7 Steps of Becoming a Transformational Leader
To bring about a positive change in systems and processes in an organization, certain agents are required. The number one (1) of these agents is the individual who choose to make difference-making his responsibility. He is referred to as the change maker, the transformational leader.
He looks into the future while others are in the present, and come back to the present to take along those in the present to the future.
Transformational leaders could also be referred to as pathfinders. They facilitate change to systems, processes and methods. Every forward-thinking organization needs these individuals in order prove to be trailblazers, innovative industry leaders in their various endeavors.
How comfortable is change?
When it comes to change, there is a natural human tendency to resist it. But, the truth remains that, organizations who prove to be leaders in their industry are those who takes the risk of trying new things. In this era of rapid change, an organization cannot afford to remain in a fixed position and expect to make a breakthrough in their business endeavors. John C. Maxwell rightly puts it, when he said
“we cannot be where we want to be by remaining where we are”
To take charge of the future, we must prove to be comfortable with change, even proving to be an instrument of it, rapidly adapting to it through continuous learning.
This article presents six (6) indisputable qualities of positive change makers that make them do the extraordinary.
1. Foresight
This involves looking beyond the present, looking into the future and what it has in-store. Change makers anticipate and prepare for change. This enables them to strategize, to position them for a breakthrough or avoid a foreseen failure. They are inquisitive and always try to find an answer to burning issues about the future.
2. Proactive, not reactive
Change makers do not only anticipate change, they proactively devise means in meeting with change requirements.
They don’t wait for change to happen to them, they happen to change.They plan and act before change occurs.
They are actions takers. They are not just thinkers, they are doers with commitment.
3. Questions the status quo
Difference makers are who they are because they always ask to find out how improvement to systems, processes and methods can be made. They are never satisfied with the conventional ways of doing things, they always ask for more. They believe has been done in the past was done imperfectly, as they could be improved; thus, they always seek for better ways around it.
4. Belief
Change makers believe in themselves, making it easier for others to believe in them. They are always optimistic that a goal can be achieved, and they work in line with that belief. This strong belief creates a burning passion in them that makes them throw their whole heart into the change requirements. They derive strong motivation from their belief in the goal. This motivation gives them the focus and perseverance required for the activation of their goal and that of the organization at large.
5. Courage
Nothing worth achieving comes easy. To take the first step, courage is required. In physical sciences, it has been proven that the amount of force required to pull an object at rest is always greater than the force required to maintain the motion of the object when it starts to move. The fact that the goal to be achieved may be an entirely new one requires courage and calculated risk taking. Change makers are courageous individuals, putting the overall goal of their organization in mind.
6. Tenacity and Perseverance
There is no one who gives up on the way who ever get to their destination. Difference makers never stop until the goal is actualized, no matter what they encounter. A proverb says,
“he who wants to do what has never been done, should be ready to encounter what has never been encountered”.
Change makers are never thwarted by the challenges they encounter along the way. They always courageously prove equal to the task when things don’t go as expected.
7. Collaboration
Change makers are effective in building teams, community of people with divers skills, strength and talents, people who buys into the leader and then, his goal.
Transformational leaders are open-minded; this enhances their ability to perceive workable solutions from others. They are able to see through the eyes of others. It is on the shoulders of others they stand to see beyond the present.
