There are different forms of changes in business, some are incremental which could be termed as evolutionary changes, these are the small improvements that occur from time to time without causing too much disruption and almost go unnoticed. Then there are planned changes, they can be external or internal, changes that are influenced by government legislation can be termed as planned external changes where as planned organisational changes are termed as internal. There are also dynamic changes which arise out of circumstances unforeseen.

When planned changes are driven by the vision of senior management who seems to have no real end goal, other than cutting costs or improving efficiency to boost profits. It is difficult therefore, for the rest of the company to buy into an initiative that will probably put more pressure on them or result in job losses rather than giving them challenges to aspire to. Changes will then be viewed with suspicion across the organisation. And if the program is not handled carefully it could do harm to the moral of the company therefore not giving the desired outcome.

Before changes are implemented there are things to consider after the initial feasibility study such as the structuring of the changes, how will the procedures be implemented and by whom. The allocation of responsibilities, identifying resistance and a strategy
put in place to deal with it. There will be need for a system in place for the monitoring of the results as they must be evidential and measurable. The real test of the program
is whether the goals are reached which were determined at the outset.

The reason why some organisational changes are unsuccessful is the lack of Communication and feedback, senior management say “ok this is how it’s going to be” without consulting middle management and below who are expected to agree knowing that the plans are useless but have no say in the matter even if they know better and so resist the changes and just go through the motions with little or no enthusiasm.

More reasons for failure

Don’t allow enough time
Fail to gauge how much change should be undertaken
Don’t allow enough budget
Failure to appoint a committed change agent
Failure to make decisions in a timely way
No clear measurable goals set
Poor program set up
Lack of governance
Lack of budgetary control

One of the most overlooked is the failure to empower staff so that they can deliver.
The staff is the company without the staff there is no company yet many organisations overlook the needs and feelings of their employees. When they realise that their best assets are their people and invest in them then things will be better all round.

Some of the benefits of empowerment.

One machine can do the work of 50 ordinary men
No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.
Elbert Hubbard

Your technologies and structures may be copied by competitors. None, however, can match your highly motivated people who care. Your people are your firm’s knowledge base and they are essential to your company’s success. Well trained, coached and highly motivated people are essential to the development and execution of strategies, where top management alone can no longer assure your firm’s competitiveness.

All managers and leaders are at the end of the day judged on the results they achieve. Empowering others and leveraging the full range of skills, knowledge, experience and personal attributes at your disposal helps to achieve results. Attracting and retaining good people is a major challenge for many organisations. If you are known as a manager or leader who empowers others, you will start to attract the best and they will stay longer.

Tips

Cultural intelligence
Reinvent your business constantly
Institutionalise innovation Believe in your vision
Provide incentives and growth opportunities
Listen to your staff implement their ideas
Freedom to fail
Anticipate change in your industry
Focus on customer care
Make business fun

A little story about a woman who believed in herself and was very emotionally aware. Imagine this, 1956 her five year old son was admitted to hospital with typhoid, this was on an island in the Caribbean, his mother, was in the same hospital with diabetes, pregnant with her third child. She visited her son in the children’s ward three or four times a day only to watch the boy deteriorate. During the whole time the little boy was ill he was unusually interested in his mother’s pregnancy and would ask his mother on a regular basis when his baby sister was coming, you see, he was certain it was going to be a girl because that was what he wanted and he decided that’s what it was going to be. He just kept on and on about his baby sister and not understanding how things worked he would also ask, “what does she look like mamma, have you got a picture of her. He was so persistent that his mother had to cut out a picture from one of the pages of a magazine and gave it to him just to try and keep him quiet and he held on to that picture like he was holding on to life itself.

As time slowly passed things were getting worse and on one particular day his mother walked into the children’s ward and saw that the staff had placed a red blanket across the bottom of her son’s bed.

In those days a red blanket was used to cover the dead and his red blanket was there ready and waiting as he was expected to die at any moment, what happened next was a life changing moment for both mother and son. Can you imagine the emotions that woman was going through, almost ready to give birth to her third child while the second was on his death bed just five years old and walking through the valley of the shadows of death. Well unlike most people she did not break down and cry nor did she kneel down and pray because that red blanket was like a red flag to a bull, she went straight to the matrons office like a fire breathing dragon and demanded that her son be discharged immediately, their reply to her was that the only thing she is going to take home is a dead body but she did not give up on her son as they had done, just because they could do no more for him did not mean that there was nothing more that could be done, and so she defied the medical profession and took her dying son home still holding the picture, you see that was his reason to stay alive, he was hanging in there because  he had something to live for, he believed that he was going to get a little sister . His mother worked on him day and night and from time to time the boy had fits of delirium, at one point he sat on his bed while repeatedly counting his fingers and saying to his mother that his fingers were falling off. She gave him the love and tender care only a mother could. You could say she gave life to her son twice because she believed in herself, and disregarded professional opinion.

