To get promoted, work as an intrapreneur

Think out of the box

In today’s organizations, there’s fierce competition among co-workers for getting promoted. So, what does one do to get promoted? The answer lies in working as an intrapreneur viz. taking the initiative, working on challenging projects, managing risks, etc. In essence, you have to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset.

Becoming an intrapreneur requires creativity

The first step you have to take towards becoming an intrapreneur is exercising your creativity. Unleash your creative side and allow yourself to think outside the box. Be bold, and don't be afraid to think differently. 

How do you awaken your creative side? Curiosity and imagination are the two most valuable aspects. Bringing those two into your work life will do wonders. Suddenly, you will start noticing opportunities where you couldn't discern them before. So, transform your behavior and begin exploring those opportunities on the road to self-improvement.

Inspiration is at the core of innovation

Inspiration comes from many places and sometimes happens spontaneously, prompted by a trigger or stimulus. For instance, when you read an article on something and find a new piece of information, a neural pathway forms in your brain. Our brains are miraculous things and can concoct the most innovative ideas if you give them a chance. Explore different and better ways to do things, and you’ll create a new path for accomplishing the task. Don't shy away from experimenting and don't be afraid of failure. On the contrary, expect to fail from time to time and accept it as a normal part of the learning process. Building resilience to your failures is crucial for growth.

Establish good relationships

To accomplish anything substantial, in most cases, you need a team. You need to have a good relationship with those whom you work with on a regular basis. By establishing effective communication with them, and by building trust, you will be able to accelerate the pace of progress. 

Building mutually beneficial relationships will build the requisite alliance to support each other’s projects. This is the key to build high-performing teams, wherein people trust each other, rely on each other, and support each other.

Think laterally & strategically

Look at potential issues and problems from different angles and perspectives. This will enable you to devise a plan or a path leading to the solution. In addition, you must demonstrate your critical thinking skills. It will make others perceive you as a leader, a person who will guide them in finding solutions to their problems. 

Visualize the bigger picture in your mind

While knowing your role and performing your daily duties, empower yourself to perceive the bigger picture – the wholistic view.

Breaking new ground and pitching it to your bosses or clients will make you stand out among your peers. If your promotion is through a relocation, organize a smooth transition to your new location.

Believe in yourself

The final step towards being an intrapreneur is self-belief. You need to gain the trust of your superiors and make them believe in your abilities to take on new initiatives and lead projects. You need your co-workers to trust that they can rely on you and perceive you as a leader. Demonstrate your vision for the entire organization and show you are worthy of more trust. Remember that progress and growth only happen when you get out of your comfort zone and ‘push your envelope’.

To summarize - nurturing creativity, fostering innovation, and self-belief are some of the key steps to becoming an intrapreneur. Learn how to stand out as an intrapreneur and get your next promotion!

The new paradigm in the customer-supplier relationship

The relationship between customers and suppliers has existed for thousands of years. Just like everything else, this relationship grows over time or diminishes. We need to turn it into something much more substantial that transcends the usual transactional nature of this relationship. Let’s talk about this new paradigm in the customer-supplier relationship.

In the beginning, there was the provider

The basic form of the customer-supplier relationship was transactional. The customer had a need, and the provider or a vendor provided for that need. Once the transaction was completed the vendor got the money, and the customer got the product or service that they bought.

Today, the customer is not looking to just purchase something. They want more value for their money. Hence, suppliers who want to be more successful need to understand their client’s needs at a much deeper level. It is crucial for both parties to become resilient in business.

The vendor becomes the expert

The next stage of evolution transforms a provider or a vendor into an expert. This change happens when we have a market with hundreds, or thousands of vendors and the customer needs to decide which one to choose. These providers offer the same products or services for the same price point, so there needs to be something more that will help the customer decide how to make the right decision.

Vendors realize this and understand that they need to become subject matter experts to stay at the top of the market. Today, we call them SMEs. Once a vendor specializes in that particular service or a product, they become the expert. They have vast knowledge in a specific area that gives them the edge. That something extra creates a strong relationship with customers based on trust and accelerates business growth for both parties.

Today’s businesses leverage a supply chain

A supply chain is a system that includes the customer, different vendors and partners, all aimed at providing a finished product or service to the customer. It is a panel of experts from various areas that build a high-performing team.

