The hardest thing in business for me is dealing with change haters. Change is the one constant in life and the hardest thing for so many to deal with or accept. Getting old is change, new ideas are change, everything involves change… If you fight change, you are just fighting yourself because change is going to occur with or without you.
The pity party that we see many times is just a group that doesn’t want change. They rally around the idea that the world doesn’t appreciate them enough. They cry about how they are so misunderstood.. The truth is that the world does not care about you if you don’t bring value to it. The marketplace we all do business only cares about making money. Nobody cares that you wish it was, or once you were great. It is all about today.
When I say the game is today, I am not disrespecting any of our past accomplishments as much as I am not holding your past against you either. It is what you have to offer today because of your understanding of the past that makes you part of the present and part of the constant change in the world. I may have knocked you out or been knocked out yesterday. It is the value of that experience today that matters. Not the act that occurred, but the lesson.
Business is all about solving a need in the marketplace – or at least good business is about that. You need to stay current so you keep solving problems that are in high demand for solving. In time everything gets worked out and new issues will arrive or new solutions to age old issues. New solutions are like new fashions in many ways. You may still have a valuable solve but you are not as hip as the newest one that may deliver less but excite or entertain more. This is why you have to keep your eye on everything, keep your product or service valuable, and address everything in the voice that is most desired today.
I have done the same things for most of my life. I have to reinvent them for the audience to keep people engaged. This is the challenge of leadership and the responsibility of someone who employs people. People depend on me to keep us current and profitable. We do it together but it can only get done in my business when I allow it. All the potential and talent in the staff means nothing unless I provide the right opportunity to implement. It all starts and ends with me as it does for you.
Don’t allow your experience to lose value simply because you don’t want to interpret the value for today’s market. Be part of the constant change while maintaining value your experience, talent, and skill. Keep yourself valuable so your worth never diminishes.
Brian Wright