Without any medical training she went where she had never been before, into the  unknown where there was no path to follow but she made her own path and left it for other mothers to follow, she literally snatched her son from the very jaws of death itself and soon after she gave birth to a baby girl just like I said she would, you see, I was that five year old boy.
In this little story you will find the qualities of good leadership, most women are natural leaders although they are not thought of as being so if they are not in a corporate environment or other walks of life where  they are seen as leaders .The lessons to learn here are  Self belief, defiance, emotional awareness, being able to make an evaluation and use that knowledge to make a quick and valid decision to take immediate action which turned out to be life saving. (And it was my life)

It’s not what you’ve done it’s what you can do, if you just believe in yourself.

This is dedicated to the memory of my mother Zipporah Victoria Henry a great woman who installed in me good values and the belief that to transcend our consciousness to a state of true and unconditional love for humanity, and to seek harmony with the universe, will align us with the true purpose designed for us by the great architect of the universe. To attain a level of consciousness that will enable inner peace, therefore making it far easier for us to be at peace with others and will enable us to take our first steps on the path to enlightenment leaving behind us, the limiting beliefs that keeps us in the realm of perpetual mental servitude because of the manipulation of the truth which promotes limitation of our range of human possibilities.

The messenger
(Van Henry)



Mistake #1 – Making Decisions in Haste



Tempted to just quit and wing it? Everyone is now and then, but unless you just can’t stand your current situation another day, resist! Instead, write down everything you hate about your current situation, then one by one, look at the most intolerable issues and see how you can turn each around to make it more tolerable for the present moment.



It is easy to get so excited about the future that you decide to forge ahead without a plan and hope everything naturally falls your way after that. It will require more energy to sustain your new career and make it work well for you than it will to identify and start it. It is better to come from a place of higher energy and stability than to start out already burned out or worried about how you will pay the bills. Consider seeking the help of a qualified career coach, life coach or career counsellor to help you identify your next career path. An objective, trained third party can help you strategize and phase it in for the best results and the least amount of heartache.



Mistake #2 – Ignoring the Finances

“

I can’t stand this any longer! I would rather eat dog food than put up with this another day!” Whether you are pursuing a new career voluntarily or involuntarily, you must pay the bills. Do pursue your dream. Do look for the career that brings out the best in you. If you have plenty of savings, good for you! Resist the temptation to go through it and be left without. If you have a dream, by all means hang on to it! But if it won’t realistically get off the ground for three years, find another way to earn a living in the meantime. The need for income is a reality you cannot ignore.



Mistake #3 – Filling Your Head with Negative Stuff



What do you read? What do you view on television or the Internet? With whom do you spend free time? When you’re looking at making big life and career changes, you need lots of positive energy around you. If you spend time with negative people or fill your mind with anything that isn’t useful, guess what? It fills you with negative energy. Instead, surround yourself with people and things that give you positive energy and encouragement. Read books that motivate and encourage you. Go places that inspire you. Do everything you can to be what you want to be like after you land the next great career opportunity, and you will be more likely to attract it into your life!



Mistake #4 – Getting Bogged Down by Decisions

If you’re an intelligent person who has enjoyed any measure of success, chances are there are a lot of different choices you could make in your next big life or career change. Clients often tell me they are overwhelmed by all of the thoughts and ideas that keep running through their minds. And as the overwhelm sets in, it is very easy to just shut down. As we work together, I remind clients when making tough decisions to ask themselves, “Is this going to move me forward?” If the answer is yes, proceed. If the answer is no, either revise the decision or drop it entirely.



Mistake #5 – Not Having a Plan



There are two reasons this is important. First, life is unpredictable and it is dangerous to relinquish security before the next career arrangement is lined up. Second, changing careers is a lot like dating. You are always more desirable when you are unavailable. You are more attractive to a prospective employer if you are already working. And if you have already lost your job either voluntarily or involuntarily, it is even more important to have a plan so that you are then more likely to achieve it. If you see success, you will be successful. (Conversely, if you don’t have a plan, how will you know when you’ve succeeded?) 



Mistake #6 – Ending your Preparation Too Soon

All I can say here is, prepare, prepare, prepare. If you’re looking at several possibilities, don’t immediately drop one when another looks good. Think about all of the big tests you have taken in life (college entrance exams, finals, certification exams) and how you prepared for those. Did you study way in advance and take a big, long break before taking the test? Or were you still reading the material as you walked in the door on test day, wondering if you could still be better prepared? When you’re embarking on a new career or life change, give it all of your available energy, skills and attention. If you have a goal in mind, resist relaxing when you think you almost have it. Prepare and stay sharp right up until the day you start. This will help keep you from losing confidence at the last minute.



