Change triggers and reinforcements - when do you need to change and how do you know it is working

The story of the week comes at the beginning of autumn to remember us about moments of introspection....counting the ducklings as we say in Romania. If the adventures of the years taught us something is that, if not more often, at least once a year we need to check if we are on the right track and decide if we need to change or stay the course.

Change always needs a trigger in order for it to happen conscientiously and have results. Other wise it only happens around you and you are only going to be a side character in your own story.

I worked with many organizations, different types of leaders and entrepreneurs and the decisions that shape the future of said entities are always linked to the people making them in the end. So a personal moment of introspection is as important for the company as it is an audit for the company. You might have a great race car but if the driver hesitates to turn the will or brakes to soon, the race is lost.

This is a story about people in change and people in charge, this is a story about all you leaders and decision makers out there. You all know how to do it, years of experience and knowledge brought you here but how about identifying the right moment?

Even if you're on the right track – you'll get hit by others if you stand still.” Will Rogers

From time to time, a moment of reflection and analysis is not only necessary but can even be decisive if you want to properly understand where you are and where you are going. It is advisable during the trip, especially when you are on an unknown route, to check if you are on the right road. Otherwise you may miss the moment when you should have turned left at the intersection. When the situation itself is one that causes uncertainty as it has been in the last year, it would be appropriate to have moments of recalibration even more often. This is why we sometimes need the proverbial autumn. Important in moments of analysis and check-up is to remove the obstacles that divert us from the right direction sometimes.

The Romanian saying " in the autumn we count the ducklings" can be slightly confusing. We don't have ducklings in the fall, they come out of the egg rather in the summer. The wisdom behind the saying, however, is that we should count those that survive the critical post-hatch period, to ensure that we are not making decisions based on incomplete information. I think that after a year of personal crisis combined with economic uncertainty and even social and political turmoil because of election, it is a good time to take advantage of the autumn and draw a line, count the ducks, maybe even get them in line and see exactly where we are in our projects.

I challenge you, after a long period of anxiety and uncertainty, to do an exercise in honesty by answering the following questions. Do you take the time to check if you are where you're supposed to be, or do you get swept away and surprised to find yourself washed up on an unfamiliar beach? Do you have the tools and awareness to spot the signs that you're off track?

Check out these warning signs and in case they sound familiar start thinking about changing your approach, mindset or even way of working.

1. Your actions are not really yours. Every time you have to make an important decision, you tend to ask for someone's help, to look for support from those close to you. After the intervention of others, you often forget what your idea was in the beginning. The risk is that after a while you will end up where the advisors guide you and not where you wanted to end up. We are still talking about your life and business, if you fail you can't blame it on someone else.

2. You play it safe. When you have a difficult decision to make, do you take risks or choose the safer path without many unknowns? When you play it safe it helps you to control the dangers and minimize the losses, but in the long run the business will not be very profitable. No pain no gain! Over time, you will be forced to leave your comfort zone in order to achieve the goals you set for yourself.

3. You don't finish the projects you started. If you often find yourself juggling three or four projects, working hard on all of them, and realizing that you don't finish any of them, it's clear that you have an organization problem. You are definitely on the wrong track, none of those projects were what you were supposed to be doing. You can't find the motivation to move forward with your projects and you'll have to start making different choices and focus on what matters and motivates you.

4. You only see obstacles in your way. If it looks like the sun will never rise on your street, but you have no plans to move, you should check your compass and admit that at some point you took the wrong direction. It's not always a sign of character to choose the hard road and fight all the obstacles, sometimes you have to make smart choices and change the route.

There are many also good moments when you realize that you are exactly where you are supposed to be. All the signs tell you that you have made the right choices. It is equally important at this point to acknowledge the context and move on. Don't be afraid that it might just be a passing moment. Consider these signs your reinforcements confirming your changes were right and keep going. How do you recognize that you are in the right scenario?

1. You wake up in the morning eager to start. These are the moments everyone hopes to find. After only four hours of sleep, you get out of bed and while you prepare your coffee you plan your day, think about the meetings you have coming up and feel refreshed and focused. The enthusiasm you feel is a signal you only get when you are in the right place.

2. Failures only motivate you to push harder. You have a positive attitude, you know exactly what you want and you have a clear path built towards success. Nothing can stop you from achieving your dream. And as long as you don't start making compromises, you should reach your goal.

3. People around you hope you will fail. We can talk about your best friend or a business partner, but when people start envying you, you know you're on the road to success. Envy is a natural feeling and it confirms that you are doing something so well that everyone wants to do the same. It's quite difficult to keep "haters" around you, but it's worth having them around to confirm sometimes that you're doing something really great.

4. Most people contradict you. Do you know how many people fought the ideas of Da Vinci or Tesla? That's just to name two names from a much longer list. Just because something is different and has never been tried before doesn't mean you should stop or change anything in your plan. Sometimes this is a clear signal that you are right and you should continue your journey. Believe in yourself, fight for the right to be right.

There are situations when you are in the right place at the right time, going in the right direction in your career, business or life. Or maybe you're still looking for balance, for landmarks to help you navigate more easily. In both cases you need to check the progress made and position yourself correctly on the map. You owe it to yourself to analyse your progress, make a correct diagnosis of the situation, count your freshmen and deal with all the unfinished business. In the end, no matter how many partners, family members or friends you have with you, you will end the journey alone. And only you have to be happy with the results obtained.

Whenever in doubt, take a break, sit down, take a deep breath and look carefully and mostly objectively around. Do you like what you see? Is there a time in the past when you would have chosen differently? Make sure you are prepared to steer the organization in the right direction at the right time!