We generally change ourselves for one of two reasons: inspiration or desperation.
Leading Change
Leadership is about change. If you need no change, you need no leader. In times of change, people seek out more and better leaders. Those successful sought-out leaders embrace the following thought: “The best reformers the world has ever known are those who began with themselves.”
Mahatma Gandhi said, “We must be the change that we envision.” Tolstoy said, “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
The following comments are about personal change:
1. One person cannot change another person.
When I started as a young leader, I thought that a leader could change the people; and boy, did I work at it. I said, “All right, I’m going to give them thoughts, ideas, and principles; and I’m going to change people.”
After several years, I awakened to the thought that the only person who can change himself or herself is himself or herself. You can change yourself, but I cannot change you. You see, I am responsible to you but I am not responsible for you; and there is a world of difference between those two. I am responsible for teaching you good leadership, I am responsible for sharing things that can help add value to your life; but you are the only one who can take responsibility to change yourself, and that is what this whole article is about.
2. Most people need to look at the way that they look at change.
How many times have you heard somebody say, “I sure hope things will change.” The only way things will change for me is when I change. It has nothing to do with hope. You can’t just say, “Well, I just hope things will change around me,” and expect results. The only way that things will change for me is when I change.
I have also heard this before, “I don’t know why I’m this way.” Well, you are the way you are because that is the way you want to be. Let’s expose it for what it really is.
3. When you make the right personal changes, other things begin to turn out right.
So when people say, “I’d like things to turn out better for me, I’d like things to turn out right, I’d like things to turn out better in the organization, or in my family,” I say to them, “Start by making personal changes.”
by Dr. John C. Maxwell
Here Are Some Examples:
Years ago, a young mother about to go out with her husband prepared to feed their baby before they left. The husband became impatient as she started her daily routine of mashing vegetables through a strainer. Tired of him standing over her with the car keys in one hand and the other hand on the door knob, she turned the task over to him. Within a few minutes, the strainer, peas, carrots, and bowl ended up in his lap. As he changed clothes, he reasoned that there must be a better way to prepare baby food and that there must be a lot of frustrated parents who didn´t enjoy the monotony of straining fruit and vegetables three times a day. Soon, they began discussing the idea of designing machinery to strain the food in a factory and sell it already prepared.
Fortunately, the young father and his dad owned a small canning plant, but it was difficult to sell the older man on the concept. One mistake that harmed a child would destroy everything it had taken them a lifetime to build.
And what about the expense of marketing surveys, developing and financing new machinery, packaging, getting stores to accept the products, and getting parents to buy something totally new at a price that would be both affordable and profitable? You’ve been through this in your own organization or family when someone comes up with an idea that colors outside the lines! I see you’re nodding affirmatively.
The risk was enormous, but in the end, they went forward with their idea because it filled a need they understood first-hand. They had the skills and experience. And the market was so vast that the positive benefits far outweighed the negative factors. One year after Dan Gerber dumped the strainer of cooked vegetables into his lap, the Gerber Products Company introduced its first five baby foods to the market. The point of the story is that, so often, an idea becomes a goal when we realize it meets a need in our own lives and the lives of others. Our motivation to achieve this goal is dependent upon how strong our need is and whether or not we have the determination, optimism and toughness to follow through our ideas to fruition.
Consider the following:
- The outboard motor was invented by Ole Evinrude because he couldn’t row the boat fast enough on a Wisconsin lake to keep his girlfriend’s ice cream from melting.
- The Automatic Dishwasher was invented by a woman whose housekeeper kept breaking her fine china when she washed it by hand.
- The ice cream cone was invented by a waffle vendor who ran out of plates to serve his waffles.
- The Polaroid camera was invented by Edward Land because his daughter wanted to see the pictures she took with her camera right away, rather than wait.
- And the hot dog was invented by a German immigrant whose silk gloves used to serve bratwurst in his restaurant were taken home by his patrons. His solution was to split a bun, and serve the bratwurst that way. Yes, necessity is the mother of invention.
This week think about what problem or need you have that you might solve with an innovative idea, product or service.
Find out How You Can Best Change You
