Need for Change or Demand for Change?

The all time question to change or not to change will always echo from now to generations yet unborn with endless fears of the risks, what can be or what might not be. And as tough as it may sometime seem, it will continue to be the bricks and foundation upon which innovation and the "future world" of individual lives and organizations will be built. Imagine, if the generation of The Wright Brotherswere too scared of the idea of flying or feared dying while in space, the world would have been deprived of the myriads of benefits that the concept of an aeroplane and the booming aviation industry created and we would have been stuck to our locomotive's noise, snail speed and absence of comfort in moving from one point to another. We therefore need to keep changing to make impact and hopefully to keep improving and getting better!

An old adage says - "Change is the only constant thing in life" literally meaning that everyday living is helplessly marked with changes whether it has to be designed or imposed. Supposing that everyday I wake up, the colour of the sky will keep changing from ocean blue to sunny red to bright orange and perhaps royal purple (*never seen that though! just an expression). But we know better that the concept of constant change is to prepare us for inevitable uncertainties which show up continuously altering our determined styles, schedules and paradigms. In other words, change is a continuous exercise, it is however desirable for change to be with positive attributes, impact and for improvement.

Change present itself to us in two ways ~ a need to change and demand for change. The need to change will always be differentiated from the demand for change, while need for change is as perceived by self or induced via a self assessment; the demand for change is by external force. The need for change perceived by self is always as defined by self and its limited to what an individual perceive of self, it is adjudged as easier to relate with unlike demand for change which defines expected change according to perception of an external input or force.

Every human is often faced with both sides of the coin ~ self-assessed need for change and external demand for change and a degree of both is essential to create a balance in our psyche. Largely, a self-assessed need for change reflects the existence of conscience while the existence of external demand and level of responsiveness to external demand for change indicates level of accountability. The ability to juggle both sides of the coin without loosing the essence of the coin or the value of the coin reflects a considerable level of maturity. Leadership abilities are also indicated by the degrees of responsiveness to the two-sided coin, in other words, leadership abilities will be appreciated by the existence of conscience and acts of conscience in good measure and sense of accountability. It is a correct assertion to say leaders are almost always change agents

Whatever side of coin we are faced with, it is laudable to submit to self-assessed need for change eventhough it can sometimes be tough while it is more important to focus on the potential and opportunities hidden in demand for change from external input/forces.

"Change hurts. It makes people insecure, confused, and angry. People want things to be the same as they've always been, because that makes life easier. But, if you're a leader, you can't let your people hang on to the past." ~ Richard Marcinko

"To live is to change and to be perfect is to have changed often" ~ John Henry Newman .."

A little change gives change, a great change gives change. Change in whatever dimension or scope is a change. Change is no respecter of age, gender, status or religion.

Comments, contributions, questions and queries are welcomed on the article. Email:bankysanya@gmail.com Twitter: @Bankysanya

To Change or Not to Change?

Change is tough and the thought of change is scary in itself! But change for good is almost always a better way to be. This is a familiar mantra that one hears on every now and then. Individuals need change to better their acts and their lots; organizations require change in their strategy to remain profitable and relevant in their industry; employees need change in level of competence and attitude to help organizations achieve their objective within set timelines; managers need to change to optimize all resources - human and inhuman and achieve set targets; parents need to change and be more responsive to children' needs; children need to change and become more obedient and exemplary; wives need to change and have more trust and regard for their husband; husbands need to change and be more loving, helpful and faithful to their wives; the good-willed and kind-hearted needs to get better in doing good; the wicked needs to change from their wicked ways and embrace love for mankind; our national leaders need to change and be more responsible and accountable to their oaths; followers need to change and become more agreeable and supportive to authorities; the world needs to change and be more conscious of changes in our climate and go green; the globe needs to change and know that it's content has gotten so mixed together that there is no longer boundaries and the world has gradually become a smaller entity due to accessibility. Change itself needs to know that it is tough and it pricks at every attempt to embrace.

