Ditch the Fear and Become the Hero

“You never step into the same river twice.”

That is an aphorism attributed to the Greek philosopher Heraclitus. He meant change is something that is constant and inevitable. One of the prime responsibilities of any leader is not only handling change, but getting out in front of it.

As a leader, your job is to be proactive, not reactive, to embrace change and not get caught with your guard down. So, how can you as a leader embrace change and set a good example for your employees? Here are some ideas.

Take risks, don’t fear failure.

Leaders set the tone here. They must encourage their employees to take risks and try new ways of doing things. Leaders cannot punish employees for failing or make them feel inadequate because of it.

Failure will occur, and people need to see it as a learning experience. Leaders cannot be afraid to fail if they want to take the risks needed to grow their companies. But too often, it is fear of failure that motivates business decisions. When this happens, employees are not encouraged to try new ways of doing things or question the way things are done.

When we fail, we have to face it squarely and determine why it happened and what we did or didn’t do that contributed to it. Here again, leaders set an example. When people succeed, they are quick to take all the credit. But when they fail, they are quick to cast blame elsewhere and exonerate their own actions. To handle change, we need to take responsibility for our failures as well as our successes.

Develop a change mentality.

Some believe that people’s ability is pretty much fixed at birth. It is set, bounded and limited. Some people believe the same about organizations as well; that an organization’s capacities are fixed. But such an attitude precludes attempts at growth and improvement.

People can grow and develop, and organizations can as well. We are not stuck where we are, through effort and perseverance we can develop. Leaders must have this kind of mindset about their company as well. It is the way growth is achieved, because if you believe abilities are fixed, you are unlikely to take the actions needed to make change.

Look to the future.

When companies look to fill job openings, they look at job candidates’ past performance, assuming it is a good predictor of future performance. But this is not always true – two candidates with similar job records don’t always perform the same when hired. It is those who are more oriented toward the future who perform better because they have curiosity, insight, engagement and determination.

If your company is growing and looking for new people, Insurance Relief can find the top-notch professionals you need. We are one of the best in the business, winning a Best in Staffing award for our accomplishments. At Insurance Relief, we care about the people we recruit as individuals. We provide job opportunities that fit, and we treat our people with respect and fairness. Give us a call today.