Organizations leverage a group of SMEs to create an effective chain of just-in-time providers. This enables a higher ROI for the buyer and helps the supplier to develop economies of scale in their area of expertise.

Each player in the supply chain will flourish by forging a strong partnership with other entities in this chain. A collaborative partnership is a next level in the evolution of a customer-supplier relationship.

How to acquire and retain customers?

To acquire customers, a supplier needs to offer an excellent product or a service and deliver it in the best possible way. To retain clients, the supplier needs to offer a sustained value. This will compel the same client to come to the supplier again for more goods or services. This brings us to the final stage of the evolution of this relationship.

Evolving to a trusted advisor relationship

Let’s review a few options for a vendor in a prospective client situation:

·        let the customer do all the research and choose what they think is the best

·        make a quick sale by selling the cheapest version of the product or service

·        make a huge profit by selling the most expensive product or service

While all of these are valid options, in order for a long-term and mutually beneficial relationship the supplier needs to consultatively understand the prospect’s requirements and then educate them on the best choices. That’s when the customer starts perceiving the supplier as an advisor. By relying on the supplier to guide on the best product configuration or service package, the customer leverages this partnership for competitive advantage.

Understanding this new paradigm in the customer-supplier relationship will help both parties to flourish. A supplier must strive to become a valued consultant to their clients, not just someone who provides a commodity. The customer needs an advisor that will guide them past the transaction and into the future. This is the highest level of relationship a business leader can hope to achieve today as a buyer or a seller. 

The missing element in Diversity initiatives

Diversity initiatives have been around for some time now. However, they still have a long way to go in terms of working out as per the intentions of people who are passionate about its purpose! At times the term is thrown around without proper knowledge of what it truly means. So, what are diversity initiatives? Why are they so important? And what is the missing element in diversity initiatives? Let’s explore this subject to find out more!

What are diversity initiatives?

Simply put, diversity initiatives are practices and policies that are designed and meant to enhance the working experience of a particular group of members. The 'group members' alluded to in our definition

can be any category of individuals with the likelihood of suffering mistreatment, disadvantage, or exclusion from the society we live in. Women, racial minorities, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, people with different sexual orientations, etc. all fall under this focus group for

diversity initiatives. The most common type of diversity initiatives postulates that each company must hire a certain number of people belonging to minorities, which interestingly depersonalizes the problem and reduces it to a matter of statistics and numbers.

Why are they lacking?

The current form of diversity initiatives demands cold & hard calculations to be carried out. Hire this and this many ethnic minorities and people with disabilities, and the leadership will most often pat themselves on the back and move on. While this is the easiest 'solution' and can even be codified and passed as a law, it fails to account for how those people will actually perform in their new jobs and align in their work environment. The more common issues faced by them would be with continued isolation and marginalization in the workplace. Most do not quit, and that is enough for the executives to feel satisfied. But it is still not a satisfactory way to handle the missing element in diversity initiatives. Thus, it brings up the need for increasing self-awareness on the part of executives.

What is the missing element?

The missing element of diversity initiatives is the true acceptance and incorporation of minorities into the workplace. The sub-optimal impact of diversity initiatives stems from both the conscious and unconscious bias of the ‘majority group’ employees. Even after years of attempting to correct the issue through education and insistence on acceptance, underlying prejudice and contempt persist in society. It is latently seen in the media, in the educational system, and today’s politics is rife with not-so-subtle racism and a variety of other issues. All of this only serves to further repress the minorities instead of helping them. Then how could we expect the diversity initiatives to truly work as we are ignoring what is wrong with the initiatives in the first place. And how to best overcome this when practically the various aspects of our ecosystem further exacerbate the issue.

How to better incorporate it?

What is truly important is gathering insights from past mistakes and moving forward with new and revised diversity initiatives. The ‘inclusion and integration’ element in diversity initiatives is not easy to make up for when the bias and contempt are hard to root out entirely. The insistence and commitment on the formation of teams with 'mixed' members and bringing on-board members from minority groups is a great step. In order to build up the momentum, we need to count on the executives and team leaders to further move the needle. It is vital for them to leverage their position and encourage the involvement of minorities by tapping into their creative and diverse ways of thinking. This would surely benefit the minorities since it will empower them and boost their presence as valued members of the team. Furthermore, the organization will benefit from a different perspective and outlook, and thus it would help take advantage of opportunities that otherwise would have been lost.

