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So here we are in a new year and decade. For many this represents a fresh start, an opportunity to reinvent ourselves and consign all our bad habits to the past. But how do we sustain these feelings of hope and motivation when we’re one week in and it’s a cold day in January? How do we persevere when striving to become a better version of ourselves at home and in work?
Whilst indulging in the usual excesses of Christmas a friend of mine recommended I check out The Game Changers on Netflix. For those who haven’t heard, it’s a vegan documentary featuring and produced by high profile and lesser known athletes who’ve seen increased performance and other benefits due to switching from meat to a plant-based diet. Both my wife Emma and I got around to watching it and it struck a chord. I’m probably not alone in having put on some excess weight over the Christmas period, and Emma wants to increase her energy levels. According to the show, a plant-based diet can help with both, so we decided to experiment with cutting out meat for January. Emma’s going for ‘Veganuary’ cutting out all meat-based products, whilst I’ve opted for a vegetarian option which doesn’t require culling all the other food derived from animals.
Our experiment (and cheeseburgers) reminds me that new year’s resolutions are notoriously tough to put into action and see through sustainably. Take ‘Dry January’ as another example. For every person who successfully completes a booze free month, there are many who never get off the mark or rationalise away their commitment at the first hurdle. Total abstinence from alcohol can quickly turn to cutting out weekday drinks, considering Friday part of the weekend, and then only drinking when there’s an occasion (or any excuse) to do so regardless of what day it is.
Making positive changes as a leader can be just as tough. You know things could be better if you set stronger direction or communicated more effectively but acting out and seeing through good intentions is easier said than done whatever time of the year it is. That’s because engaging in new and more productive behaviours whilst letting go of your less effective engrained habits makes perfect sense but isn’t easy unless you think things through and consider what might help or hinder you along the way.
Coaches are no less susceptible to the tricks our minds play on us that perpetuate unhelpful habits than anyone else. But we do have the advantage of being equipped with some tools and techniques to maximise the chances of engaging in positive change and seeing it through. So, I thought it would be fun to share a handful of tips with you using our meat free month to illustrate the points.
1. Know your goal.
In a sense, a sound resolution isn’t quite the same as a goal. It can be more helpful to think of resolutions as smaller bite sized steps to achieve a broader outcome. Note that my goal of losing weight is different from Emma’s goal of increasing her energy levels – these are the higher-level goals or outcomes we’re looking to achieve. Cutting out meat is a resolution we’ve chosen to help contribute towards achieving our respective individual goals. If you aren’t clear on your goal, you’re unlikely to choose the best resolution or action to help you succeed.
What’s your leadership goal, and what bite sized steps can you take to achieve it?
2. How ready are you to change?
How often do we examine exactly how ready we are to change? When people make new year’s resolutions like foregoing meat or quitting smoking, they are often short-lived because they’re not only aware of the advantages to change, but also acutely aware of the disadvantages (e.g. no more bacon sandwiches or cigarette breaks for them). If the disadvantages are perceived to outweigh the advantages, change is unlikely to be instigated or sustained, something the psychologist Prochaska observed in the ‘contemplation’ stage of his well-known change model.
Good intentions as a leader can be similar. You want to devote yourself to developing individual members your team, but also know that means committing time you don’t feel you have for all those one-to-ones. Be honest, how ready are you to live with the consequences (the benefits and the costs) of the change you want to make? If you aren’t ready now, what needs to happen for the time to be right?
3. Have a plan
Even when you’re ready to make a small change you need a plan. Cutting out meat for a month might not seem like a big deal to some, but believe me, I really love my food and in the past Emma and I probably haven’t gone more than a couple of days or without chicken or some kind of mince ending up on our plate. That’s a habit born out of decades, so we’d be kidding ourselves if we thought changing overnight is simple. But there are lots of simple things we can do and resources we can use to prevent change being harder than it needs to be by relying on willpower alone. So, we’ve taken stock of our larder, done a big shop, removed temptation, researched some food websites and invested in some shiny new cookbooks to make things much easier.
Think about the change you want to make as a leader. Is willpower really enough to see you through? What are the simple, practical resources you need to help make the smaller steps go easier for you?
4. Enlist support
Telling the people who have your best interests in heart why you’re making a change and asking for their support helps you to stay on track and avoid confusion. Emma and I are able to support each other this month by playing to our strengths. She’s in charge of the research, we’re choosing the meals together, and I’m doing the cooking . But we’ve also shared why we’re going meat free with friends, colleagues and family. That way, if we eat out with friends or have people over for dinner, there aren’t any surprises and they know what to expect (and might even help out).
When you start acting differently in work, even in small ways, people pick up on it. Sometimes this can cause confusion because the change seems out of kilter with the way you normally behave. Sharing why you are doing things differently with your manager, peers or reports helps provide context for the changes you’re making and increases understanding. You might just find they’re more than willing to help you if you’re open enough to share what it is you want to get better at.
5. Don’t give yourself a hard time
Nobody’s perfect and we all make mistakes when we’re trying to maintain a positive change. I’m not going to give up if I steal a slice of pepperoni off my son’s pizza (I was tempted), and it wouldn’t be the end of the world if Emma discovered there was a trace of powdered cow’s milk in the chapattis we ate on Monday (there was).
Minor missteps are to be expected and it’s normal to fall back into old habits from time to time. If you find yourself leading in a way that’s contrary to the change you’ve resolved to embed, think about what led to the misstep, learn from it, and get back on track. Better still, try to anticipate what situations might lead to another slip and think about how you can avoid them next time.
6. Write down your progress
Making a written record of your goals and how you are getting on is a great way to keep your motivations front of mind. If you’ve been able to set a specific target (I have a weight goal and Emma is charting her energy levels) regularly reviewing progress and seeing things in black and white helps keep you focused. The simple act of writing this article has had a useful side benefit of keeping my own resolution front of mind, and one week in, things are still going strong on the plant-based diet front! Wish us luck and don’t give up on your own positive changes at home and in work!
If you think you or your people would benefit from some leadership development, or want to learn more about how to make positive changes sustainably, keep an eye on these blogs or drop an email to info@sapiencoaching.com
