A Reflection on the Hardness of Change

Now and then, I feel the need to have a little rant.  Luckily, for us all, it doesn’t happen that often. Today’s little rant is about change.

Whenever I think of the challenge of change, I think of Sally Field, well, not Sally Field exactly, her character, Norma Rae. I picture Norma, all five feet of her, standing on a table with her arms held high, holding a sign that simply says “Union”.  She stands on that table in defiance of her bosses, and on behalf of her often frightened and reluctant co-workers.  She does it because deep inside herself she knows it to be right.  It’s worth fighting for. It’s worth the risk. It will make life better in the end.  I notice her face as she’s standing there.  I see rebellion, fear and desperation.  And yet she stands there until the local police come and drag her away kicking and screaming. Take a little time to watch this and you’ll see what I mean.

That’s the thing about change, the revolutionary kind anyway.  It’s hard and scary and sometimes involves some kicking and screaming. That sort of change is rarely the kind we eagerly put our hands up for.  That’s when leadership and those who practice it are truly tested.

Today, there are those of us who long for a time when our world could be like it was before our global economy took a frightening plunge.  There are people without jobs who have lost their houses and the way of life they have become accustomed to.  To so many, it feels, and is, catastrophic and terrifying.   There are others who are less affected directly and see no reason to change their habits or their perspectives, those who fail to see that they are part of the problem…and part of the solution.

The job of leadership in times such as these requires the kind of grit that Norma Rae showed as she climbed upon her table and stood her ground.  In these times, change means hard work, hard heads, hard times and tender hearts.   And it’s not about one or two people leading everyone else out of the wilderness either.  We are all responsible.  We must all find a new way of being in the world.  Those who lead  will have a vision of the future.  They will put themselves forward to be followed; to be challenged; to be criticized; and sometimes to be scorned but they will each stand on their respective tables with their vision of better times held firmly in their hands.

The good ones will not make promises to bring back the past.  They will not waste their time, or ours, denigrating each other.  Instead, they will hold a firm vision of how things could be should we choose to act differently.  They will find ways to work together and to include us all by demanding our participation in building something else, something better…just like Norma Rae did.

Using the Vision

Once you have your simple, clear and honest vision firmly in your mind and heart, it can become a tool for planning business strategy and provide the discipline necessary to avoid unproductive and expensive diversions.

In other words, in order to make the most out of the time you have spent developing your vision, you have to calibrate your business plans and your actions, in fact everything you do, to the achievement of the vision.  You may never get there completely.  Visions, like most everything else are not static, nor should they be.  New information will affect the way your future picture looks.  The point is, you will have created a star to follow that is of your own making and the flexibility to tweak it, modify it and build on it as you go along.  How good is that?

While I am not a faithful follower of Stephen Covey, one ‘Habit’ among his ‘Seven’ that supports the notion of creating a vision is “Begin with the end in Mind“. (Here’s a link) And that folks, is what leading with vision is all about, simply knowing where you are going so that you can plan a route to get there.

To round out the week about Vision here are:

Something to Read:

Visionary Leadership by Burt Nanus (Jossy Bass Business & Management Series)

Something to watch:

Barack Obama’s “One Voice” Speech.  Here is a man with a clear future vision.

Something to think about:

What is your future vision? What does your life look like 20 years from now?  What are you doing?  What are people saying about you?

I’ll be back next week… You’re invited to drop in.  What are your experiences with vision statements?  A bunch of hooey…or is there something in it for you?