Is it possible to entirely overcome the issue?

In the short-term? sadly no. It will take time and persistent effort to alter generations and generations of biases that are deeply rooted in the thinking. Fortunately, there are strides and signs of improvement. A part of this comes as a result of the internet, its global accessibility, and the ability to craft a website quickly in multiple languages that is popularizing previously marginalized cultures. The bias underlying our system is at least mitigated by the spark of interest and curiosity driven by the internet. It is with the same rationale that we can conjecture that similar improvements can be made in the workplace. By showing the value and positive contribution of minorities and their uniqueness, we can eventually root out the issues that ail diversity initiatives.

Why is this important?

The question remains: Then why is this so important for organizations and their top executives? A simple reason is for creating a more conducive and happier workplace. A more compelling reason is to increase the bottom line! Without true inclusion, a gap remains between minorities and other employees. You are missing out by not tapping into the potential of all your employees. Moreover, you are stuck with an uncooperative and unaligned team that you cannot easily get to do their jobs well. This makes building a high-performing team much more difficult. So, even from a purely efficiency-inspired viewpoint, getting diversity initiatives to properly work is highly beneficial.

Final Word

Hope this sparked a few different approaches on how to make diversity initiatives more successful in your organization. Even though it is daunting to quickly achieve the goal of integration and inclusion, if we collectively persevere and invest our efforts in people-focused ways instead of number-focused ways, the outcomes will be in line with our intended purpose.

Benefits of meditation for executives

A person meditating

What is meditation? It can be defined as a form of mindfulness to enable a higher state of awareness. Meditation has been shown to have a wide number of benefits on our well-being. Thus, its popularity is growing among CEOs and other senior executives.

Meditation helps in reflecting and learning from the past

One of the first benefits of meditation for executives is that it gives them an opportunity to reflect on things and learn from the past. It's vital to distinguish rumination from reflection as they are two entirely different concepts. Rumination entails re-playing the same scenario in your head repeatedly. That can lead to the feeling of guilt, despair, regret, and anxiety, none of which is helpful. On the other hand, reflection has a deeper purpose. It allows you to perceive past events with objective clarity.

Once you know which topic you want to reflect on, it's essential to explore it with openness and curiosity. Such a mindset will allow you to grow as an executive and reap the benefits of reflective meditation. If you approach the topic without judgment, you will stop feeling like a helpless victim imprisoned by emotions and behavioral thought patterns. You will get the opportunity to observe your decisions, events, and your life with an accepting attitude. Moreover, you will move beyond the feeling of resentment, blame, or defensiveness.

Uncovering insights

As a result of deeper pondering over the past events, you will gain insight and understand the situation in its entirety, pinpointing problem areas, and finding solutions or ways to avoid the problem areas next time. These insights will let you make positive and lasting changes.

Meditation will also help in generating deeper insights regarding yourself. A significant advantage of gaining these insights is that they will enable you to set your ego aside. A few deep breaths before a meeting or any other interaction will help calm your thoughts and enable you to enter the conversation wholistically. With some practice, you can even reflect on what is happening at that moment itself for you to ‘think about your thinking while thinking’! Focus on your breathing and check if you are taking things too personally and lack objectivity in the moment. The ability to free yourself from the shackles of your ego in a business environment is a critical skill for an excellent leader. 

Creating a new path that is devoid of past inflictions

It's human nature to take easier paths. This is reflected in repeating similar patterns and doing things in the same, repetitive way. Sometimes, this happens spontaneously, even if we didn't mean to repeat actions and decisions.

Practicing meditation can help enhance creativity and develop new paths, solutions, or ideas devoid of past inflictions. Meditative and relaxed states of mind create a fertile soil for the inception of fantastic insights and breakthroughs. When we step aside from the situation and allow our minds to stop focusing on the issue that has been bothering us, we allow our brains to think of something new. That is when the eureka moments happen. And that is the result of divergent thinking that meditation facilitates.

Meditation increases the serotonin in the brain

It is evidenced that meditation increases the levels of 5-HIAA acid in the brain. This acid has a direct connection to serotonin, the ‘happy hormone’. Moreover, practicing mindfulness every day reduces stress and lowers cortisol production and other hormones connected to stress. As a result, meditation can help reduce stress, put a stop to ruminative thinking, and calm anxiety. These benefits are essential for executives who have to face stressful situations on a daily basis.

