Feedback Form
Home Features Mastermind Forums About Advertise Blog Network Contact Be An Author

Maintaining Yesterday vs Creating Tomorrow

Maintaining Yesterday vs Creating Tomorrow

The first quarter of the year is now over. Some of you are already feeling the crunch of the current economic situation in your professional lives. Others have been able to maintain your status quo for the time being - or possibly even discovered a way to expand your business or career base.

What all of us have in common: A heightened sense of cautious watchfulness.

To successfully harness all of our resources and make progress despite the current challenges, it is essential we learn how to 'abandon yesterday'. We must learn to let go of the assumption that we can plan for the future as though it were just another episode of yesterday. What worked for us yesterday is not working for us today - and will be even less effective tomorrow.

HEEDING THE WINDS OF CHANGE

The mettle of a leadership personality is always put to the test when we reach the junction of change. It is not only how we react to change that is important; it is also how well we were prepared to deal with it in the first place.

In a crisis situation, external factors can force people and organizations comfortably enveloped in the status quo to REact. Whether it be a general economic downturn or a more specific and immediate challenge within the marketplace, this abrupt call to change can blindside us when we are not looking, and find us not - or only poorly - prepared.

Sometimes changes within our specific markets make it necessary to adopt a whole new way of working or doing business. That is why music companies no longer selling 8-track tapes must once again adjust and effectively compete in the world of iTunes and Napster.

By combining a healthy grasp of the overall market as well as your specific competitive environment with a balanced attitude towards risk, leaders who anticipate change in their markets and prepare themselves/their organizations accordingly, are best able to transition successfully.

Coaching Questions

** Which of the three scenarios briefly outlined above best describes your organization's/department's/ team's overall attitude towards change?

** How do you identify and facilitate those groups within your organization that already do things both differently and better? How could they be supported in implementing change strategies even more effectively?

** How can YOU do things both differently and better to ensure your own strategies for change do not get stuck mid-process?


LEADING THE WAY: WHERE DO YOU STAND?

Every organization looks to its key players to implement strategies in order to realize change. To ensure that new visions and strategies are actually realized, it is important to understand everyone's role - including your own - in the process.

What change type are you?

Are you a so-called "double agent"? In other words, after everything about the strategy for change within your organization has been said and done, have you SAD more than you have actually DONE?

Or could you be considered a "saboteur"? Do you expend all your energy to fight the winds of change in order to maintain the comfort of the status quo no matter what new demands the marketplace makes?

Do you belong to with the "groupies" - one of those people who seek safety in numbers by standing firmly somewhere in the middle?

Or do you count as one of the "mavericks" because you are someone who pushes ahead without aligning yourself with senior management, because it's easier for you to apologize in the aftermath than it is for you to ask permission?

More Coaching Questions

** Taking an honest look at your own attitudes towards change, into which of the four categories above do you fit? How does your attitude affect the success of strategies for change currently being implemented within your organization?

** If you have personnel responsibility, which of the types described above do you recognize within your department or team? What leadership strategies can you apply to integrate them into the change process more successfully?

Frustration and resignation are two things you need to avoid when you are in the throes of a change process. But it's often not the change strategy that's the problem. The problem most often lies in a lack of courage to actually implement the strategy once it's been decided!

What resources must YOU activate to take theory to practice, to go from planning to action, and to carry your concept to implementation?

John F. Kennedy once said that the best time to repair the roof is when the sun is still shining. That is a luxury we do not have right now. Instead we must proactively confront our fear of change. Embrace it. Learn to be comfortable with it.

By liberating ourselves from yesterday's solutions, we are effectively freeing ourselves today to create tomorrow's success!





Maintaining Yesterday vs Creating Tomorrow - To learn more about this author, visit Trina Roach-Raschke's Website.

Like this article? Share it with your friends

Article Feedback
 Article Feedback No article feedback found.
  Leave Your Feedback
article feedback

Article Feedback
Stephanie Robey
Stephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals.

She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com   Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences.  Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University.

