For the past 200 years our world has been facing a "Crisis of Modernity". A crisis of stress. The Industrial Age was followed by the Information Age and, lets face it folks, the Electronic Age has made that seem like kids stuff. As fast as we adjust to new circumstances they change again. And, the rate of change seems to multiply like a rabbit on Viagra! The instant availability of information on virtually any subject has destroyed our ability to pause, analyze and look for alternatives. Most of the stress experienced by twenty first century leadership, may come from dealing with change. We desperately need stress relief. For stress reduction today many people use a stress ball and, while it may help, there is a better answer. To be a change agent today you need to be an aggressive forward thinker. And, you have to be a change agent! The only way to stay ahead of change is to get behind it! Those who promote change are in charge of it, those who oppose it are overwhelmed by it! Those who must be dragged kicking and screaming into the next set of changed circumstances will be crushed. Stress anxiety can be a killer "In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins - not through strength but by perseverance." (Author H. Jackson Brown) When we determine to become advocates for change we suddenly find ourselves in the position of pusher rather than pushee (we become the stream). We are more relaxed, more self confident, more self assured and we find that others are more willing to follow our lead. Peter F. Drucker summed it up this way, "The best way to predict the future is to create it." It's also the easier way! If you believe you can hold back the snowball of progress, you are doomed to be swallowed up in something over which you can never hope to have any control. By being a change agent you wont just cope with this epidemic, youll turn it into a dynamic force for personal and corporate growth. Len McNally |
