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It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so, is a quote, often attributed to Mark Twain, that people like to repeat because it so captures our everyday experience. You can learn things that you dont know, but its incredibly difficult to unlearn something you believe to be true. Theres real science behind this. Things we experience are packed away in our brain as the connections called synapses, which form and evolve over time. These connections strengthen as we use them and degrade when we do not. Or, as neuroscientists who study these things like to put it, the neurons that fire together, wire together. Thats why leaders pursuing change often default to a managers mindset instead of a changemakers mindset, because thats what they know and what theyve been successful with. Yet just like in that famous quote, those same assumptions can undermine a transformational initiative. Here are three beliefs that sabotage change and what you can replace them with. 1. Transformation Is Persuasion At Scale For 35 years, psychologist Robert Cialdini researched which types of communication were effective and which were not. He found that influence is based on six key principles: reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, authority, liking, and scarcity. More recently, Whartons Jonah Berger has used data analysis to come up with his SPEACC framework. Others emphasize using emotional rather than analytical arguments. Salespeople trained in these techniques find them effective. They qualify the customer by asking good questions, do a needs analysis and then tailor their pitch to a unique value proposition. When they encounter resistance they use proven techniques to overcome objections and close the sale. Most leaders have some familiarity with these techniques so they naturally apply them to transformational initiatives. The problem is that changing mindsets and behaviors isnt a one-time decision and the best indicator of what we think and do is what the people around us think and do and this effect extends out to three degrees of influence, so its not just people we know personally, but the friends of our friends friends that shape our opinions and actions. The truth is that change isnt about persuasion, but collective dynamics. Decades of research has shown that change spreads through peer networks rather than communication campaigns. Or, as network science pioneer Duncan Watts once put it to me, ideas propagate through easily influenced people influencing other easily influenced people. Instead of trying to shape opinions, were often better off shaping networks. Thats why we advise our clients pursuing transformational change efforts to start with a majority, even if that majority is only three people in a room of five. You can always expand a majority out, but once youre in the minority youre going to get immediate pushback. You need to go where there is already energy and enthusiasm around an idea, not try to create and maintain it yourself. 2. Transformation Is Like A Product Launch Anybody whos ever taken a marketing course is familiar with Phillip Kotlers ideas about marketing. The legendary professor advised us to differentiate our product or service, analyzing customer needs and building awareness about how what were selling meets those needs. He also showed how these same concepts apply to nonprofits and government agencies. So it shouldnt be surprising that change leaders often take a similar approach. They create a big launch event to create awareness about their ideas differentiating values, endlessly promote and drive their message home. The aim is to reach and convert enough people fast enough to make change seem inevitable. This is a terrible approach for a number of reasons. First, a product is targeted at a particular segment and everybody else can ignore it. But an organizational change affects everybody. Inevitably, there are going to be some people who arent going to like it and they will resist, seeking to undermine your efforts in ways that are dishonest, underhanded and deceptive. Thats why in our change workshops we help clients design a Keystone Change, something with a concrete and tangible goal, involving multiple stakeholders that they can work on with their core team of early enthusiasts. This isn’t a quick and easy win, often they can take months or even years to achieve. But it paves the way to the larger change. Every idea starts out weak and unproven. Pixars Ed Catmull called them ugly babies. They need to be protected and nurtured so that they can mature and grow. Exposing them to hostile forces early on will only get them killed in their cradle. 3. Once People Understand Change, They Will Embrace It When were passionate about an idea, we want others to see it the same way we do, with all its beautiful complexity and nuance. We want people to share our devotion and fervor. Itseems obvious that once everyone else understands the idea the way we do, they will embrace it. Yet the simple truth is thats almost never true. This assumption, sometimes known as the information deficit model, emerged in the 1930s, as electronic media gained traction and scientific advances reshaped our understanding of the world. The logic was simple: More public engagement would lead to greater scientific literacy. But the evidence doesnt back that up. One study found that information about agricultural science didnt change opinions, and an NSF survey showed that many who understood evolution still didnt believe it Even when we do shift knowledge and attitudes, behavior often remains stubbornly unchanged. For example, a 2009 study found that rising concern about climate change did not lead to meaningful action. In