The attitude of change
How to dream big, act bold and get the desired results.
Fast moving changes
Some time ago, I read an interview with former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, in which he said: “There was five exabytes of information created between the dawn of civilization through 2003, but that much information is now created every two days, and the pace is increasing.” And he nailed it with that statement. Developments around us are getting more and more intense. Everything changes all the time. The economy, the organizational structures in our companies, our own working space.
Reasons for change
As a keynote speaker and change agent, I have the privilege of working with lots of great organizations. Regardless of the industry I observe, the rules have definitely changed. What used to be standard yesterday can be out-dated tomorrow. Globalization, demographic trends and, most of all, the internet are the main reasons that markets have undergone dramatic changes and that customers are behaving completely different than a few years ago. This means that our ability to deal with change will be the most important factor for future success.
Responsibility of a leader
What does it all that mean regarding our position as a leader? First, we need to quickly adapt to all of the changes going on around us and adjust our own mindset. And more importantly, we need to lead the changes in our industry, our company and our teams. Companies can only change when people change and it is our job to make sure they do. Not by telling them or giving them orders, but by reaching their hearts and leading by example. Believe me, I know what I am talking about.
In my own career, I started out as the youngest store manager in Germany’s largest department store chain and I held overall responsibility for ten different stores all over the country. During that period, not only did I have to deal with tough competition, changing markets and the upcoming phenomena of online shopping, but also with a huge crisis within the company. Locations were shut down, profits were decreasing and thousands of employees were facing the fear of unemployment. During these tough times, I learned that the most important change is in the mindset.