We are all aware that the world around us is changing very quickly. In fact, the rate of change is continually increasing. As a result, individuals, organizations, corporations and even entire cultures are struggling to keep up.

As individuals in organizations, we can no longer assume that the role that we have today will be the role that we will have in 6 months or a year.  We can't even assume that the organization we work for today will be around or want us around in 6 months or a year.  We know that the technology that we are using today will be sliding towards obsolescence after a year or less.  So how do we deal with this change so that we are not only able to keep abreast of it but are able to get ahead of it and move ourselves and our organizations towards continued success?

Renowned authors, Alvin and Heidi Toffler’s latest book entitled Revolutionary Wealth provides innovative ideas on how changes in society, government, culture and business are transforming our lives in this century. The Tofflers have compared the rates of change of major institutions in North America to cars speeding along on a highway. They have rated nine institutions with a “change” rate of speed between 0 and 100 miles per hour as follows:

- 100 miles per hour – American business

- 90 miles per hour – Non-governmental organizations

- 60 miles per hour – American family

- 30 miles per hour – Labor unions

- 25 miles per hour – Government and regulatory agencies

- 10 miles per hour – The American school system

- 5 miles per hour – Intergovernmental organizations (IMF, WTO, etc.)

- 3 miles per hour – Political structures in the G8 countries

- 1 mile per hour – The law

Overall, the ratings should not come as a surprise as businesses are typically quick to change and adapt when compared to legal or political systems. However, if businesses are changing at 100 miles per hour and they are having a hard time keeping pace with change then everything else that is changing less than 100 miles per hour is falling substantially behind in our changing world.

This rate of change observation was further corroborated by James Canton in his recent book “The Extreme Future” where he postulated four factors that will define the future;

1. Blinding rate of change that touches every aspect of your life.

2. Complexity of the change and of the interrelationship of currently unrelated forces.

3. Risks – new risks and higher risks will impact all aspects of life

4. Surprise – both good, bad and difficult to imagine surprise will become commonplace and will challenge sensibility and logic. 

Canton goes on to say that anyone can influence their future and deal with this extreme change by;

1. Defining a future vision – a clear vision of where you are going

2. Building a strategy to implement your vision.

3. Obtaining tools to persuade people to commit to a shared vision and strategy

4. Effective execution.

So what does this have to do with our individual Strength Zone®?

Well for starters, I believe that Canton is dead on with his four step formula for dealing with change. His first step – Define a clear vision of where you are going – cannot be completed properly without clearly understanding what your strengths are. How can an individual properly determine a future vision for themselves if they do not understand their strengths and how and to what end they should be applying these strengths?

This would be like pointing your car down the freeway, getting up to 100 miles per hour (the current rate of change) and realizing that you are driving in a fog so thick that you cannot see any lines on the road or any road signs. You will either slow down very quickly and proceed at a “safe” speed (well below the current rate of change) or you will crash and burn!

I am not going to describe a vision casting process here as there are many established processes already existing. Refer to books from John Kotter, Bill Hybels, John C. Maxwell or Jack Welch for starters. What you need to know is that the first step in dealing with change is to clearly understand what your strengths are (Values, Personality and Talent Strength Zone®) and then use these as a basis to build a vision for your future. 

The how, what, why and where you will apply your strengths to realize this vision becomes the implementation strategy which is Canton’s second step. Here you have to build a plan to realize your vision. Pay particular attention to your strengths and weaknesses and then ensure that you bring others in to work with you in implementing the strategy in areas where you are weak. You can build a simple point form strategy or an elaborate written plan. The format and size of the plan is irrelevant as long as the plan is concise enough to step you from where you are today to your future vision.

The third step – obtaining tools to persuade people to commit to a shared vision and strategy – encompasses many different aspects but the most important aspect is communication. You cannot be successful in your strategy unless you understand how to communicate properly to individuals and groups of people. This has everything to do with Values and Personality, two areas of your Strength Zone®. You need to ensure that your values are clearly articulated and modeled and you need to ensure that you understand the communication strengths and weaknesses of your personality type. You can take this knowledge and couple it with the knowledge you have of the communication strengths and weaknesses of other personality types and build a message that is attractive to each individual on your team.

The final step is execution….effectively acting on the previous three steps. It does no good to build a vision and strategy if you do not take steps to execute on this strategy. This involves getting up off the couch and actually living your strategy. You can increase your chances of success by understanding your Personality Strength Zone® and what sort of work environment you find stimulating and then ensuring that you stay in this environment.

I believe that using your Strength Zone® to work through these four steps will greatly increase your chances of success in all areas of your life in dealing with the extreme change in our current world.

In September this year, I attend a keynote speech from Pat Williams, Senior VP of Orlando Magic. His topic….Thirteen Qualities of Winners. Williams has had an amazing amount of leadership experience in the sports world at different levels within multiple franchise organizations. Perhaps his biggest venture was establishing the Orlando Magic NBA team, which is where he still is today. His keynote speech was awesome and I think it is quite relevant to living in your Strength Zone so I have summarized the 13 points below.