Due to its effect on cortisol and serotonin production, medication can also help prevent depression and avoid delving into sadness. Focusing on breathing for only ten minutes a day will relax your mind and soothe your emotions. This activity stimulates the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system, harnesses amygdala activity, and lowers the activity of the sympathetic nervous system.

Helps in positive thoughts

Meditation helps recharge our minds and channels our thought in the right direction. It allows us to focus on things that we can actually control. It prevents the induction of anxiety due to constant worrying about controlling everything around us. Meditation gives a way to redirect our thoughts and save the energy that we would otherwise waste trying to ‘control the uncontrollable’. 

Furthermore, not only does meditation reduce the number of thoughts that flood our minds, it also cleanses the negative and energy-consuming thoughts. Ultimately, we become capable of consciously creating positive thoughts about ourselves, others, work, etc.

Grows resilience from challenges or setbacks

The ability to stop rumination allows us to eliminate fear and improve our focus. That helps us to boost productivity even under stress, rather than to descend into panic and distress.

Being resilient means being able to recover from challenges and setbacks. And meditation helps executives to develop traits that will lead them to improve resilience. This will have a positive impact on their leadership, productivity, and engagement with people.

Increase well being

A basic motive for most people who practice meditation is for increasing their overall well-being. Among other things, meditation can help with insomnia, increase attention span, increase the feeling of positivity, increase energy levels, improve memory and focus, and more.

While there are other relaxation methods after a busy day for a business leader, meditation goes a step further by helping take your mind off of the problems and get you rejuvenated. 

Clears the clutter of thoughts and traffic noise in the head

When we feel overwhelmed with the deluge of thoughts flooding our heads, it's necessary to stop, take a deep breath, and let go of these thoughts. Meditation gives us an easy method to quiet our minds and find clarity. It also allows us to acknowledge where we are in reality and empowers us with an opportunity to reframe and restart. In case we feel burdened by the barrage of thoughts and obstacles on the path of our goals, then meditation will clear that path and fortify the road towards where we want to go.

Embrace mediation to reap its benefits

For busy executives, there are many benefits of adding meditation to your daily routine. You will have a hard time experiencing the benefits if you perceive meditation as just another chore that you are time-constrained to do. Remember, the way to meditate is to seamlessly include it in your daily routine and let meditation happen on its own and enable what it's intended to do. Start meditating and enjoy all the positive changes in your professional and personal life. 

Self-awareness for executives

 

Being an executive is incredibly challenging and demanding. It is a difficult line of work that comes with many responsibilities, not only towards the company, employees, and clients; but also towards yourself. With that in mind, it is crucial to work on your self-awareness.

The key aspect of self-awareness is to question yourself, reflect on your persona, and improve through behavior transformation. Here are some of the key points to consider:

Are you asking yourself the right questions?

Every executive needs to make sure that they are the best version of themselves. So, it is vital to ask yourself the right questions and find out the truth.

What are your values and are you standing up for them?

As an executive, you need to be a prime example for everyone around to know how you stand up for your values.

What is your natural style of leading?

Are you functioning as a manager or a true leader? Do you adapt your leadership style based on the situation and behavioral style of those around you? Every situation is unique and there can be no general approach. At the same time, you need to be aware of your natural leadership style and leverage it to build cross-functional relationships and presenting your point of view.

Are you giving enough recognition to your team members?

A good executive needs to keep track of super performers. You need to give proper recognition when it's due and avoid claiming credit that you don't deserve. Moreover, do not withhold information from others to gain an undue advantage.

Are you mindful when passing judgment?

One of the common pitfalls is to fail to know when, why, and how to pass judgment. Rating others and imposing your standards too often is a double-edged sword. While you need to be a firm and righteous leader, you also need to know when to step back and let some things go. Else, you will put too much pressure on your employees.

Are you using negative qualifiers and making destructive comments?

We often use negative qualifiers and destructive comments in conversations without realizing it. Overusing words like ‘no’, ‘but’, or ‘however’ may send a wrong message, showing you as a person who proves everyone wrong all the time. Also, it would be best to refrain from using needless sarcasm or cutting remarks. People often use them as a way to sound witty, funny, or showing how smart you are compared to them.