Read Steph's Blog
Meet Steph and Dave
Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich
- Visit Stephanie Robey's Website


To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us.

About The Author


Trina Roach-Raschke
(Visit Trina's Website) Trina Roach is a coach, leadership and communications skills trainer, and HR consultant based in Germany. Her company - Creating Tomorrow: The Leadership Consultancy - works with both corporate and individual clients. She is dedicated to unleashing the IMPACT coaching and professional development can have on her clients careers businesses. With support and dedication, she helps coachees successfully conquer the challenges they face in reaching the goals they have set for themselves both FASTER and more EFFECTIVELY. Trina divides her time between her immediate family (including a 24 year old daughter, a 22 year old son, and two dachshund puppies) and work in Europe, and nurturing a growing client base in the Greater Philadelphia area, where much of her extended family resides. Trina works in English or German and conducts her coaching either 1-on-1 or per telephone/Skype.

Trina Roach-Raschke is a Gold author on EvanCarmichael.com
About The Author

View Author Blog
View Author Blog

View Author Video
View Author Video

Free Downloads


Trina Roach-Raschke's

Complete
List Of
Business-Coach
Articles

Name
Email
If you enjoyed this article, get Trina Roach-Raschke's Complete List of Business-Coach Articles For FREE!

More Trina Roach-Raschke
Your Goals for 2008 Staying On Course
What Have You Done For Them Lately
Maintaining Yesterday vs Creating Tomorrow
How Can You Succeed If You Dont Make Mistakes
Tapping Into Your Authentic Presentation Personality
Sea or Career Change Things to Consider when You Plan to Jump Off the Hamster Wheel
What Good Are Exit Interviews
Storytelling as a Key Leadership Tool
Free Downloads


 
 
 


Evan Elite Authors
Leanne Hoagland-Smith  
Linda Richardson  
Jeff Foster  
Evan Elite Authors

Become An Author
Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details.
Become An Author

Evan's Latest Video
Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media
Evan's Latest Video

Business Opportunities
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"

How to Start An Online Business

Click Here To Learn More
Business Opportunities



Evan's Newsletter
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Name:
Email:
Evan`s Newsletter

Free Downloads
Future Networking Icon Future Networking
Confidentiality Agreement Icon Confidentiality Agreement
Host Beneficiary Icon Host Beneficiary
Basic SEO Guide Icon Basic SEO Guide
Building Business Relationships Icon Building Business Relationships
Free Downloads - Complete List

Entrepreneur Tools and Guides
Top 50 Productivity Blogs To Watch In 2008
Top 50 Productivity Blogs
Top Blogs To Watch In 2008
 
Top 50 SEO Posts of the Year
Top 50 SEO Posts - 2007
Top SEO Posts of the Year
 
Entrepreneur Tools and Guides

SEO For Africa
SEO For Africa
Komi Mokpe Wome, Togo,
Komi Mokpe
Wome, Togo
SEO For Africa

If I Were A Startup...
Razor Suleman, $143k to $5.4 Mil in 5 years
Razor Suleman
$143k to $5.4 Mil in 5 years
Travis Hartley, 426% Growth in 2 Years
Travis Hartley
426% Growth in 2 Years
If I Were A Startup... - Complete List

Famous Entrepreneurs
Larry Ellison, Oracle
A.P. Giannini, Bank of America
A.P. Giannini
Bank of America
Famous Entrepreneurs - Complete List

Entrepreneur Advice
Tom Peters, In Search Of Excellence
Tom Peters
In Search Of Excellence
Michael Gerber, The E Myth
Michael Gerber
The E Myth
Entrepreneur Advice - Complete List

Popular Articles
(Premium Authors)

     Getting Your Message Heard Amidst The Clutter
By Allan Katz
     The 5 Easy Ways To Increase Store Traffic
By Allan Katz
     What Makes Marketing Work
By Allan Katz

Have A Suggestion?
Toronto Salsa Classes / Toronto Salsa Lessons Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
Have A Suggestion?

More Evan Carmichael
More Information