While change is universal, it's not a one-size fits all. It varies in content, dimension, intensity and scope. It can be a tough hurdle but just like a 400 meters hurdle, it requires focusing a target with end in view, lifting of the body with strength and determination and consistent, progressive speed towards the marked line.

I remember my experience teaching Change models to a professional class of adults, it wasn't much ado teaching the Kurt Lewin's Freezing & Unfreezing Change Model but it  took a lot of effort describing the Kotter's Eight steps to Successful Change despite the various simulations and scenarios played for them to readily remember the eight steps, it was some hurdle! My conclusion- if teaching change could be that engaging how much more the process of change itself!

In my personal change drive, I've realized that change is not a final destination! It's a  drive towards continuos improvement. Just as you achieve one step and you think it's a feat, there is a demand for a higher change! A Zig Ziglar's book titled How to Stay Up, Up, Up in a Down, Down, Down World. The sure way is to keep changing! Having a sharp change might be desirable since one will achieve the desirable end within a shorter time but then is it sustainable? Doing a 360 degrees turn in a wink is tough enough and attempt to make another turn can be too tiring but taking a 1 degree turn over 360 hours or 360 days might be more consistent and sustainable. For consistent and sustainable change ~ Draw a target: picture a desirable end; have an activity plan; break activity down in bits; chart a periodic schedule of activity; do a self-talk write up to reinforce and motivate the change drive; keep doing; allow failures, don't celebrate or stay on the down times; just keep moving and keep moving until moving becomes progressively feasible and visible. Take change "poco a poco", little by little, one step at a time. Take change for good by the horn and ride it "poco a poco"

Comments, contributions, questions and queries are welcomed on the article. Email:bankysanya@gmail.com Twitter: @Bankysanya

Bringing leadership home. . .

The greatest dearth of my continent ~ Africa is the dearth of leaders and a warped concept of leadership. Every country and group of people have claims of been led by someone at the helm of affairs. There is a saying that I will like to convert to describe leadership ~ "Some are born leaders, some achieve leadership, some have leadership thrust upon them". This describes the types of leaders we have of which, the last two describes more of what obtains in our world - Some see the leadership as achievement while it is thrust upon some. The original version by Williams Shakespeare describes greatness and it added a prefix instruction - "Be not afraid of greatness . . ."

While our experiences with leadership might not be on the positive side, it's important that leadership is put in proper light and imbibed in proper dimension for a better world. History has a way of chronicling leaders who have impacted the world even to generations yet to come, the names are enough to send a sensation- if you hear the name Adolph Hitler, Christopher Columbus, Winston Churchill, Florence Nightingale, Nelson Mandela, Kwame Nkrumah and the list goes on, what comes to mind? 

Our ideas on leadership have gotten too used to governance and politics; tabloids and social media unendingly give unapologetic stories of failed leadership across the globe. While we reckon with the public leadership status as the standard, we overlook the everyday opportunities of leadership in our homes, offices, factories and religious centers. Homes where the women and the children dare not have contrary ideas or opinions to the husbands'; Employers of labour who have replaced their offices and factories into slavery centres with helpless employees whose options are limited;  Religious leaders who have indoctrinated their followers and turned themselves to gods. 

The real need is to take leadership away from politics, governance and a few holders of it and bring it near home where the majority is. There is a need to take leadership from the thrones, palaces, government houses and bring on the desirable leadership patterns into our individual lives, homes, workplaces and teach it to children, the future leaders.

The real leadership is as described by Peter Drucker

"Leadership is not magnetic personality — that can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not ‘making friends and influencing people’ — that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to high sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations."

Consider, the leadership over you, how much is it fulfilling this? Is there something to be free from? Freedom to any group of people would be emancipation from any source of threat, burden, stress, slavery. A little exercise to stretch our minds as we celebrate the Nigerian Independence and the 54th birthday: If you are given opportunity to be free from anything, what will it be? List those things, areas or issues. Then, highlight the gains of being free and how to achieve the freedom. If the said freedom would add positive value, then pursue and achieve!

Comments, contributions, queries and questions are welcomed. Email: bankysanya@gmail.com Twitter: @Bankysanya