the business world In studying corporations, Stanfords Jeffrey Pfeffer and Bob Sutton found consistent gaps between what executives know and what they actually do. At any given time, people are navigating a tangle of competing influencesprior beliefs, ingrained habits, social pressures, and noise from all directions. Thats why ideas spread most effectively through peer networks, not top-down campaigns. Were social creatures. More often than not, people dont adopt ideas because theyre convinced by argumentsthey adopt the ideas they see working around them. Adopting A Changemaker Mindset People become successful managers by adopting a manager mindset. They treat transformational initiatives as if they were just a scaled-up sales process. They focus on persuasion to try and build consensus. They plan a big launch event as if they were unveiling a new product and create top-down informational campaigns to evangelize the idea. Yet adopting a changemaker mindset starts with letting go of the illusion that change is simply a matter of better messaging, bigger launches, or more information. Those strategies might work for selling products or ideas, but transformation runs deeper. Its not about convincing people to think differentlyits about creating the conditions that allow them to act differently. That requires a shift in how we see our role as leadersnot as promoters or persuaders, but as architects of influence and weavers of networks. The beliefs that sabotage change persist because they work in other contexts. Weve seen how persuasion techniques can win over a client or how a well-timed product launch can drive adoption. But transformation isnt a transactionits a journey. Its messy, social, and nonlinear. Leaders who succeed in driving meaningful change understand that what matters most isnt how persuasive they are, but how effectively they can empower others to bring in others, who can bring in others still. You dont need to convince everyone all at onceyou start with a local majority that can build traction. Change spreads not through force or logic alone, but through people witnessing others like them doing things differentlyand succeeding. Ultimately, transformation isnt about getting people to embrace your ideaits about helping them make it their own.
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Below, Ranjay Gulati shares five key insights from his new book, How to Be Bold: The Surprising Science of Everyday Courage. Gulati is a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School. He is a leading expert on purpose-driven leadership and helps organizations unlock growth and meaning. Whats the big idea? Courage is essential in the uncertain world we live in. It allows us to expand our horizons, grow in unexpected ways, and reach our fullest potential by taking bold action. How to Be Bold provides a road map for understanding what courage really is, explains why its important in our personal and professional lives, and offers a set of practical tools for becoming more courageous. Listen to the audio version of this Book Biteread by Gulati himselfbelow, or in the Next Big Idea app. 1. Courage is a choice, not an innate trait. One day, back when I was a teenager, my mother and I received a visitor at home. The man introduced himself as a representative of a real estate development company intent on buying some land my mother had purchased years before. The company had approached her repeatedly in the past and, each time, she had refused to sell. This time, the man began by pleading with her and offering a blank check. When she refused, he became adamant that his boss had insisted he must close this deal. When that didnt work, he pulled back his blazer, and there was a gun tucked in his waist belt. While I was frozen in place, pondering what to do next, my mom immediately stood up, walked up to the man, and slapped him hard across the face. He was stunned, and so was I. She then ordered him out of the house, and we never saw the developer again. After he left, I immediately asked her if she was scared of the gun. To my surprise, she replied that yes, she had seen his gun and yes, she was afraid. But she said, I will not let my fear define me. No one was going to come to my house and bully me into selling land I have worked hard to buy. Her behavior was couragetaking action in the face of fear. Courage is a choice. My mother had made a choice to face her fear and not cave into it. For a long time, I assumed she and others like her were innately courageous, while I was not. I saw these few individuals as among the chosen onesmade of steel, like the ancient samurai or modern-day test pilots. When it came to myself, I took solace in the fact that humans are wired not for courage but for cowardice. Evolutionarily, fortune favored those who hunkered down rather than those who exposed themselves to danger. But I soon realized that opting for cowardice, while safe, is not a wise choice: it locks us into complacency and keeps us from leading a full life. Courage doesnt come naturally, but it is necessary for thriving. Courage leads us to empowerment. The first step toward courage is becoming acquainted with the discomfort of fear. Our bodies and minds yell run! or hidebut what if we made the conscious choice to lean into the fear, stay with it for a moment, understand it, and move through it? 2. Courage starts with the stories we tell. Imagine dedicating your life to opposing a brutal authoritarian government and advocating for a just and open society. You narrowly survive an assassination attempt. You and your family escape to safety in a different country. Would you return to your homeland, knowing it means certain arrest, imprisonment, or even death? This was the choice Alexei