Are you taking responsibility for your actions?

Playing the blame game, making excuses, and the inability to express regret for your own shortcomings are all signs of an ineffective executive. Deflecting the blame from yourself or punishing those who want to help will cause mistrust and lower the overall opinion that employees have of you.

Are you standing behind your employees in their initiatives and projects?

A true leader supports their employees for all of their short and long-term projects like forming new partnerships, employee management, relocation, and many others. For instance, the process of commercial relocations is complicated and it’s vital that you guide your employees with a steady hand.

How are you addressing conflicts?

It’s vital to nurture teamwork and help people align. You need to take appropriate steps to prevent conflicts or address conflicts promptly when they occur. An executive needs to know who the bullies in their team are and make them accountable for their actions and behaviors.

Are you a problem-solver or a risk-taker?

Every company has its ups and downs. An executive needs to be a problem-solver and a risk-taker at the same time. The key is in the balance between addressing critical issues and taking calculated risks.

Are you listening to other people’s point-of-view?

While it is important that all executives delegate tasks effectively and drive their team to achieve goals, they must listen to other peoples' points of view before giving theirs.

How are others perceiving you?

Every executive needs to be confident and assertive. It’s important to look at yourself through their eyes and notice how they think about your leadership value and impact.

Are you removing the hidden biases?

Executives need to reflect on their behavior and question themselves. As an effective executive you need to get rid of your biases as they could cause a pitfall.

Are you improving yourself through forces that inspire and motivate you?

The only way to progress and stay on top of the game as an executive is to seek excellence in your domain. Know who are the top professionals in your domain or industry and learn from them. Welcome diversity of thought and collaborate with those around you. Achieving objectives is important, but it is even more critical to build dignified relations in your community.

Moreover, learn to know the difference between reality and hype. Do not let short-term objectives and recent success cloud your judgment. You need to actively seek solutions to overcome challenges.

Learn from your past, focus on the present, and lead into the future!

Neuro-emotional traits for increasing leadership effectiveness

“There are three things extremely hard - Steel, a Diamond, and to know one’s self,” wrote Benjamin Franklin in the 1750 edition of Poor Richard’s Almanack.

 

As a leader you might have many roles viz. create strategies, manage resources, and inspire your team. You may be good at a few or all of these aspects to some extent. For example, having a strategic mindset, delivering profits, and having an executive presence are all attractive qualities for a leader. While these attributes are expected from most leaders and business executives, it is critical to develop specific traits that characterize effective and exceptional leaders.

 

Effective leaders simplify complexity and bring clarity

Good leaders manage to thrive in the chaos of the ever-changing world. Simplifying complexities is one of the paradoxes that leaders and executives have to embrace and handle. They can distill the complexity and create easily understandable and actionable steps that their team members can quickly take on. Great leaders have a clear vision of where they want to take their business, team, or product and can shed light on the strategy to reach there.

 

Effective leaders prioritize a few critical aspects and persistently communicate them

Many leaders, even the good ones, fall into the trap of trying to accomplish too many things at the same time. Thus, prioritizing becomes an important trait of exceptional leaders. Upon identifying the top three or four priorities, they persistently communicate these priorities to their teams and inspire them to relentlessly pursue them. Moreover, by prioritizing a few critical aspects, they provide a simple plan for achieving these objectives. And the ability to devise a simple plan that will ensure victory is what will increase your leadership effectiveness. By doing so, outstanding leaders can genuinely inspire their teams to achieve the shared goals.

 

Effective leaders contribute across the entire organization rather than their individual silos

One of the issues many companies face is that their leaders rely only on their immediate team members, perceiving the others as their competition. They fail to understand that they are a part of a much bigger machinery and structure. This behavior weakens the company and steers the focus away from the ultimate goal of positioning the company high on the marketplace.

A way for leaders to overcome this type of mindset is to modify detrimental behavior and discipline themselves. The ‘we’ that we believe we are a part of is the entire organization, instead of a small team. This will be characterized by getting out of our comfort zone and learning to be comfortable operating outside of our area of expertise. Moreover, great team leaders can play well on teams they don't lead. The most effective leaders will see their portion of the business as an integral component of the entire organization and thereby maintain a broader perspective.

 

Effective leaders operate on a strategic level rather than on tactical aspects

Outstanding leaders dedicate more time to strategic conversations with their team members. Instead of focusing on the tactical maneuvering of their teams, true leaders contribute to the strategic elements. 

