Reading time – 23 seconds

During a keynote address that I recently delivered there was a considerable amount of push back to some of the material I presented.  Indeed, the session with this group seemed more like a scene from the British Parliament than a typical keynote venue and some of the comments made me wonder if I were in a scene from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.  Being a behavior geek, I couldn’t help but wonder what was going on for these people.

Obviously, I don’t have a corner on the market of perfect ideas and there is room for differing views, so I put quite a bit of energy into understanding what people were saying and what might be behind their words.

And my conclusion was that they were being challenged to see things in a different way and to correspondingly adjust their behavior – and they did not like being on the receiving end of an invitation to change!

Yes, it is true that those who look to you for leadership may resist change.  It is also true that leaders can be resistant to change.  When you find yourself with a visceral reaction to something that is different from the norm, you might want to do a gut check and figure out what is going on with you, because you just might be doing a knee-jerk response to the need for change.  If so, then you either need to get over it and lead from strength or accept that you are the obstacle to progress.  I recommend the former.

Invite Jack to Speak!

Whether it's a keynote presentation for your annual meeting or the industry convention, or the workshop for your leadership team, Jack delivers actionable content that goes down easy and delivers great value. Check into the possitilities here.