202203231646 Affecting long-term change

Affecting long-term change is one of the most challenging things that a leader can do.

For one, the feedback loop about a long-term change comes at a glacial pace (202104291528 Leaders have to accept a slower feedback loop).

Next, there's a constant need to 202104291529 Repeat the message in order to be heard. For long-term changes, this can literally span years of repeating the same message. In practice, this repetition requires vision and extreme conviction. We must be visionaries to see the goal and keep it in sight even when the going gets tough. We must have conviction that the goal is worth it; that view from the mountain top will be worth the climb. Having this 202107240951 Visionary leadership style and 202203231647 Leading from vision requires us to be comfortable with 202112201317 The solitude of leadership.

So how can we persevere?

• We need to 202104291527 Live in the ambiguity and allow these slower loops.
• We must be patient with our communication, re-communication, and re-re-communications ad nauseam.
• We need to remove obstacles to make the path as clear as possible (202106241548 Leaders work to remove obstacles).
• We need to 202104292040 Eat the losses.
• We need to focus on finishing. We only learn things by finishing. 202104291524 Execution is the priority of team management.
• We need to examine the big-picture on a consistent, frequent basis for many years (202304112203 Ten percent time).
• We need to 202109251140 Play long term-games and build 202106221146 Leverage through the power of 202304102048 Compounding Interest.
• We need to 202312091400 Be the exemplar of change by doing what we're suggesting and sharing with others how it's working better for us.

Yet there are still so many other things we need to do consistently well. Ultimately though, we simply have to be good leaders. If you want to have a large, long-term effect, you have to be highly effective and 202109251019 Highly effective people are leaders.