The opportunities to demonstrate leadership skills are endless. Even relocating to new offices is a chance for leaders to help employees transition to the new premises, keep their spirits up, and let them feel motivated and involved.

 

Effective leaders foster learning agility and build more leaders

There are two types of business executive and managers:

1.     Those who use their team members as a means for their own advancement.

2.     Those who see the potential in their team members and develop them further.

Discerning which one of these two types a particular executive or manager belongs to is not always easy. However, a leader's track record will unambiguously show whether they build leaders or exploit the people who work for them. If an employee or manager has taken on extra responsibility after working for a particular leader, it will be a clear indicator that this leader has groomed and mentored her/ him. People who quickly rise through ranks in an organization often have bosses who have had their back and have looked out for their best interests. This trait is vital to increase your leadership effectiveness.

Having a leader who builds more leaders is excellent for an organization for several reasons. Firstly, they are more likely to groom and develop individuals who differ from themselves. This leads to an increase in cognitive diversity. Secondly, such leaders can create high-performing teams that readily explore new avenues and take on additional initiatives to spur growth. Furthermore, their teams will be excellent at challenging the status quo and disrupting the outdated norms. Consequently, they will foster innovation and long-term capital development. 

 

Leaders are made, not born!

When we talk about habits or traits for increasing leadership effectiveness, it's important to note that these qualities in leaders are typically made, and not inbred at birth. So, while we expect leaders to be charismatic visionaries, these traits usually develop as they rise through the ranks and assume more challenging roles. As businesses today demand a continual improvement in performance, emotional agility and behavior adaptation are essential traits for a leader’s growth and impact.

Paradoxes in the life of a business owner

When you decide to start your own business, you will receive an abundance of information on how to start it. No one, however, prepares you for all the paradoxes that you will encounter in this journey. If you think about your role as the owner of a company, you will realize that you have many responsibilities and commitments to fulfill. Soon it will become painlessly clear that you cannot fully discern as to which of these responsibilities you are doing well and which ones you suck at.

Sometimes you wonder: Are you working IN your business or working ON your business. Are you managing or are you leading? Are you putting out fires or preventing them in the first place? 

Is your ‘leadership style’ a growth enabler or a growth barrier?

Leadership involves many inconsistencies and demands continuous behavior adjustment. Many fail to keep up with the constant changes and get stuck with their auto-conditioned behavioral style and then expect that everyone must adapt to it. Forcing that style on others and taking the ‘it's my way or the highway’ approach will only deem you as ‘one of those’ bosses!

The best way to enable growth is to listen to what others have to say, understand what optimizes other people’s performance, and be agile in adapting to the situation.

A huge paradox in the life of a business owner is - Are you a boss or are you a leader?

The truth is, you are and must be both!

One of the mistakes many business owners, and managers in general, tend to make is being too friendly with the people they are supposed to manage. They don't know how and where to set the boundaries. Very few people know precisely how to behave when they first become a boss or a supervisor. They find it difficult to resist the intoxication of power and simultaneously their need to be liked by everyone.

Being too friendly will not get you far, nor will it assert you as a leader. Similarly, being too authoritarian won't get you better results. Essentially, you must strive to find the balance and one way to do that is by being empathetic. It does not imply that you will stop holding people accountable for their work. It only means that emotional intelligence and business success go hand in hand. These two can and must coexist. 

To be a good leader, or a boss, whatever you want to call yourself, you must embrace these paradoxes and determine your customized choices. Some situations will require you to lead from the front, and others will need you to let your team lead. Should you make decisions quickly or take your time? Well, both - depending on the situation.

Each meeting, person, and task will need a customized approach. There is no one-size-fits-all solution and trying to create it is worthless. Every interaction and issue will require you to be agile in your thinking, fine-tune your strategy, and continually adjust your actions.

Leaders need to be optimistic and realistic, enthusiastic and cautious, all at the same time. You need to build an optimistic vision for a project as you want your team to be focused on the goal. At the same time, you want to be realistic and alert everyone that things may not play out as planned based on the occurrences of external events. How open and transparent should you be about possible issues? Should you share all the trivial and irrelevant information? Would it be okay to share bad news right up front? Balancing all these disparities is vital to avoid causing anxiety, fear, or worry among your team members! 

