Periods of Transition

William Bridges, in his book ‘Transitions’, says that in order for us to change or be transformed we must let go of the old so that we can take on the new and that this takes time. Mike Litman talks about the ‘period of insignificance’ that we must experience as part of the journey to achieving success in life.

In business, ‘serving our apprenticeship’ is an essential transition phase that we must travel in order for us to realize high performance and excellence. This stage is the critical training ground that brings about the transformation that we desperately seek in our businesses.

Can you imagine an elite athlete turning up to an event without having done the necessary preparation; the years of training, attention to diet, building discipline and skill, mental preparation and the capacity for endurance, persistence and resilience?

The transition from where we are now in business to where we envision requires putting in the hard yards.

Critical Success Factors

Constant striving is part and parcel of the human condition, and as such, appears in our business, as well as personal, lives. The act of creating and building a high performance business is enlivening and inspirational, and the results of our striving are not merely financial. In building a highly successful business, we are growing and developing as people along the way. This is a natural outcome of having embarked on the experience.

The hardships and suffering along the road build our character, and hopefully, the successes we experience make us more gracious. The critical success factors in business can be measured along the road. They manifest in having better interpersonal relationships and are exemplified by excellence in business in the form of skills development, discipline, motivation and drive, best-fit decision making and high performance actions and outcomes.

Managing Time

A thought-provoking book I read recently called, 'The Hacker Ethic and The Spirit of the Information Age,' by Pekka Nimanen, throws a different perspective on time management. What grabbed my attention was the value assigned to time in the information age, as articulated by Nimanen.

In the end, he argues all human beings want to create. In this sense, 'From the hacker viewpoint, leisure centredness may be just as undesirable as work centredness. Hackers want to do something significant; they want to create,' writes Nimanen.

He goes on to say, 'Hackers do not feel that leisure time is any more meaningful than work time… from the point of view of a meaningful life, the entire work/leisure duality must be abandoned.'

This view of time resonates for me, in the sense that I never compartmentalize my thinking or activities into work or leisure, in a boxed or linear fashion.

Whether I am engaged in deliberate business activities or sitting around relaxing with friends, my brain never switches off. Creativity springs up, ideas are generated within all of life’s experiences, and they are not confined within the traditional eight-hour day or five-day week. I find myself making connections between experiences and observations that all inform my business activities.

Code of Conduct

In business, having a code of conduct is critical to sustaining and maintaining integrity. Five simple rules that I try to follow have delivered wonderful results for me over the years.

• Never talk about others disparagingly or behind their backs to somebody else. If I have a problem with something that someone else has done, I make sure that I go and talk to them about it.
• Never do or say anything that I might be ashamed of later. I have had my moments of shame and regret and have learned from those.
• Thank people for a job well done, and sing their praises to others.
• Keep true to my word.
• Always be courteous and treat others with dignity and respect.

Here'’s to integrity in business.

High Performance Management

The struggle for high performance in business is the struggle for consistency.

Business life is full of struggles and setbacks, energy and excitement, achievements and disappointments. How does one maintain consistency and constancy as a leader and manager through the peaks and troughs of uncertainty and turbulence?

There is no one simple answer that applies. There are, however, some fundamental elements that can help maintain stability. They are:

• Building a firm foundation through the principles that we embody
• Developing our own self awareness and our interpersonal skills
• Learning quickly
• Being totally committed to the value base that we establish in ourselves and in our business
• Making high leveraged decisions that deliver results
• Being action oriented
• Focusing on the results.

Motivation

I tend to think positively about my business and its future success. Having a clear vision about what that future looks like is critical in leading others in a successful business.

I find it just as important, though, to live in the present and pay attention to customers.

I have discovered that by concentrating on the results that I want to achieve, rather than the everyday activities that are demanded of me, that I am able to accomplish what is required. I am enabled to stay on point in my work.

Setting clear milestones, taking one step at a time, celebrating small wins and getting moving, by focusing on concrete actions, does deliver outstanding results and the outcomes that I seek.

Alignment

The prime objective of any development program in a business must be to align all the people in that business, so that all the energy of the business is focused and directed. This energy must best serve the interests of the business and its activities in providing a service to customers.

My observation is that far too often managers, within certain highly politicized business environments, are so cynical about organizational change initiatives that they actually undermine the process, by not taking it seriously themselves.

They somehow put themselves in a position of being above it all. They want to see others change, while they themselves remain the same. How does that work? What hope is there for better workplaces and working relationships with each other, when people have this attitude?

It seems to me that we need to commit ourselves to be the change that we want to see in the world around us. We need to step up to the plate and take responsibility for pursuing excellence in ourselves. Only then will our business life and our workplaces change for the better.

Ringing the Changes

Taking up the opportunities that come our way in business creates a degree of anxiety and fear. In moving from the old to the new, and indeed bringing the old along with the new, calculated risks are often required.

Being prepared to work hard and put in the time, money and effort to achieve the desired result is a given. This may not be easy, given any potential uncertainty about the future.

A book that I have found very useful in both understanding the change principles and enacting the change process in business is John Kotter'’s “Leading Change”. His eight stages in the change process are:

1. Establish a sense of urgency
2. Create a guiding coalition
3. Develop a vision and strategy
4. Communicate the vision
5. Empower others to take action
6. Generate small wins
7. Consolidate gains and produce more change
8. Institutionalize new approaches in your culture

His book is well worth the read.