Leadership Memo 2021-12
The word “transformation” is used quite frequently lately. Some transformation initiatives fail, some succeed. What’s the difference? In one word, you. Transformation won’t happen until your thoughts begin to change. So, let’s talk about your thoughts.
Your thoughts are powerful. They have a tremendous ability to shape your life or situation for good or for bad. For example, maybe you believed the lie someone told you about yourself when you were growing up: “You’re worthless. You don’t matter.” If you accept that thought, even though it wasn’t true, it shaped your life. Similarly, if someone told you, “You can do it. I believe in you.” If you accept that thought, whether you truly can do it, you’ll see a vast difference in your life.
The way to be careful with your thoughts is to examine them because some thoughts are good, others aren’t. Your thoughts determine your feelings and your feelings determine your actions. To change your life or situation, change your thoughts.
But how do you change?
Change requires making choices. It’s not enough to dream of changing. It’s not enough to desire change. To change, you need to make a decision. You must choose to change.
Change is intentional. Are you going to be any different in six months? Are you going to be better a year from now? Is your organisation going to be healthier, stronger, and more mature? Are your employees going to be happier?
I can tell you the answer right now: These changes will only happen if you choose to change — because change doesn’t happen accidentally.
But I want to caution you, there is no change without loss, and there is no loss without pain. And change means you let go of some old things in order to grab hold of some new things.
It’s like swinging on a trapeze. The trapeze artist swings out on one bar and then has to reach out and grab the other one. At some point, he has to let go of one to grab on to the other, or he’s not going to make it to the other side. If he thinks he can hold on to both, what happens? He gets stuck in the middle, and he’s going to fall.
Some of you are stuck in the middle, and you’re falling because you haven’t let go of the old patterns, the old habits, and the old ways of thinking. You have to let go of your old ways. Let it go.
“If you change the way you think, it changes the way you feel, and that will change the way you act.” – Rick Warren
It all starts with you.
What is your experience with transformation? Do you find letting go of old ways of thinking easy or difficult? Why? Drop me a note and let me know. I’d love to hear from you.
Latest happenings:
1. “Our Agile Tales” podcast, episode 5 of Agile @ Tesla is out! We continue our discussion with Joe Justice, chatting about Elon Musk’s desire and drive to innovate quickly, resulting in tangible organizational agility at Tesla. We’re covering everything about agility. So far, we’ve discussed HR (episodes 1-2) and Finance (episodes 3-4). This time we’re focusing on management. Take a listen and let me know what you think.
2. Do you know that I recently started a meetup group with a few colleagues called “San Francisco Bay Area Business Agility Meetup”? We meet once a month. Our final event of the year is coming up on December 8. Marina Alex, the author of SWAY (Sales with Agile), will be talking to us about Agile in Sales. If you work in sales or with sales, if you get bogged down by corporate silos, and wish to transform your company, come join us – click the RSVP button!
3. Last but not the least, I am honored to be invited to give 2 sessions in Agile Nigeria Conference 2022. I’ll be talking about starting your agile journey with your finance department, HR department and executive management team instead of software development teams. Why? Come join me and find out. Check out the agenda and RSVP.
