Why do we need more Changemakers in Leadership & Management than ever before? What is a Changemaker? What does it take to be a Changemaker?

Would you not agree that all of us live in an increasingly fast and every changing globalised interconnected world. A world where many of the jobs of today will be obsolete tomorrow. A world where we need to equip ourselves and our children to gain the skills and confidence to deal with some of the biggest problems facing humanity… What we need is a generation of changemakers.

While former US president Bill Clintons was among the first politicians to publicly embrace the association; and chose to encapsulate Hillary’s public service careers with one description on the campaign trail in Iowa calling her: “She is the best darn changemaker I have ever know.” 

Yet not every changemaker launches their own startup. Sometimes it is the changemaker within an existing business that’s most influential. For instance, a changemakers is a person who has the courage to stand up and say, how it is, and how it needs to be. When something needs to change, somebody has to lead the way. A changemaker takes positive action to enhance the lives and circumstances of people around them. A changemaker is inclusive in their approach, and innovative in their business thinking. They see the opportunities and understand the value of their own firm and are in a great position to innovate for the greater good.

Known as social “intrapreneurs,” these are people like many of us who desire change, by gathering knowledge and resources, and understand the mechanics of their own organisation to make change happen. Ashoka, Innovators for the Public sums it up by saying; “Changemakers identify problems and see it as an opportunity to build a solution. They apply the critical skills of empathy, teamwork and leadership to make positive impact.”

Leaders & Managers Pay Attention

Leaders & managers today need to pay attention and become more aware of the changemakers within their own organisation than ever before; or may become a changemaker themselves. By doing so, by becoming a changemaker or working with changmakers one will identify problems and see it as an opportunity to create a solution. 

Most organisation desire change; many know what they would like to see different in the firm, and some even know how it could be done best; but often fall short of the qualities a changemaker has in his DNA. This is where changemakers differ: they make their change happen. They possess and apply the critical skills of empathy, teamwork and leadership used with a combination of knowledge, resources, and determination, to make the positive impact. Changemakers are the force of reformation within an organisation; everyone can become one, and everyone should.

You Can Make the Change

As a leader, manager, employer or an employee, you can make the change you want to see in your organisation. How to become a changemaker? What does it take to become a changemaker? What can I do?

Let’s be honest; until we change ourselves, we cannot change the environment we live in. Nothing will change until you take the time to reflect on your own strengths and weaknesses. The starting point is to improve yourself before you try to improve others. 

Let’s face it; if you truly want to resolve a problem, you need to get to know it first. To do that, you have to find the people experiencing it, ask questions regarding their account of events and merely listen. Listening is an incredible opportunity to build empathy, a major stepping stone towards positive change.

Let’s speak up; and let no-one silence you. Start believing in the power of your own voice. Regardless of your gender, age or background, your voice has power used and pushed in combination with knowledge, resources and determination, and see your dreams unfold right in front of you. 

Let’s do it; continuously keep doing what you know will bring positive change because a single action will bring no change at all. The process of change may take some twists and turns, sometime even a stumble and perhaps a little failure every now and then. But no matter what, regardless of the obstacles thrown into your path, you keep going forward on the path to change. 

I belief everyone is a changemaker. It is about everyone’s role as a changemaker in conversations around the dinner table, in the office, around the water cooler, in the Cafe or hanging out with your friends and family at a picnic. Everyone is a leader and role model to someone else in their life. You have the ability to create change with every conversation with everyone and anyone you choose to. Embrace your roles as changemakers within your communities. 

Everyone Can – Everyone Should! 

TO YOUR SUCCESS 

GG Frantz

Why would anyone wants to become a Change Architect? For what purpose and what is really involved to be ‘classed’ as a Change Architect? 

Most people want to change their life, change themselves, change their future, and achieve a higher quality of living. Basically, most of us want to successfully conquer our dreams. Having said that, we often are unsuccessful for different reasons. For the majority of people in the world there is only a limited amount of time, a large amount of beliefs and presumptions, of which we can choose and try them, but not really knowing which one is the right or wrong one. 

We are suppose to learn from every experience we encounter and especially from the ones that challenge us the most. The purpose of this article is to share some insight on how to make decisions and what governs our success’ and failures. 

Success’ and Failures

Our minds are built over time, from the bottom up. The basic architecture of the mind is constructed through an ongoing process that begins before birth and continues into adulthood. Right from the earliest experiences we have encountered, each has affected the development of our mind architecture, which has provided the foundation for all future learning and behaviour. Similar, like a weak foundation compromises the quality and strength of a building, certain experiences early in life can be harmful to the mind architecture, most of the time with negative effects lasting into adulthood.

Our nervous system contains millions of nerve cells, called neurons. Neurons are highly specialised to transmit messages from the mind and other parts of your body to another. These connections enable super-fast communication among neurons, especially in our early years but new connections can be formed throughout life – it never stops. Depending on your early mind architecture connections you may either have a strong or weak foundation that may have taken on form later. 

Understand Your Mind Architecture

So, what has this got to do with a Change Architect? A change architect assist people to understand their mind architecture and how their own perception, limited beliefs, and words have built their reality. He then reveals the structure of their architecture, how they have created it over their lifetime and shows them how to re-build their new mind architecture. 

