Stage 1 Tips

Develop the Skills of a Change Agent

Try these exercises to learn about yourself and prep yourself for the changes ahead.

• Assess how your actions affect your company's business, if necessary by asking your boss for his/her opinion.
• Where is there room for improvement?

• What are you hoping might happen in your career?
• What action could you take now to increase the chances, or, better still, stack the deck in your favor?

• What would be a better way to do one aspect of your current job?
• Find an obstacle to remove.

• What are you really good at? What do you love to do?
• How can you work these into the daily fabric of the job you have?
• If you can't see a way in your current position, what work environment would value and reward these kinds of skills?

• What impact do you have on your colleagues?
• Write down what you think about yourself, and then go interview at least three colleagues. Listen for consistent themes in what they say.

• Be willing to abandon any ideas of how you are perceived if they are not shared by your colleagues.
• Build around the strengths that other people can see.

• What triggers you to judge others negatively?
  Laziness? Gossip? Illogic?
• What impact do you think your judgments have on your coworkers?
• What impact do your judgments have on your effectiveness?
• What will consistently trigger self-criticism in you?
  Looking foolish? Missing a deadline?
• What will it take for you to learn from these situations, forgive yourself, and move on?

Got a question for Gordon? Ask it here.

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