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We All Must Change

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which
you really stop to look fear in the face ...
you must do the thing which you think you cannot do."

---Eleanor Roosevelt

As we look forward to the possibilities and promise of a new millennium, the demands for change are calling out to each of us. Our organizations must learn to operate differently---fast, flexible, focused, and fired-up will be commonplace. Our minds must be open to notions and ideas that we wouldn't have dreamed of before. We must put our own personal agendas and causes aside, incorporating what is good about them into goals that benefit all of us. We have to find new ways to capitalize on the strengths within our organizational community to enable us to reach our goals.

Jack Welsh, former Chairman and CEO, General Electric described the new kind of leader we need when he said, "The world will not belong to 'managers' or those who make the numbers dance, as we used to say, or those who are conversant with all the jargon we use to sound smart. The world will belong to passionate, driven leaders ---people who not only have an enormous amount of energy, but who can energize those whom they lead."

If we want to be the best and contribute the most---if we want to make a difference---each one of us must understand change, embrace it as a way of life, and in our own right, lead change. This will take an on-going willingness to learn and grow. The 21st Century will require focusing our attention on tapping into everyone's talents if we are to fulfill the promise and opportunity that awaits.

5 Discussion Questions For You and Your Team to Consider

The Process:

• Have everyone take a few minutes to think through the questions on their own, recording their thoughts to share during the group discussion.
• Break your team into small discussion groups.
• Have each group explore their ideas and report the main themes that came up for each of the questions.
• Use the presentations from the small groups as a framework for your team to discuss their thoughts and proposed actions.

Questions:

1. What are we doing well?
2. What needs changing?
3. What obstacles are standing in our way?
4. What strengths can we call upon to overcome them?
5. What next steps can we take to get started?

Facilitation Tips:

Be open to new ideas.
Ask questions.
Look for common ground.
Avoid sharing your opinions; use them sparingly to bring ideas together.
Listen, listen, listen to your team.
Offer your sponsorship for the best plans.

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