In my life as a soldier and citizen, I have seen time and time again that inaction has dire consequences.
Stanley A. McchrystalRead
In an organization that is unwilling to change, find the opportunity to talk and interact with people - figure out why they don't want to change. It could be habits. It could be people's personal equities and reputations are defined by the role they're in or the process they've mastered.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of understanding the reasons behind people's resistance to change in an organization.
Stanley A. McChrystal highlights that in organizations resistant to change, it is crucial to engage with individuals to uncover their motivations and fears. This resistance can stem from established habits, personal investments, or the identities people have built around their roles and routines. By addressing these underlying factors, leaders can foster a more adaptable culture.
In practice
In a leadership meeting when discussing team dynamics, this quote can illustrate the necessity of understanding team members' resistance to new processes.
In my life as a soldier and citizen, I have seen time and time again that inaction has dire consequences.
I was raised to believe that soldiers were strong and wise and brave and faithful; they didn't lie, cheat, steal or abandon their comrades.
I was raised with traditional stories of leadership: Robert E. Lee, John Buford at Gettysburg. And I also was raised with personal examples of leadership. This was my father in Vietnam. And I was raised to believe that soldiers were strong and wise and brave and faithful; they didn't lie, cheat, steal, or abandon their comrades.
When you go through some controversy and you see your face on the news in a negative way for 48 hours... you doubt yourself. And your friends make the difference. They become a safety net that come in and say, 'That's not the case.' And the relationships that you've built... come to the fore.
The basic DNA we've got to implant in leaders now is adaptability: not to get wedded to the solution to a particular problem, because not only the problem but the solution changes day to day. Creating people who are hardwired for that is going to be our challenge for the future.
If every soldier is authorized to make one mistake, then we lose the war.
Every daring attempt to make a great change in existing conditions, every lofty vision of new possibilities for the human race, has been labeled Utopian.
You should never hesitate to trade your cow for a handful of magic beans.
It will be great when it's not such a big deal when a woman gets a good job.
That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred ans sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any state or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thence forward, and forever free.
America is composed of all kinds of people - part of the difficulty in our nation today is due to the fact that we are not utilising the abilities and the talents of other brown and black peoples and females that have something to bring to the creativity and the rejuvenation and the revitalisation of this country.
We have a responsibility to do better as black people in this country. I don't care how white people look at you - I care that we have a one-trillion-dollar spending base, and if you want to see change, you have to start to focus on, economically, how can we change our communities.
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