Having guided businesses, churches and organizations through many large changes and observing others who have navigated the same waters, I have noticed some essentials in making change occur and lasting…

1- Communication

For real, lasting change to occur it has to be clearly and masterfully communicated. Which means you need the ability to communicate the idea well, and a platform from which to communicate it. Cater your presentation to those you are communicating to. Different audience, different form of communication. Absorption is the goal!

2- Urgency

Change comes when a sense of urgency is present. Change falls prey to procrastination far to often. Those we lead need to understand and feel the urgency and necessity of our shift. If it feels like something isn’t really urgent, it will get filed away to “another day” and stall or kill the change initiative.

3- Faith

Lasting change has to be a God thing. It must be be authored by God and not by man. If you know it’s a God thing, that fact will give you faith when things don’t seem to be going well. If you didn’t cook it, you aren’t responsible for the way it tastes.

4- Passion

People don’t follow a “lukewarm” leader. People and other leaders follow the leader that is on fire with passion! Lasting change will never come through a leader that presents the new direction in a “matter of fact” way. It has to be burning deep within her soul. Passion goes viral when the leader lives it, communicates it and has fire for it.

5- Determination

Change is hard, and when leading a change, resistance and push back may be in abundance. But…Never stop. The God authored agent of change can’t quit. Pulling the plug option must never be on the table (This is God authored remember). All obstacles must be met by an undeterred leader.

6- Innovation

Creativity is an incredible God thing. The smart leader will embrace his “inner artist” and seek it out from among those around him and use it to the fullest. Innovation arises from the ability to take what you have and marry it to a solid vision, then something new and exciting emerges. It gives breathe and life to the “how” of the new change.

7- Need

We don’t change for the sake of change. The beginning stages of change are birthed through an honest examination of the end product. When what is being produced becomes completely unacceptable, and we can accurately measure what a change would produce, then the power of the need becomes the fuel for lift off.

8- Plan

Lasting change comes on the wheels of a well thought out and prayed through plan. The simpler in the over all scope the better. The new plan must be explainable by those who follow, so they can answer questions about it. No one really likes change, but present a change that is difficult to explain, and you’re dead in the water.

9- Influence

Leadership boils down to INFLUENCE. If you don’t have a high degree of influence, your chances of pulling off a lasting change in an organization are slim at best. So if your tenure or trust is short, you would be wise to hold off on any large changes until your influence is firmly in place.

Is there another essential you would add? Make it a perfect “10″

“I’m not great, I just help make others great!”

That was the comment a friend of mine made to me the other day. Honestly he was saying it with some frustration! From his perspective, he is training and building leaders, and some of them become “A-List” dudes.

He was a little discouraged why he wasn’t on that list, but those he helps seemed to make it. I told him what an honor he had. He gets to be…

The Goose that lays the Golden eggs!

For all eternity he will be known as the producer and shaper of great leaders. The ones he helps are the eggs. In other words, they have to come out of the gooses BUTT!

So, which would you rather be, the producer of golden eggs, or the egg that passes through the goose butt? Just a small reminder of what each of us should have our eye on.

Producing and Reproducing leaders. Don’t settle for being an egg! You need to lay some others as well.

What do you say?

Where will you be in 3-5 years? I know we all have plans, goals & visions for the future. But are there any “Radars” now that can serve as indicators of our future success? I… think there are.

Leaders and those that succeed in any field don’t have achievement thrust upon them by some magic wand. The truly successful arrive at their destination by doing, growing, learning and creating. And all of those should be on your radar now… if not, you aren’t going to make it.

DOING

You need to be doing life with other leaders further along the path you’re traveling. You need coaches, mentors and peers that cheer, challenge and change you. These relationships don’t just fall on you. One word…. INITIATE

GROWING

The best way to get where you want to go, is to travel with others going in the same direction. There is serious power and protection in numbers. So you need be with a group and groups that bring synergy to your life. One word… NETWORK

LEARNING

The moment you stop learning is the moment you stop growing as a leader. You stall out and your potential shrinks and withers away. You must learn from those you agree with, and those you don’t. Be open! One word… READ

CREATING

This is the one many leave out. Leaders are creators. We have the vision to merge opportunity with ability and resources to produce the desired outcome. However many leaders generate this picture mentally, but stop. One word… Go

So. If you want to know where you will be in 3-5 years, answer the questions:

Who am I learning from?
Who am I walking with?
Who am I reading?
What am I making?

Where do you plan to be in 3-5 years? What say you?