This is what happens during change management like let's say due to a merger you move your office to a new location. We know that merging is always a challenge as people may be worried about layoffs and a new working environment.

Do your employees participate or contribute?

Should a leader create a structure or allow freedom? Should people involved in your organization contribute to the development of the system or participate as a cog in the machine?

Generally speaking, organizations could have a mix of both. The manufacturing side of things could be more process and precision-driven, while the product design could function with more fresh thinking and innovation. A leader's job is to recognize when to allow the brainstorming to unravel and when to step in and steer the conversation in a specific direction.

Final thoughts

As we have observed, different scenarios demand different approaches and hence leaders take these paradoxes in their stride. Plus, resilience is vital for a good leader. As a business owner & leader, finding the right balance and knowing how to adapt to the ever-changing variables is critical.

The next big thing in self-improvement is BEHAVIOR transformation

It’s a common misconception that altering your behavior implies the betrayal of integrity and authenticity. In reality, these changes to your behavioral patterns are a way to improve how you engage with others. Adapting your behavior such that it suits the situations at hand helps people understand what you are conveying. For doing that, it is crucial to understand how your behavior or personality helps or hinders your progress. And thus, behavior change/ transformation is the next level in self-improvement.

Growing your awareness of how your style differs from others will dramatically enhance your conversation skills. It is particularly true with whom you have trouble interacting. Learning how to adapt your behavior to the particular person so as to minimize the risk of them having an issue with you is the ultimate goal. Consequently, the quality of your relationships, both at work and in life, will transform. And that is the beginning of a long-term, sustained behavior change and transformation.

Nevertheless, changing your behavior will not be an easy endeavor. Anyone who has tried to break a bad habit, such as smoking, knows how hard it is. It requires a lot of commitment and persistence. Therefore, it's necessary to empower yourself with the right knowledge, time, effort, and self-discipline.

The beginning

Regardless of the goal that you wish to accomplish, you must know that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. You will realize that you need to try out a few different techniques until you find the right one for you. It will typically include a series of trial and error. This is the stage when many become discouraged and give up on their goal. It is vital to keep yourself motivated for identifying the most appropriate techniques that enable the change in you. 

The elements of change

As we all know, inducing behavioral changes is not easy. Over many years, psychologists have developed various techniques that therapists, teachers, and physicians use to help people change their behavior. Researchers have also worked on theories attempting to explain how changes happen. In order to achieve your goals, you need to understand the elements of change, the stages of change, and learn how you can go through all those stages effectively.

Here are the three critical elements of behavior change:

• Readiness to change: Evaluate the ability to make a lasting change using the knowledge and resources at your disposal. 
• Barriers to change: Identify anything that is blocking your change.
• Likelihood of relapse: Identify what triggers cause the relapse to former/ prior behavior.

The stages of change

The Stages of Change, aka the Transtheoretical Model, was introduced in the late 1970s. This model has been found to be highly effective in understanding how people go through changes.

It deems that relapse is inevitable and describes the change as a gradual process. It begins with people's resistance to change. Eventually, people adopt a natural approach for changing their behavior and become committed. It shows that change is a process that consists of a sequence of small steps leading towards the goal.

Pre-contemplation

People in this stage are not truly considering the change. It’s a state of mind that we describe as being ‘in denial’. In this stage, people often claim that their behavior is not a problem, or they don't understand how their behavior is detrimental. If you are currently in this stage, think about what would need to happen so that you consider your behavior problematic.

Contemplation

This is the stage when people actually begin to realize the need for change and understand the benefits of the change. Simultaneously, they start to realize the costs of the change. As a result, instead of focusing on the physical, emotional, or mental gains that the change will bring about, people feel like they are giving something up. Unfortunately, many never move past this phase. If you are in this stage, figure out what could help you make the change. Understand why you want to change and try to identify anything that may be preventing you from making the change happen.

Preparation

The preparation stage often involves making more minor changes as a way to prepare for the big leap. During this phase, it is essential to create a support system that will provide encouragement. Hiring a coach can prove to extremely helpful during this phase.

