Effective leaders are able to navigate change by finding delight in discomfort, continuously looking to improve even when experiencing success, and setting ambitious goals that require bold changes rather than maintaining the status quo. They avoid getting complacent when achieving targets and instead stay focused on gaining momentum. Leaders must be comfortable with change and view disruptive moments as defining opportunities to catapult themselves to the next level rather than grasping the past.

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3 Ways Effective Leaders Navigate Change
By
Zubin Poonawalla
Success naturally makes you comfortable. You want to enjoy your
success, so you tend to slow down... just a little, you let yourfocus
slip... just a little, you play it safe... just a little. It might be hard to see
this in yourself, but it's easy to see it in the world of sports. How
many times have you seen teams lose their momentum & then lose
the game because instead of playing to win, they began playing not to
lose? They get ahead, but then they pull back & stop playing with the
intensity that earned them the lead. In fact, twenty point lead swings
are hardly uncommon in the NBA.
The same temptation traps business leaders. As you exceed
expectations & hit yourtargets, your team might feel like they are
cruising for their best year ever. Then, all of a sudden, you shift your
focus from gaining momentum to sustaining momentum. The
moment leaders change focus, momentum vanishes. Most teams just
can't seem to "run up the score" on their opponents.
The challenge is that humans are all hardwired for comfort. In
business, the stakes are high. Leaders who "grasp the past" are
quickly left right there... in the past. Leaders who seize the moment to
change are catapulted into a brighter future.

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Here are a three steps to convert distressing moments of change into
defining moments of change.
Find delight on your own discomfort.
The way to keepyour momentum is to seek discomfort. This does not
mean you are never satisfied with yourself or others. Rather, it will
provide a healthy alertness of where you can improve. By delighting
in this state of discomfort, you will be more relaxed & more likely to
see creative ways to improve. In other words, it will help you stay on
the offense & thrive versus playing defensively & merely surviving. By
capturing this mental state of delighting in discomfort, you will easily
be able to evacuate your comfort zones.
If you do not change, you limit yourlife & yourleadership. Leaders
who "delight in discomfort" say, "If you are always changing, it never
feels like you are really changing." In other words, delighting in
discomfort makes you comfortable with change. It defines the way
you change.
When you feel like you are cruising to victory, take a
look around... but not only at your opponents.
Look for anyone, any team, who is the very best at what they do.
Compare yourself to them. What are they doing that makes them
bigger, faster, better, smarter than you? Excellent leaders are never
satisfied, nevercomplacent.
It's easy to look at those U are beating & feel pretty good. Looking at
those who U can learn fm, those who might have better "game" than
U do keeps U humble & focusedon improving our own game.

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Lead beyond the status quo--always focus on the next
level.
Here is an acid test to determine if U are leading for the status quo
versus the next level. If U can achieve Ur goals doing "business as
usual,"then Ur goals are not big enough & U won't get to the next
level. Ur goals should force changes, require tough decisions &
inspire bold actions.
The next time U are feeling comfortable, enjoy the moment... but just
a moment. Then, seize that very next moment to change!