Creating Positive Change is a Role Every Leader Should Embrace in a COVID Impacted World
I was reviewing some previous articles I had written and came across one which seemed to connect to the situation we find ourselves in right now. We have all experienced a level of change that was both unexpected and unprecedented. Talk about a jolt. However, there are many stories beginning to emerge where businesses and retailers are using what has occurred to evaluate their overall model and make adjustments that will have an impact on the future.
The last couple of months have seen significant hardships and tragic consequences for many businesses and the people that make them up. Finding a silver lining can seem hard in comparison, but there are many new opportunities that will arise from the experiences we continue to work through. Embracing change and creating positive outcomes is something every leader can pave the way for in the weeks and months ahead.
Creating change does not always need to be a bad thing. Many positives can come from change. Recall a time where you were looking forward to something you had never done before - perhaps it was your first airplane flight or the first time you went skiing or snowboarding. Certainly, there was a level of nervousness, but there was also an underlying excitement that went with that. That is a form of change. Think about a time when you learned something new that completely changed how you approached something. Maybe you read it in a book, heard it from a keynote speaker, or watched it in a video, and your reaction was, ‘wow, what a great idea. I could absolutely do that myself.” That is a form of change. Proactively generating change can be a business multiplier and not something to be feared.
As a leader, it is our role to look for those opportunities where creating change will generate new energy, excitement, and positive momentum forward. I have always found that pulling the team together to learn something new is an excellent way to ignite a spark of change that everyone can experience together.
Sometimes a jolt is needed
It is common to find store teams or even entire districts mired in the status quo. They have just done everything the same way for so long that each day feels the same. This is when results can get stale, engagement begins to wane, and turnover rises. Even the best performers can find themselves in these situations. Suddenly the rest of the group catches up, and no one is quite sure what has happened. It could be that realization that reenergizes the team, but sometimes that can be too late, or it will take much longer to get back into that higher gear.
Staying conscious of this potential issue, you can get ahead of that and infuse the environment with something that jolts everyone back into growth mode. It could as simple as a meeting that acknowledges how everyone is feeling or something more drastic that could be changing people’s schedules or rearranging key areas of your store. Even subtle changes like how you conduct your management meeting or daily huddles can be enough to catch people’s attention to call out that the routine needs to change a bit, and everyone needs to put that pep back in their step.
Lead the way
Even these small changes can be hard to start and even harder to maintain. As a leader, you will need to show the way. If your actions and behaviors do not change or slip back into the old routines, then others will as well. Don’t be afraid to share your struggles along the way - you are human too. That will also make it easier for others to share how they may be struggling to make the updates or adjust - the discussion that comes from that can be invaluable in establishing the new norms.
Making some of these types of changes together not only helps to boost results, but it will also connect you together as a team and build trust and engagement at new levels.
Take a look around your store, your district, or region and see where you feel you may be a bit stagnant. Think about several ways you could give your business a little shove forward to shake things up a bit and reenergize the team. Creating the change for positive outcomes will pay off for you as well as everyone around you.
What positive change can you create to lead forward?
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Photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash