By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy

Here are a few ideas to help you embrace change more fully.

The television set is blaring. And I’m snoring on the couch. Whewwwwww…..Ah Wheeew….The louder the television the louder my snoring . Then suddenly, I awake. My wife just turned off the television.

Why is it that I can sleep through the blaring noise of the television set but I awake when someone finally grants me the silence that should have kept me in dreamland? I always wondered about that. Anyway, that experience finally helped me better understand and value the dynamics of change that seems to fuel every leader’s agenda. Read on to help you appreciate the merits of change in your life.

My experience of falling asleep bathed in the glow of the television set and then awakening immediately when that blaring light and sound were turned off help me spawn my Flashlight Theory of Change Management that has helped me cope with change more confidently:

It’s not the Flashlight that brightens our lives.
It’s the Flash of Light that enlightens our lives.

The Flashlight Theory of Change Management

Consider the essence of The Flashlight Theory of Change Management. It’s all about recognizing that a bright flash of light will grab your attention more fully than a continuous beam of a flashlight. Think of your television as if it were a flashlight. If you turn on that flashlight -that television set — you could become so accustomed to the status quo of the bright lights and blaring sounds that you easily surrender to the rigors of long day and fall asleep. But you quickly awake when that flashlight is turned off , creating an interruption in the status quo, an interruption that can invigorate with a sense of anticipation and renewal, an interruption that attracts your attention to that next flash of the light that may light up your life with opportunity. So now I think of change as an interruption that is the spice of life.

Change regenerates. Change renovates Change resonates.

• Change regenerates. In fact, 98 percent of all atoms in the human body are replaced – changed—in less than one year, says Dr. Deepak Chopra in his book Ageless Body, Timeless Mind. In fact, humans change their outer skin completely every 27 days.
• Change renovates. Farmers nourish their land with change. They rotate their crops. The soil needs to be refreshed with new nutrients. Likewise tree farmers nourish their land with change. They clear their land every 40 years to give birth to new trees.
• Change resonates.Think of the transmission of a phone signal that must be modulated to reproduce the human voice. If you don’t vary the resistance in the telephone circuit, you only get a buzz sound.

And change-the interruption that is the spice of life — rejuvenates. That’s why author Nathaniel Hawthorne once observed: “Human nature will not flourish if is planted and replanted in the same worn out soil.” Especially when you’re sleeping on the couch watching late night TV. I look forward to learning from you how you embrace change in your leadership role. Use the Comments section below.

Today’s ImproveMINT
Appreciate the value of change to keep your
leadership thinking in mint condition.

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