Change is Good - You Go First

21 Ways to Inspire Change

by Mac Anderson and Tom Feltenstein

Anderson and Feltenstein say "Change what needs changing...not what's easy. If you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance a lot less."

Change is in the air. In the coming months we'll have a new governor and administration, several new congressional representatives, a number of new state senators and representatives, a huge number of new county officials, a new UT president, and we'll have another new agency director (3 of 5 new ones in less than one year). So, yes, change is inevitable. The challenge is how we embrace and prepare for this change. Are you preparing?

Anderson and Feltenstein suggest one way to inspire change is to re-recruit your best people. Bill Cosby says, "I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everyone." There are people of influence in our organization. They may not necessarily all be on a management team. Those folks are the key to moving the rest of us forward. Are you one of them?

Anderson and Feltenstein say, "Forget for Success." Peter Drucker believes it's easier for companies to come up with new ideas than to let go of old ones." Are you holding on to any old ideas that you need to let go?

Anderson and Feltenstein say change starts with belief. A team becomes unstoppable if they believe they can accomplish their goal. "A good leader inspires people to have confidence in their leader. A great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves." Are you among the great leaders in our organization?

They also suggest we must focus on our strengths. They cite McDonald's as a company who is really customer focused by "listening, learning, and leading." One of our organizational strengths has always been customer service. Are we focusing on the critical customer relationships?

As we prepare for all the coming changes in leadership across the state, we know that we are a strong and well respected organization. Our challenge is to remain so and share that message with our new leadership. Are you up for the challenge?