If you are tired of your old mind architecture and want to re-start building a new foundation, you have a few choices: hire a change architect, become a change architect, or learn to think like a change architect. 

Question Your Reality:

If you want to change your mind architecture, start by changing the questions you ask yourself from ones of negativity to ones of empowerment.

What’s great about this? What is the opportunity in this? How might this obstacle be a blessing in disguise? What can I learn from this? What am I willing to do to make it what I want and how can I enjoy that process? How are you doing in creating the conditions you say you don’t want? If you took the emotions out of the picture what would you do?

Believe the Possible: 

If you have a passion to do or be something, you need to believe it’s possible to achieve it. If you start off with the idea that it is impossible, you’ll quit at the first minor challenge. Whatever way, challenges won’t stop you when you believe something is possible. Instead, you will look for ways to overcome any challenges knowing that there are many ways that you can conquer them.

As for me, a key point is that I believed it was possible to have a better life.  With that belief alone, I pursued my dream almost every day trying new things and repeating other practices that worked. I could have just as easily decided it wasn’t possible and repeated that thought in my mind. If I did so though, I sincerely doubt I would have ever achieved living a better life. If you have a passion to do something, you have the ability to do it too. Start by believing it is possible.

“A belief is just a thought that you keep thinking.”

— Abraham Hicks

Making a Decision:

Coffee or Tea? Chocolate or Apple? We make some choices quickly and unconsciously, relying on mental ‘shortcuts’ our mind have developed over the years to guide us in the best or sometime not best course of action.

We weigh the benefits and costs of our choice, and then we cope with the consequences. Therefore, decisions underpin everything we do and apply to all areas of our lives – family, friends, money, careers, health and lifestyle, yet we rarely get ‘trained’ in how to make them.

a) You must be clear about your outcome(s) and their order of importance to you.

b) Write down all possible options whether or not you like them.

c) What are the upsides and downsides of each option? What do you gain by each option?

d) Review & Evaluate you each options from every angle. 

e) Decide and make a decision, because the clarity that these tips provide will help you take decisive action in the direction that serves your ultimate outcome best.

The choice is yours, though any of the three will get you closer of being in control of your new mind architecture: hire a change architect, become a change architect, or learn to think like a change architect. 

TO YOUR SUCCESS

GG Frantz

What does a Change Architects do? Are they the future of change in our Society, in business and the new leaders we have been waiting for?

We all know what an architect is, right? I think architect, Sotiris Tsoulos, sums it up beautifully: 

“Architecture has always been changing the world and has always been leading into changes… The whole notion of architecture is about change and making things better. It’s the responsibility of the architect to explain, to make the developer its partner and to hold the hand of the people responsible for change in order to apply it…” 

You may ask, what on earth has this to do with Change Architecture? Why would I need to know anything about a Change Architect? I am not wanting to build a house, so, what relevance has a Change Architect to offer me? How does it apply to my personal or business life? 

The duties and responsibilities of a change architect can vary, depending on the type of transformations they need to assist to create. Their tasks is somewhat similar to the undertaking performed by an architect working in construction. Architects plan out a building, such as a house or high rise building, envision the entire structure, planning it out through drawings and models, and usually supervise the work performed in its design. Similar, a change architect formulates ways in which different transformations can be implemented within an organisations or individuals.  He creates a plan and ensures that they are conveyed appropriately to get the required results. 

The Fear of Change

This means that the work of a change architect begins with identifying the issue or problem within an individual or a company. Let’s be honest, the biggest fear here for most individuals is the word “change” – not many like change, true? Today, both employer and employees share this fear about how change will affect them personally or their business. Everyone wants to be treated fairly, but how does one successfully implements those changes is the biggest challenge. 

While managing how information, and change, gets communicated within a business is important, it can have its challenges. It can backfire if a company tries to withhold important information or control everything. Everyone likes to be in the “picture” and knows what is going on. Otherwise the rumour workshop becomes the breeding ground circulating wrong information. 

Start the Process of Planning

An early planning process is just the starting point, frankly, it comes down to communication, and a lot of it.  Collecting information and feedback from employer, mangers, leaders and employees is critical to implement successful changes within an organisation. The gained knowledge assists to evaluate the readiness of each individual to support the changes and establishes the level of change required. 

Once this is established, then the change architect can create a plan of action and an overall model for how it can be implemented, similar to the models and blueprints made by an architect in construction.

The change architect then supervises the project of these modifications within the company or for an individual. This means, that the change architect does not perform these tasks; it is the responsibility of the organisation to ensure the process happens in much the same way other professionals are charged with actually constructing a building. 

Ongoing Support until the End

During the process of the projects, an architect may need to make changes to an existing plan in order to improve the building, without compromising its quality. In much the same way, a change architect may need to alter the plan during its procedure; they supply ongoing support that continues the process with the end result in mind.

During the time I lived in Vienna – it is said, “If everything is energy, anything is possible.” Vienna is a beautiful city and when it was built at the turn of the century, its leaders and architects were giving credit to its future greatness to distinction of “Memory and Prophecy.” They created the magical rich environment by blending their tradition with the exciting sensation of embracing the new. When discovering new grounds one needs to embark into engaging communication and a change architect is a master in doing so. 

TO YOUR SUCCESS

GG Frantz