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The doctor is in, Volume III, Issue IV

We’re starting a series on the impact of leadership behaviors upon safety with this edition of the magazine. The intent is to encourage you to use leadership behaviors to create a safer work environment. I’m going to use this space to address the “how to change” your behavior. It makes no sense asking you to improve if I don’t also address the “how to’s” of change. So this article addresses a 7-Step Personal Change© process each of us must go through to change behavior. My writing style has been criticized as being too “bottom-lined” so I must warn you that space limitations require me to be really “bottom-lined” because there is so much to share with you.

Step 1. Accept Responsibility. Accepting the fact that you created you is the starting point. Over the years, I’ve had leaders blame just about everything for their behavior — their parents, genetics, cats, dogs, and computers. Unfortunately, these poor folks are stuck in what we call the Season of Self. As we progress with the series, it is your responsibility as a leader to accept the fact that your leadership style impacts the degree your people work safely.

Step 2. Recognize the Need. You’ve got to become dissatisfied with your current leadership style. Now is not the time to be in love with your leadership style because the intensity of your dissatisfaction actually pushes you to change. You literally want to decide that remaining ‘as is’ is not an option. In other words, the pain of remaining the same must be stronger than the discomfort associated with change.

Step 3. Know the Desired Behavior. It should go without saying that you need to know where you’re going to get there. In addition to knowing the desired behavior, you must know and put this seven-step process to work for you. The Leadership Series will show you the desired behaviors. Keep reading.

Step 4. Willing to Change. The excitement of the change must serve as a strong magnet just as when you purchased an item that exceeded your budget – it sucked money right out of your pocket. This magnetic quality is crucial to pull you through the challenges associated with change. That is, the push described in Step 2 gets you started, but it is the pull in Step 4 that keeps you going.

Step 5. Personal Image. Our bodies follow our eyes. In other words, you have to see yourself using the behaviors described in Step 3. If not, change doesn’t happen. For example, I’ve yet developed the personal image of picking up a snake! Guess what? That change is not on my radar. You will have to see yourself using the leadership behaviors addressed in the series to successfully lead.

Step 6. Change. The first five steps got you to the point where you can practice changing. Remember, change is a moment-by-moment decision and the more you saturate your daily existence with the change, the faster the change occurs. So, you must develop a personal change system that saturates your existence. 1) Review the person you want to be at the beginning of each day. 2) Place a list of the behaviors described in Step 3 near your work space to serve as a continuing reminder. 3) Periodically throughout the day, think about the personal benefits associated with using the desired behaviors. 4) When tempted to regress, it is imperative to exert personal control. Ask yourself if you want to make a “good” or “bad” decision. Psychologically speaking, you want to make a good one which constitutes using the effective leadership behaviors.

Step 7. Feedback. Long-term behavior change is dependent upon the feeling of success. There are only two feedback sources; 1) patting yourself on the back, and 2) others recognizing your change. Be nice to yourself. Pat yourself on the back throughout the day for using the desired behaviors listed in Step 3. Hopefully others will likewise recognize your behavior change. Of the two sources, however, your feeling of success is absolutely crucial for long-term change.

In summary, the more frequently you 1) focus on the behavior you want to improve, 2) repeat the behavior in the workplace, and 3) evaluate performance the faster you will change.

Now you’ve got the basics. For those who want more, feel free to contact me at larry@aligningchange.com.