Navalny faced. In January 2021, Navalny boarded a flight back to Russia, leaving his children behind. He was detained upon arrival and died in a remote Siberian prison three years later. What compelled him to walk back into the fire? Navalnys unimaginable courage was the product of a powerful story he had crafted for himself and others. His vision was to create the beautiful Russia of the futurea prosperous, democratic nation allied with the West and immersed in world commerce. This potent, tension-filled story articulated a moral quest and a series of principles to uphold. When we embrace a powerful story and make it our own, we feel a sense of personal responsibility and feel compelled to act even in the face of fear and possible harm. For Navalny, facing the ultimate consequences, the stakes were reframed, elevating the dream of a prosperous nation above the fear of isolation, risk, or death. You dont have to be a political activist, combat warrior, or astronaut to embrace such a path. Stories are courage magnifiers. Courageous behavior starts with moral clarity that becomes a catalyst for bravery. As you train your courage muscles, ask yourself: What core values do I stand for? And then ponder: What would I do to defend them? 3. Courage relies on imperfect theories, not perfect intel. Many situations that require courage are rife with uncertainty. While risk is something we can usually comprehend and mitigate, uncertainty feels like walking through fog, unable to foretell consequences or outcomes. We simply dont have enough information to make sound predictions. No amount of analysis can help us credibly pin down a strategy. There is no optimizing our way around it. When we face uncertainty, it triggers a sense of losing control. Most of us remain paralyzed and wait for the fog to dissipate. But there is another way. A brilliant social scientist, Karl Weick, defined the process of moving through uncertainty as sensemaking. Sensemaking consists of progressively understanding an unclear situation by taking small strategic steps. Im reminded of how Tom Cruise approaches the incredible stunts in his movies. How can this man jump off a cliff while racing a motorcycle with such confidence? He spends countless hours taking small steps to progressively know more about every aspect of the stunt: the setting, the gear, the training. He and his team simulate small versions and learn from each effort, gradually incorporating more elaborate moves before taking the ultimate leap. He said in an interview: Im going to learn to crawl before I walk, walk before I jog, jog before I run, run before I sprint, and then I sprint off a cliff or a building. This is exactly what we do in sensemaking: We take a small step and gather data, then take stock to analyze what it means. With this knowledge, we formulate a theory of what is going on. We then take additional steps, gather more data, and keep contrasting it with what we knew before so we can revise the theory. This is done over and over again. We move through uncertainty to understand it: we dont stand still. We drive away the fog through our actions. We act our way into knowing. 4. Courage takes a village. When we encounter uncertain situations, we often turn inward and tackle them alone. We hesitate to seek help, fearing it might seem like a burden or sign of weakness. This reluctance is fueled by the cultural ideal of the self-made hero. As a result, we mistakenly view self-sufficiency as strength and needing others as failure. But ths belief may undermine courage. Courageous individuals dont shy away from seeking support. They recognize that strong relationships are key to bravery. Having people to count on in tough moments boosts confidence. Take Frances Haugen, a former MBA student of mine who became a whistleblower at Facebook. She tried to fix the issues at Facebook from the inside first, but when that didnt work, she went publicknowing full well it could cost her dearly. She lost her job and valued connections, but she gained peace of mind knowing that she helped spearhead a movement to hold social media companies accountable for the content they publish and promote. Research highlights four distinct kinds of support that can boost your boldness: Moral support or Ive got your back: When things get tough, just knowing someones in your corner can make all the difference. That emotional boostfeeling seen, supported, and believed incan keep you going. Haugen found it in her family. Informational support or Heres what you need to know: Facing uncertainty means dealing with the unknown. Your crew can fill in the blanks, give advice, or clue you in on things you might be missing. Haugen relied on Whistleblower Aid, a nonprofit law firm that helped her navigate the legal risks of disclosing internal documents to regulators, lawmakers, and journalists. Resource support or Ill lend you my tools: Sometimes courage requires concrete resourcesspecific skills, manpower, access. Haugen needed a trusted platform to disseminate her message. Once she connected with the press, she worked closely with journalists to ensure the information would be responsibly reported. Appraisal support or Youre doing wellkeep going!: Its hard to gauge your own performance accurately under pressure. Trusted confidants offer honest feedback, helping reality-check perceptions and make adjustments. Haugen relied on good friends. Building and nurturing these connections is fundamental to developing the capacity for bold action. Dont wait for a crisis to forge your connections. Start now. Cultivate relationships with people who can offer this multifaceted support. And remember, its a two-way street. Just as you rely on others to build your courage muscles, offer your support to help them build theirs. The myth of the lone hero is compelling, but the reality of supported courage is far more powerful. 