The Purposeful Leadership Challenge. Part 4: Have no fear

It’s often said that people don’t like change but maybe this statement is an oversimplification. One theory is that it’s not change, in itself, that we fear but what we might lose as the result of it.

Raising our own awareness of what we fear losing — perhaps that we may not be able to adapt to new ways of doing business or that we will be worse off in some way — allows us to grieve the past and step into a new future.

This is far more than an intellectual exercise. It is one that we need to really feel our way through and it may not be pleasant. For example, in order to step into an exciting future with a new solo business venture, one of our clients had to experience the loss of what might have been, had she continued with her original business partner.

Acknowledging the sacrifice of change is a very necessary step. Without it, we end up stuck between two stools and real transformation can never take place from this position.

Having acknowledged the sacrifice of change, we begin to reduce our fear of it. We realise the cost of change and we feel more ready to invest in it.

In fact, in his book ‘The Answer To How Is Yes’, Peter Block poses the question ‘What price are you willing to pay?’, as a vehicle to surface and acknowledge the sacrifice and commitment required of any choice around creating something new.

Without tackling this question in the open, most leaders, teams and businesses will find themselves back peddling a change as soon as things start to get tough.

Want to better understand how ready you and your organisation are for the change that comes with purposeful strategy? Try out this Readiness Indicator from otherkind.