Action

This is when concrete efforts towards achieving the goal happen. If you have dedicated enough time to the previous stages, you have a better chance of success. For example, people who decide to get their body in shape and jump immediately into doing physical activities or a work-out will often tend to give up after a few weeks. However, if they have given enough time during the pre-contemplation, contemplation, and preparation stages and keep finding the motivation to stay physically active, the chances are they will keep up with their efforts. These stages will help them in not losing momentum. It’s important to ensure that you reinforce your new behavior with positive rewards for every step you take. Celebrating the small wins helps in positively encouraging you to repeat the newly adapted behavior. 

Maintenance

The maintenance stage implies avoiding old behaviors and maintaining the new ones. At this stage, it would be best if you try to avoid temptation. Identify the situations when you have managed to prevent relapse successfully and reward yourself for that. And if you do relapse, don't beat yourself up. It's just a part of the overall process.

Relapse

If and when you relapse, you will likely feel disappointed and frustrated. Don't let this ruin your confidence. Instead, understand what triggered the relapse and try to avoid it going forward. Remember that your mistakes are an excellent source of insight. In this case, it would help if you started back from the preparation stage. It may be a good idea to go over your resources and techniques and reaffirm your motivation. To help you in the near-term, prepare a plan on how you will avoid possible future temptation and the risk of a relapse.

Conclusion

Any type of change is difficult and especially behavior change is a massive step. It looks like a state change from ice to water or water to steam. For our personal improvement, it is good to know that difficulties and challenges build our resilience. We become stronger by overcoming each challenge in our journey of personal development. Keeping an optimistic outlook for a more positive outcome even when things are less than perfect is what enables this transformation. This process is highly effective for making changes in our communication and interactions with others. Identifying and understanding the problematic behaviors is the start of the journey towards changing those behaviors and helps in sustaining the newly adopted behavior when interacting with other people. Moreover, identifying behaviors that cause your negative mood shifts and becoming aware of your destructive thought processes can enhance your awareness of your thought patterns and auto-conditioned response. Using this awareness and the above change process can help in reprogramming your inner script. This could significantly improve the quality of your life. The process is arduous, but the rewards are worth the struggle. Finally, it’s your decision whether to change or remain the same.

“When the pain of staying the same becomes more than the pain of going through the change, then you are truly ready to take the leap for behavior transformation”.

Excuses most people make for not hiring a coach

Excuse# 1: “I am already successful”

All the world’s top athletes have coaches. They are successful and continue engaging with a coach to help themselves get even better. Similarly, top executives hire a coach either to help themselves get better or to develop the next level of leadership effectiveness.

Excuse# 2: "I don't have the time to engage with a Coach"

In today’s world, no executive has any more time than you. They all have the same number of hours every day. The question is: how do we choose to spend our time?

Coaching nets you saved time by helping you to delegate effectively, distinguish
meaningful vs. wasteful work, prioritize tasks, and devote more time to the
most important things in your life.

Excuse# 3: "I need to wait until I get over this project or initiative or busy patch in life"

Were you struggling to find time in the past 12 months? Past 6 months? Past 3 months?
If yes and you think - "I will have more time after I get over this current busy
phase" This statement is not accurate in predicting the future. There will always be more
busy phases to follow this current patch.
Striving to find time is not the cure for not engaging a coach. In fact, coaching
enables you to live without constantly humping and fighting fires. It helps you do more in less time by taking wise and well-thought decisions.

Excuse# 4: "I can't afford coaching"

This depends on whether you want to budget for your own professional development. Are you willing to invest in your own growth?
Coaching is not a way to spend money, it is your best means for getting a great return on your investment in self-growth.

Excuse# 5: "I already get advice from family and friends"

Sure! Our buddies and family members all give us advice. But they may not have the right experience and expertise that professional advisors and coaches provide.
Coaches are thinking partners and your best collaborators for guiding you to
create a matching solution for your specific need or situation.

Excuse# 6: "I can't trust someone with my secrets"
Are you a loner?
Coaches maintain confidentiality because that is the necessary part for working with clients and building a trusted relationship. The confidentiality clause is part
of a standard coaching agreement and you must insist your coach to include it
in the agreement.

Excuse# 7: "I am not sure if I could learn from another person"
Do you want to figure out everything on your own? Are you planning to walk all alone in your career journey?
Coaching allows you to find out your blind-spots and figure out your development areas. Whether you are totally ready to learn or somewhat reluctant at the start,
anyone who hires a reputed coach will gain some valuable insights and take-aways.