity and after a short round of interviews and negotiations I was offered the position going into 2016. Immediately, I realized that I had an opportunity to do something special by helping in leading the organizational and behavioral change in the business. 

I read the quote above not long ago and it caused me to reflect back on 2016 and all that I had experienced and learned. I thought about this for a bit and here are the main points that I have garnered from this experience:

 Change is messy and the road to change can be littered with obstacles and potholes. People, Processes, and Previous history/culture will do their best to knock you off your course.

Never lose sight of what you want that change to look and feel like. Ask yourself is what I am doing today geared towards driving that desired change?

It’s okay to make mistakes and fail. Playing sports all my life taught me to be determined, pick myself up, learn from my mistakes.

Create space for learning and skills development / become committed to being a life-long learner. Change requires a different set of skills, understanding and perspective. This can only be gained through learning new skills and new experiences.

Develop programs and strategies that focus on changing the behaviors that lead to the desired change. If you only focus on the end goal you may achieve the end result, but you need behavioral change to sustain it.

Be daring and creative in your approach. But don’t be “married” to one solution or approach. Don’t let pride and ego trip you up when heading down the path of change. 

Celebrate your successes! No matter how big or small.

A real change is about people not programs or processes. Support, invest in and surround yourself with the right people.

I am truly looking forward to the 2nd year of this commitment to driving change. I know some of the seeds that have been sown will begin bearing fruit. 

I wish you all wonderful and exciting 2017!