Taking Another Look at Leadership and Change

A few days ago, I decided to change a photograph that’s been on display for the last several years in one of the picture frames which currently grace my desk. The photograph was a picture I had taken of my girls several years ago on one of those days from summer which we tend to look back on fondly through a soft-focus lens. Of course, in the time since that photograph was taken, my girls have grown up and it seemed overdue for this photograph be replaced by a more recent memory of our time together.

Although the act of replacing this photograph was fairly mundane, I still found myself being much more aware of this picture frame’s presence on my desk. Naturally, my first assumption was that this was simply a result of the new image staring out at me from that frame. However, what I realized was that this greater sense of awareness regarding this picture frame on my desk had less to do with the image itself and more to do with the fact that it had changed from something familiar and consistent, to something new and different.

What’s also interesting is how something that I took for granted as being a part of my work environment is now within my sphere of attention, even though the change itself wasn’t something dramatic like removing the picture frame and replacing it with something else. In this case, the reason why it’s now in my area of focus is simply because I took the time to notice it, recognize the need to change it and now that it’s been updated, I am able to appreciate how its presence impacts my work environment.

Of course, many of us understand that change is a natural part of life and business, and how being highly adaptive and responsive to changes is a key trait for success. At the same time, though, we all struggle with change, even when it helps to improve how we function or what we do, such as becoming a better and more attentive listener for our employees, or pushing some new innovative measure within our organization.

As all of us know from our own experiences, part of the challenge when dealing with any kind of change is the fear of failure; that instead of improving our organization, the changes we want to make will somehow backfire and create new problems within our organization.

But these moments are perfect opportunities for leaders to remind themselves that one of the responsibilities of leadership is not to avoid making changes out of fear of making mistakes. Instead, their goal should be to push for changes that will provide their organization with opportunities to grow and evolve, regardless of whether the change is successful or a failure.

In this light, it becomes clear that what’s needed by today’s leadership is not so much an acceptance that we live in a world in constant change. Rather, what’s required instead is for leaders to reassess their perception of change and in particular, how they choose to manage it within their organizations.

In looking ahead, leaders will need to remind themselves that change needn’t be overly complicated or painful in order to be able to see their organizations – and the contributions they make to the world around them – in a whole new light.

Indeed, sometimes that kind of insight can be gained through an action which is as simple as changing a picture in a frame.

Some other posts you may enjoy:

  1. Taking Another Look at the Leadership Pyramid
  2. Are You Leading From Inside A Fishbowl?
  3. Do Businesses Need the Millennials to Implement Change?
  4. 3 Steps To Help Get Your Leadership Groove On
  5. A Springtime Reminder on Leadership, Communication, and Collaboration
  6. Are You Fitting Employee Personality Into Your Leadership Puzzle?


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Tanveer Naseer is an award-winning and internationally-acclaimed leadership writer and keynote speaker. He is also the Principal and Founder of Tanveer Naseer Leadership, a leadership coaching firm that works with executives and managers to help them develop practical leadership and team-building competencies to guide organizational growth and development. Tanveer’s writings and insights on leadership and workplace interactions have been featured in a number of prominent media and organization publications, including Forbes, Fast Company, Inc Magazine, Canada’s national newspaper “The Globe and Mail”, The Economist Executive Education Navigator, and the Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

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