Can You Adapt?

Change is happening all around us.  The world of work, the world of play, our communities are constantly changing.  How are you prepared to handle change?
Do you:

• take a moment each week to step back and look at where you have been?
• take a moment each week to look at where you are going and determine if that still makes sense?
• talk to people in your industry, including competitors to understand how change is affecting them?
• listen to your customers or clients and their needs so that you can help to create solutions to their problems?

These are 4 quick and easy ways to get ahead of change, or at least not get broad-sided by it.  Try it out and see what happens.

When Their Problem is Yours

There comes a time in every leader's life when the problems of the team become their problems.  What to do?  Why does this happen?

As the leader, you have already accepted responsibility for the team and their results (see, I did not say actions).  Your role is to guide them to success through execution of the plan or project.  There will be a time when the team gets stuck and the problem becomes yours.  Have a look at the reasons you now own the problem:

• was the direction unclear
• were the steps not cohesive
• were all the roadblocks anticipated, examined and resolved
• were all the stakeholders involved

Now - push the problem back to the team.  Unless it is one of funding or lack of people-power, you really can't solve their issue.  You can guide them through it.  That is what you do as the leader.

Here are 2 great books to read that can help you with the struggle of accepting the problems of others: