I remember the closing speech of the CEO of Nokia, Stephen Elop, during the press conference that announced Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia. He ended his speech saying; “...we didn’t do anything wrong, but somehow, we lost.” Upon this conclusion, he and the entire management team publicly wept.
You don't have to be wrong to be out, all you need is to lag behind in a fast moving world like ours. Nokia did nothing but they were too busy doing activities while the world was busy "jetting". They lost the company and billions that would have been made and future relevance, they lost big!
Activity is not a sign of progress. You can be actively going round circles. This is the case of many leaders today, they keep doing what they know how to, what they are used to and still feel they are in the market, meanwhile the world has long left them behind.
A leader who is not getting updated daily will soon go off the market; updating prevents outdating. You don't have to be a bad person to become obsolete all that’s required is to stop learning and close your mind to change, with this you would be out of the market in no time.
We can't ignore the changes happening around us. Principles may be constant but the application of changes constantly and who ever ignores change looses the chance.
How do you stay relevant in a fast changing world?
1. Learn Everyday.
What you knew yesterday cannot sustain you today; it is therefore imperative that you learn everyday. As a leader you are an inspiration to a lot of people and if you stop learning, they stop too. However an up-to-date follower can not follow an outdated leader. I see a time coming which is already in motion when many businesses , churches,organisations will be empty and shut down on the account of not catching up with the pace of the world.
There is something new in your sphere of influence every single day, there is an updating you need to survive this world. You don't need to be updated for the sake of relevance alone, you need It for survival. If you ignore catching up with the world, you die! It’s that simple.
Leaders learn everyday, you can't be leading from the back.
2. Be teachable.
The greatest enemy of today is yesterday's information. If you are not ready to unlearn somethings you knew yesterday you will have no place in tomorrow. Its Alvin Toffler that said "the illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write,but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn."
Leaders can be so fixated because of the uncertainty change may bring and their inagility but we forget to remember the damage that refusing to change may cause. So be teachable, be flexible; be a current leader. You cannot be greater than your teachability capabilities.
Recently, I did a course AJILE PROJECT MANAGEMENT and my friends, I discovered how backward I was in new way of managing and executing projects. Be open to new changes. Learn new trends in your field, be open to new information, hunt for revelant information that will make you remain relevant.
#JohnOkoi#
#iMentor#
#Leadershipcraft#
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