Axiom #6: Change Had Better Happen

Anyone who has known me for more than five minutes will probably attest to the fact that I embrace change with fervor. I have had more than one staff member of mine tell me that my motto is the oft repeated adage, “If it ain’t broke . . . break it!”
Guilty as charged.

When I completed the hiring of my present staff I told them in one of our early staff meetings to keep me in check in regard to change. Ask me why I am changing something. I know myself well enough to know that I will change something just for the sake of changing. As I said above, “Guilty.”

But . . . but . . . but . . . hear me out.

I will write an Axiom later on the value of a mentor. I have had two men, both ministers, whom I would call mentors in my life. The first of those was Richard Horn. He was the pastor of the church I attended when I “felt the call” “decided to” (pick your language) go into ministry as an occupation. I will tell some of that later, but for now, it is only important to know that he was important enough in my life, that my son Richard is named for him. That church was Landis Baptist Church, and it had a profound impact upon me. In many ways, one of the elders in that church is responsible for saving my life in almost every way it could be saved.

Early on when Pastor Horn and I were talking about ministry he said something to me that was astonishing for a 22 year old man to hear. He said, “Terry, if you believe the same thing in five years that you believe now, you are backslidden.”

Now don’t go all semantic on my and start quibbling about the language. And don’t make him to have said more than he said. He was not talking about core faith issues, Jesus, Scripture, a compassion for the poor, etc. It was something a bit more delicate than that. He was talking about our relationship with God. He was talking about our time studying what we believe and why we believe it. He was talking about keeping our faith fresh. He was talking about examining what you do and why you do it on a regular basis. He was talking about change.

We live in an age where change is not only happening; it is happening at speeds never before seen in the history of humanity. Some of us love it. Others are a bit slow on the uptake. Dr. Everett Rogers talked about the various speeds in which we embrace change in 1962 in The Diffusion of Innovation. I am well to the left of his continuum. If I do not land on the “innovator” on a topic, I am almost always an “early adopter.”

That clearly influences this Axiom of mine, but I firmly believe that as a leader we must embrace change. We need to be in the leading group when change is discussed. We simply cannot be sitting back waiting on change to happen to us. For it surely will. We need to be constantly analyzing and asking: What needs changed? What does not need changed (as much as we may want to change it)? How should it be changed? When should it be changed? Who should be involved in making the change? Who will resist the change? How can we win them over? And a any number of other questions.

As a leader, where do you land on change? Do you innovate or resist? Then ask, what “balance points” do I need to assist me? If you are like me, you need someone who will ask you to defend your change. It may be correct, but I should be ready to explain it. If you are a little more on the “Late Majority” or “Late Adopter” end, perhaps your balance point is someone you trust who will push you to question the status quo. Maybe you need someone who will be a burr under your saddle who will not allow you to just stand pat.

Change happens. As a leader, you may be the one who should be leading it, and not being led by it.