Some things never change

These days, we are exposed to a litany of life-changing, behavior-altering events.

Life used to be simple. Events used to be predictable. The world was once a safe place. And then global terro-rism heightened uncertainty.

Political landscapes shifted.

Global warming and scarcity of natural resources made the world unstable. Whereas the key word for the last ten years of the last century was globalization, the buzzword for business today is “sustainability.”

Increased market competition and decreased trust on the financial systems in the West dramatically changed the way people trust business.

While technology has democratized knowledge and information, a good thing, in my opinion, it has likewise crea-ted a “24/7-on-call-always” lifestyle that simply added pressure to everyday life.

The entry of young people into the marketplace has become another challenge. Generation X is old, Generation Y is getting old, and the new Millennials are placing new and fresh demands on their organizations.

As I look into my clients’ organizations, I also see a major change. Many business organizations today have become more diverse, more horizontally distributed, requiring more collaboration and competition. Yet many leaders still stick to their command-and-control mode of the last century, thus they lose talents along the way.

Even terms have changed over the years. Look at how the use of some of the terms 100 years ago compare with how we use them today. (Some genius must have thought about this a long time ago.)

LOG ON: Making a wood stove hot

LOG OFF: Don’t add more wood

MONITOR: Keeping an eye on the wood stove

DOWN LOAD: Getting the firewood off the truck

MEGA HERTZ: When your not careful getting the firewood

FLOPPY DISC: What you get from trying to carry too much firewood

RAM: That thing that splits the firewood

HARD DRIVE: Coming home in winter

WINDOWS: What to shut when it’s cold outside

SCREEN: What to shut when it’s black-fly season

BYTE: What them darn flies do

CHIP: What you step on if you aren’t careful in the pasture

MODEM: What you do to the hay fields

LAP TOP: Where the kitty sleeps

KEYBOARD: Where you hang the keys

SOFTWARE: Forks and knives

MOUSE: What eats the grain in the barn

MOUSE PAD: The hole where the mouse lives

MAINFRAME: Holds up the barn roof

ENTER: Northerner talk for “C’Mon in y’all”

CLICK: What you hear when you cock your gun

DOUBLE CLICK: When the gun won’t fire when you pull the trigger

REBOOT: What you have to do right before bedtime when you forgot that the kitty is still outside

But here’s the deal.

When it comes to leadership, values never change. If va-lues change, then they are not values at all. Kouzes and Posner, in their latest book The Truth About Leadership, give the following unchanging values on leadership, and I fully agree with them:

1. The leader makes a difference.

2. Credibility is the foundation of leadership.

3. Values drive commitment.

4. Leaders focus on the future.

5. Leaders depend on others to get the job done; they cannot do it by themselves.

6. Leaders challenge themselves, and they challenge others because they know that this is the key to greatness.

7. Leaders lead by example.

8. Leaders are learners.

9. Leaders serve and love their constituents.

Through the changing times, while the context of leadership may have changed, the content of leadership remains the same.

So what do you call something that remains the same for the last 25 years? According to the authors’ research, one may think of different words to call it, but it really doesn’t have to be fancy — it may simply be called the truth.

Truth never changes. Reminds you of Scriptures. Just think about it.

(Attend this once in a lifetime seminar on “The Leadership Factor” featuring Dr. Harold Sala, Francis Kong and Jim Collins (video) on Nov. 27 at the SMX Convention Center. Call Pam or Kriselle of Inspire Leadership Consultancy Inc. at 632-6872614 or 09178511115 for further details.)