Mistake #7 – Getting Discouraged Too Easily



Does this happen to you when you face hurdles in the midst of your goal? Instead of giving in to the pain, pay attention to what specifically is making you uncomfortable and make adjustments to get you through. For example, if you’re in career transition and you find that it is painful to go through the tedium of making phone calls, sending resumes, going on interviews where the competition is tough, etc., find the formula that gives you a break without stopping the process. Try devoting an hour or two each morning to these tasks and letting it go for the rest of the day, or only making a certain number of phone calls or interview appointments per week so that when you’re finished, you can feel good about giving yourself some time off. Don’t stop. Adjust.



Remember, a career change is a life change. You didn’t arrive at your current level of education and experience overnight, and don’t be disappointed if you don’t immediately uncover “the thing” you want to do next. Allow yourself time and space to explore and make an educated decision. Get the help you need along the way (i.e., career coach, career counsellor) to help you do it strategically, not emotionally. If you avoid these mistakes you are much more likely to end up in a new career that complements and fulfills your life.

I worked as an Aircraft technician for a small cargo company in Belgium, I was part of a team that carried out the structural maintenance or the aircraft. The owner of the company decided to build a small workshop within the hangar to do the overhaul of the electrical components so he employed a young carpenter to do just that. When he was finished he was asked to stay on and do some other jobs and eventually all the carpentry work was done. The owner again asked him if he would like to stay a little longer and work with the vehicle mechanics just helping them to do simple tasks, he accepted and was very helpful and after a few months was able to work alone. The young man then progressed to the aircraft and started to help the aircraft mechanics and eventually became one of them, a part of the team. He worked hard and was always asking questions, he wanted to know everything about airplanes. He was now an aircraft mechanic and was able to fly with the crew as the flight mechanic should anything go wrong on the way. He was now part of the flight crew and so he was watching the pilots at work but did not stop there he continued along the path of learning and did every job on the aircraft from mechanic to loadmaster, then flight mechanic and he was now interested in the flight engineers position. That is the person who sits at the rear of the pilot and co pilot with his own instrument panel with fuel gauges, oil temperature gauges, hydraulic pressure and cabin pressure gauges and a whole lot more. During this time the young man decided to take flying lessons and he excelled because he spent so much time in the cockpit with the other crew members watching ,listening and asking questions so much so, that his flying instructor had an easy time with him. Well you guessed it he eventually became a pilot and a very good one too, on his check ride in Stockholm at the flight simulators he passed with a result of 94% the best marks awarded since the 50’s. I eventually flew with him one weekend Dublin-Toronto-Oostende, that was one of the magic moments in my life to think that only a few short years earlier this young man walked into the hanger
with his tool box as a carpenter and now he was flying the company airplane a carpenter who had a pilot inside of him but more than that, he gave life to his pilot. How many of us will die with our other characters inside of us because we didn’t give them a chance to live, who else do you have inside of you that you could bring out and give life to. The young man in this story chose to accept a challenge and did something that he had never done before something that took him to another place. If he did not choose to stay on and not had the courage to try something new he would probably have remained a carpenter wishing he had done something else.

The places we end up in life are determined by the choices that we make.

Too many of us treat goal setting the same way. We dream about where we want to go, but we don’t have a map to get there.

What is a map? In essence, the written word. What is the difference between a dream and a goal? Once again, the written word.

Goal setting however is more than simply scribbling down some ideas on a piece of paper. Our goals need to be complete and focused, much like a road map, and that is the purpose behind the rest of this article.

Goals check list

Are my current activities moving me toward my goals?

What could be distracting me from reaching my goals?

Am I making the best use of my time?

What more can I do to move me toward my goals?

Have I written my goals correctly?

Are my goals S.M.E.R.T.I.E.

Specific

Emotional

Tips: Move away from time wasters keep focused and read your goals twice a day You may find that you loose momentum from time to time but this is natural Just re focus and get back on track.

Having A coach is recommended but if you can’t afford one then Get someone to hold you accountable, an accountability partner.

1. Make sure the goal you are working for is something you really want, not just something that sounds good.

2. One goal should not contradict another goal, as that would defeat the objective

3. Life areas to consider when setting goals

Family and Social Financial and Career
 Spiritual Health
 Social and Cultural Educational / Personal development

4. Write your goal in the positive instead of the negative. Think bout what you want, not what you want to leave behind. Part of the reason why we write down our goals is to create a set of instructions for our subconscious mind to carry out. The subconscious mind is a very efficient tool, it can not determine right from wrong and it does not judge. It’s only function is to carry out its instructions. The more positive instructions you give it, the more positive results you will get..

5. Write your goal out in complete detail. Using SMERTIE as stated above

6. means, make sure your goals are big enough. Aim for the stars if you miss you will hit the moon.

7. And finally… the Most important.. Take action

Thinking positively in everyday life will help your spiritual growth as a human being. Don’t limit it only to goal setting.