1. Winners have a dream and a vision. "If you can dream it you can do it." ~Walt Disney. Put your dreams into action!

2. Preparation leads to confidence. Winners are confident because they spend time preparing.

3. Winners are focused. Focus on the task at hand. "Make each day your masterpiece." ~ John Wooden

4. Be passionate about what you do. Be full of zeal and zest. Love what you do and have fun doing it.

5. Winners work hard.

6. Winners take responsibility. Ask yourself "What is the wisest thing to do based on past experience and where you want to go?"

7. Winners set specific goals - be self disciplined (short term, medium term and long term)

8. Persevere in all things.

9. Deal with adversity - learn from it. Learn from your sufferings.

10. Winners have a positive attitude (exercise your brain by reading 1 hour per day, attend classes, keynotes, lectures, webinars).

11. Winners pay attention to the little things (this avoids big issues). Be a top down leader and a bottom up leader.

12. Strive for perfection. Winners are not discouraged that they can never reach perfection but they still strive for it as the only other option is mediocrity which is unacceptable.

13. Winners welcome competition - it propels progress and innovation. Teamwork is the key to success.

You cannot be successful with any of these thirteen points unless you understand and are living in your Strength Zone!

Do you know someone who is always in motion? They are always on the go, moving quickly from "one fire to the next", seemingly never able to get a grip on the things for which they are responsible. Does this sound familiar? I think we all know at least one of these people and I think we can all relate to periods in our own lives where we fit this description ourselves.

So does this continual, frantic and stressful movement correlate to action? Ernest Hemingway didn't think so. He coined the famous phrase "Never confuse movement with action." He is, of course, referring to the fact that someone can be in a state of perpetual and frantic motion but yet never really produce any effective or productive actions.

This sort of frantic motion is analogous to a person flailing about in the water in a pool trying to get from one end to the other. Compare this to the smooth, focused, efficient and productive movements of an Olympic swimmer in the same pool. The Olympian's smooth, efficient movements make their swim appear effortless in comparison to the person flailing about frantically. They too are moving from one end of the pool to the other but because they are focused and efficient, they are able to move much more quickly and effortlessly and get so much more completed and accomplished than the person who is unfocused, flailing and trying just to keep their head above water.

The scariest thing about being in this state of frantic, unproductive motion is that, once there, it is hard to recognize the fact that you are unproductive. It seems like you are getting a lot done as you rush from activity to activity but in reality you are probably working on the wrong things and wasting a lot of time in the process…..which in turn intensifies the rushing process as you are even less efficient with your time.

Now there are many techniques you can use to break out of this nasty lifestyle but regardless of the technique chosen I believe the first step that must be taken is to record your activities in half hour increments each day for the course of one week. Once this is done, you need to review these activities and see where you are spending the majority of your time. You MUST be brutally honest with yourself for this process to produce any value. Determine where you are flailing versus where you are moving with the efficiency of an Olympic swimmer.

Once you have this analysis done you must decide where you are going to refocus your attention so you can move away from frantic motion towards more productive and efficient motion. This is where your Strength Zone must play a huge role. If you are not working in your areas of strength or if you are not leveraging your strengths into the roles that you have then you are not being effective, you are flailing. This can lead into the frantic motion lifestyle as you continuously struggle in your areas of weakness. You must decide which activities in your week need to be dropped, what needs to be added, what needs to be refocused or executed differently to take advantage of your strengths.

In doing this simple exercise at least once a year you can shave amazing amounts of unproductive time out of your daily and weekly schedules.

For further information on living a focused and productive live I would recommend that you define your Strength Zone, redefine your roles to take advantage of your Strength Zone and as a bonus I recommend Les Hewitt's book "The Power of Focus".  www.thepoweroffocus.ca

Remember, be a person of focused, efficient and productive action not unproductive motion.

"A person is a person through other persons. A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole." Desmond Tutu

What does this mean? What is Ubuntu?

Desmond Tutu was referring to the fact that no person is an island. We all depend on other people for our success. It does not matter whether you are Tiger Woods, Peyton Manning, Jerome Iginla, Billy Graham or the clerk at 7-11. Everyone of us depends on others in many ways. There is one major difference however between most people and someone like Tiger Woods….and I'm not referring to his golf swing or his money. The major difference is that Tiger Woods has allowed himself to be much more dependant on others than most other people.

That’s right! Tiger Woods knew that in order for him to reach his full potential he was going to have to bring people into his life that could help him get better at what he does best….play golf. Tiger Woods has been coached and trained by the best coaches and trainers in the world….and he continues to be coached and trained daily.

So why does he do this when he is already the best golfer in the world? Because he knows that he has even more potential and with proper training he can get even better. He is dependant on these coaches to help him get better and together they are better. He is a person with Ubuntu.

So if Tiger will hire a coach to get better, why won't we do the same? Think about the potential that you are wasting because you aren't concentrating on your areas of strength.

Now the other thing that Tiger does is bring people with him that have strengths where he has weaknesses. Tiger does not do all the administration and planning associated with his golf tours, tournaments and travels. He brings people with him that are responsible for these activities. Together they are a complete team that allows him to concentrate on his strengths. Without them he would be lacking. In supporting him in his areas of weakness, they do not make him weaker, they make him stronger….they are a complete team. He is a person through other people. A person with Ubuntu.

This needs to be our goal in life. Bring people around you that can help you in your areas of weakness and coaches and trainers that can make you better in your areas of strength. Be a person through other persons….be a person with Ubuntu.

Live in your Strength Zone!