5. We can design organizations and teams to boost courage. We can be courageous as individuals, but we make the biggest difference when we infuse teams and organizations with courage. Most teams and organizations are inherently risk-averse. They rely on systems of predictability and accountability that help processes run smoothly, but these very systems also hold people back from acting boldly or speaking up. And yet, some teams and organizations have avoided this trap and created environments where collective courage flourishes. The workers of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel provide a striking example of collective courage. In 2008, as terrorist attacks rocked iconic landmarks of Mumbai, the Tajs staff and guests were trapped under siege for nearly 60 hours. At this trying time, the staffs ethos of guest first overrode the primal instinct of self-preservation: not one of them fled the sceneinstead, they all stayed and made sure the guests who were stuck in the hotel were protected. In one of the banquet halls, staff were serving dinner to about 60 VIP guests. Twenty-three-year-old Mallika Jagad was the young manager in charge. She heard what initially sounded like fireworks, only to realize they were gunshots. Without panic, she took charge, instructing everyone to get down on the floor and remain silent. She and her team shut all the doors and windows, turned off the lights, and locked the room to remain undetected by the terrorists walking the halls. They lay awake overnight, guarding the guests and reassuring them. At one point, smoke seeped into the room, triggering the sprinklers and causing further panic. Mallika and her team quieted the emerging commotion and broke one of the windows to call the firemen below for help. They watched as all guests were evacuated safely down a ladder, and only then did they accept their own evacuation. The hotels director, Karambir Kang, kept directing rescue operations throughout the siege, even though his wife and children were trapped in their apartment inside the hotel and ultimately perished. A guest later said: He never once mentioned his own family. He was only asking about us, telling us to stay calm. This remarkable story illustrates how collective courage is activated when organizational values are truly lived, rather than simply declared. Make a point to join teams and organizations that allow that collective spirit to rise. Do your part to model courage for others and inspire them. And if you are able to make the rules, dont let complacency stifle bold action. Enjoy our full library of Book Bitesread by the authors!in the Next Big Idea app. This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission.
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Every professional faces cycles consisting of booms, busts, restructurings, and reinventions. The difference between those who endure and those who fade isnt luck or timing; its adaptability. In volatile economies, careers built on curiosity and agility thrive long after others stall. No market cycle lasts forever. Careers, like economies, move through expansions and contractions. Its vital to continue upskilling, remain flexible, and adapt to market cycles. They are not always predictable, but the leaders who adapt, always learn, network, reflect, and rebalance will outperform the cycles. Adaptability Is the New Alpha In finance and beyond, resilience has become the defining metric of leadership. According to a 2024 McKinsey report, only 16% of global employers actively invest in adaptability and continuous learning programs. Yet among 10,000 employees surveyed worldwide, 26% ranked adaptability as their top skill need, particularly among frontline and early-career workers. The market rewards those who evolve. A career that endures market cycles is one built to adapt. Think of your skills like an investment portfolio; diversify, rebalance, and hedge against obsolescence. Continuous Learning Beats Tenure Experience used to equal expertise. Today, its learning velocity that wins. Experience once defined expertise. Today, its the speed of learning that sets leaders apart. According to a 2023 World Economic Forum Report, 44% of a workers skills will need updating by 2027. Staying relevant now requires continuous reinvestment through certifications, side projects, or stretch roles that broaden your capabilities. Build optionality into your career so when markets shift, youre already ahead of the curve. Networking Compounds Like Capital Strong relationships grow exponentially, much like capital. A 2020 Forbes Publication states 80% of jobs are secured through networking, yet only 24% of professionals network consistently. Focus on building authentic connections before you need them. People remember collaboration and genuine engagement far more than acts of desperation. Reflect and Rebalance Every few years, pause and audit your professional portfolio. What are your strongest performing assets: skills, relationships, projects? Which ones are underperforming? The leaders who survive downturns are the ones who treat their careers like living systems: dynamic, data-informed, and purpose-driven. Its a Marathon Build for the Long Run A career that survives market cycles is not built on luck. Its built on adaptability, continuous learning, networking, and reflecting. Like an investor who thrives in volatility, the resilient professional knows; downturns reveal true value. A resilient career isnt built in bull markets; its forged in the storms. The goal isnt to predict every wave but to learn how to surf.
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