Willingness and Change are funny things.

Sometimes even the thought of change can give us pause while at other times it is the spark of inspiration we have been waiting for. To understand change we must first understand the paradox of Willingness.

Willingness is not about being willing when we are willing,

Willingness is about being willing when we are unwilling.

Everyone is willing when they make a decision to change their life, to set a goal or to stop a bad habit. However, it is in the times when our “will” is tested that we need a lifeline to tether us to our original goal. This anchor of reason and support when we need it most could be described as “Willingness”. Are we truly willing to be willing when we are unwilling? In those moments of truth when a big part of ourself has a weakening resolve and a temptation to go back to being stuck. Back to our old ways, back to our conditioned self.

For a sales person: You have resolved to make more calls and visits to prospective clients to be successful but instead, you find yourself doing “busy work” to avoid the necessary action steps.

This is called call reluctance. When this is more clearly understood and the root causes are revealed, it can then be measured and minimized.

For a manager or leader: You have resolved to bridge the communication gap with important people within or outside of your organization. However, you are at a loss as to how to address this.

The contrasting differences in communication styles are measurable and can be readily understood and minimized.

For a business owner: You are finally resolved to find someone to manage your company so you can own your business instead of managing it. However, you have not found anyone who can measure up to your standards and you can’t seem to let go of your conditioned areas of control.

How we lead and how we manage are measurable traits, with understanding and awareness we can better manage our expectations of others to allow them to succeed.

For an operations or business leader it could be that we are going to get to the core of our true corporate culture and to do this we may have to receive feedback about our behavior, communication and leadership style.

Feedback as to how we communicate compared to others is readily available with constructive suggestions for improvement to foster immediate improvements.

Whether you are a leader or a team member, in sports or in business,when you are ready and willing to experience change, your life can change in an instant. Only you can decide when the time is right now.