Leading Effective Change

April 18, 2022

Good morning! For the first time in more than 2 1/2 years we achieved a family quorum yesterday, with twenty-one (21) gathered around the table. We had eight (8) of our fifteen (15) grandchildren, seven of our eleven children, and four spouses or SOs. Nice!

• Easter and Passover were almost as late in the year as they can ever be — and we’re in the middle of Ramadan — and yet we enjoyed some of the colder weather of all time for mid-April.
• As I write to you, the ground is white and it’s snowing!
• There is so much I’d love to tell you about my experience in Chicago last week, but I’ll wait until I see you in-person.
  • Among the highlights was a conversation with a gentleman who had come to the meeting from Ukraine — and was going back.
  • It was SO good and SO enjoyable to have finally been out on the road.
• Here’s one for all the theologians:
  • For purposes of fasting or abstinence, are the faux meat, plant-based products; e.g., Impossible Burger, Beyond Meat, Etc., meat or are they plants/ vegetables?
• Baby steps/ Small steps… think of a ladder if you were to skip every other rung — or maybe even two rungs at a time; treacherous.
  • Most of us, especially in U.S. society, expect to go further, farther, and faster than is healthy or reasonable.
  • When climbing (growing), smaller steps are safer, they’re easier, they make it possible to look around and be more certain of the next step(s).
• There’s no such thing as a final copy… (Unknown)
• If your people aren’t about people they’re probably the wrong people.  (YT)
• From Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School, Three Imperatives for Leading Effective Change:
  • Drawing the map
    • Glasgow observed that great leaders recognize an issue before it becomes an emergency…
    • They consistently map the changing dynamics of the organization’s environment and create a clear, prioritized vision for where it should be headed.
  • Establishing the mindset
    • Ensure the executive team has more than just a cognitive understanding of the map.
    • The leader’s mindset drives a shared conviction about the necessity of change and an enthusiasm for the improvements…
    • …essential because achieving change is harder than maintaining the status quo.
  • Communicating the message
    • The message is the key tool for activating the change among the broader population of employees.
    • (And, always remember, perfect communication is impossible — YT)
    • Oh, and one other thing, these three functions cannot be delegated… leadership must come from the leader.