Change

Advice For New Leaders

By Brandon W. Jones on March 6, 2013 10

I was recently asked, “What would you give as advice for new leaders?” To answer this question, I think you have to go back in time to when you were a new leader. As a new leader there are many things that go through your head. You may feel excited, overwhelmed, nervous, and/or a wide range of other emotions. These feelings are normal and expected.

As a new leader, you are in a position where you have a lot of control over things that you didn’t have control over in the past. Once you get over the initial range of emotions, it is time to get to work. So what is my advice for new leaders?

Three Pieces Of Advice For New Leaders

Change slowly at first

As a new leader, it is easy to get change fever. You will want to change the whole world by making sweeping changes ranging from how things are run to what people do. My advice for new leaders is that it is okay to make changes, but you need to do it slowly at first. Before you make sweeping changes, try to understand the existing processes.

What roles do people have? Who is responsible for what? Which processes are effective and which ones have been problems for years that people were too afraid to bring up? Once you understand how things are currently run, you will be able to identify how to best change things going forward. You can make changes that help the processes to move more smoothly. If you make sweeping changes without understanding the background and reasoning behind the existing processes, you may find yourself changing something that doesn’t need to be changed. [Read more…] about Advice For New Leaders

The Lighter Side Of Leadership Innovation

By Brandon W. Jones on March 3, 2013 0

What Have You Heard About Leadership Innovation?

Have you heard about the new leadership innovation? Are you aware of the leadership innovation happening all around you? I hear people saying leadership innovation all the time. There are new techniques to being a great leader, just read the top best selling books on the shelf. They will teach you the latest and greatest of leadership innovation.

In the world we live in, there’s a significant amount of leadership innovation occurring. Leaders all over the world are inspiring people to be more innovative than ever before. The leadership innovation is changing the world we live in.

Technological Innovation

In addition to the leadership innovation, there are many types of innovation in technology. Many things we now enjoy were completely unheard of ten to fifteen years ago. We now enjoy airplanes, cell phones, handheld computers, etc. Actually as I write this post, I am sitting on my nice comfy couch typing on my laptop computer watching something on my flatscreen T.V. That would have been unheard of 20 years ago. A laptop computer?! Who has one of those?! Now it seems like everyone has a laptop or better yet a tablet of some sort. [Read more…] about The Lighter Side Of Leadership Innovation

How Can Leaders Change Daily?

By Brandon W. Jones on February 26, 2013 2

What Does it Mean To Change Daily?

Is it even possible for leaders to change daily? In leadership, business, politics, and many other aspects of life, people talk about making change happen very quickly. They talk about change in terms of something that needs to happen all at once. In reality, effective change causes people and processes to change daily and incrementally.

Change has become the buzz word people use to say they are making a difference. With the word change comes a wide range of feelings. For most people, hearing the word change either excites them or makes them cringe. Change has become a very polarizing word.

How Are You Transparent In Your Leadership?

By Brandon W. Jones on February 12, 2013 0

Is it possible to be transparent as a leader?

Recently, I had an experience where I worked with another leader to make a change. The change would affect all the people we lead, so it was important that we be transparent. We informed everyone that the change would happen and tried to fill them in on all the details.

We also explained that the change needed to happen for the progress of the organization and for the desired outcome. From there, we asked for everyone’s input and feedback prior to making the change. We continued to make this request over and over again for many months prior to making the change.

We made this request for several months and everyone told us they trusted us and the direction we were going. They gave us their vote of confidence numerous times and said they were okay with any changes that would come on the fly because they felt we had been transparent. This gave us confidence to move forward with our plan.

Should Leaders Be Transparent?

By Brandon W. Jones on February 11, 2013 4

This week the President of the United States, President Barack Obama, will give the State of the Union address. His goal is to outline his plans, expectations, and personal agenda for 2013. In an attempt to be transparent, he is expected to let the country know what he plans to do to address each of the major domestic issues facing the country. Some of those issues include immigration, gun control, and education. In addition, he is expected to address some of the international issues the U.S. faces like the war in Afghanistan and global climate change.

Many people throughout the country are anxiously waiting to see what he has to say because it will likely coincide with the federal budget for this year. After his speech, however, there will be a lag time before people will really know the specifics of the federal budget because President Obama has not finished his 2013 budget. He is not expected to send it to Congress until mid-March. (In years past, the President gave his State of the Union address at the same time as the budget was released.)

10 Steps To Make Effective Change

By Brandon W. Jones on January 22, 2013 5

What Does It Take To Make Effective Change?

As a leader, effective change is probably a very common part of your vocabulary. “Improve this process to make work go more smoothly.” “Implement this new procedure to comply with the new regulation.” “Let’s adjust our focus to improve the profit margin.” “Improve the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the organization.” The topic of creating effective change comes up on a regular basis and is disguised by many different words.

As a leader, it is very common to want to make sweeping changes and make them happen NOW, but it is not always possible. There tends to be resistance to change because it causes people to go out of their comfort zone. Effective change requires that people do something new that is unfamiliar or unknown. People many times are afraid that when the changes occur they won’t be able to perform as well as they do in their current position and it will put their jobs in jeopardy. They can also be afraid that change will eliminate the need for their position. These fears are very valid in many cases and cause a tremendous amount of anxiety when people hear the word change.

So what does it take to implement an effective change? Is it even possible? Yes it is possible to implement effective change! The steps below explain how it can be done.

1. Identify the problem or reason for change.

Before you can make any effective change, you must have a full understanding of what is currently happening. Why were the current practices chosen in the past and how were they effective? Also, why are they needing to be changed and how will the proposed change be an improvement?

You should know both the good and the bad of what is currently happening. Once you identify both, you should identify specifically what needs to be improved and why. The worst thing you can do is change something just for the sake of changing it.

If you don’t have a full understanding of the current process, you will probably have a very hard time betting the buy-in of others. On the other hand, when you have a full understanding of the existing process you will be able to explain very specifically why the existing process doesn’t work and why your changes will fix or improve it. [Read more…] about 10 Steps To Make Effective Change