Navratilova was arguably the best tennis player ever to step on the court, amassing an unmatched number of professional records over the course of a career that spanned an amazing four decades. She won 59 Grand Slam crowns, a record 9 Wimbledon singles champions, and overcame the odds to become both one of the most successful tennis players ever and an equally successful leader. In her life, both on and off the court, the secret of her super success has been - never be afraid of change. And she has practiced this all her life.
In 1982, Navratilova was in the middle of a winning streak and unbeaten going to the French Open, when she discovered the metal racket. "Why change when you're winning?" someone asked her. "That's not the point, this is a much better racket," she replied. She won the French Open.
Another important lesson Navratilova points to - the responsibility for change rests with oneself. Like for instance, responsibility of changing the strategy that doesn't work for you. "The mark of a champion is how good you are at your worst" she says, and she speaks from experience. Navratilova was 32 when Steffi Graf defeated her in 1988 and 1989 in Wimbledon. Watching the tapes later, Navratilova realized something wasn't quite right. Her footwork was the old-fashioned cross-step and she needed to change it to a different outside step. "After 26 years, I had to learn to do it a different way...completely rewire my brain. I had to adapt."
So how does one rewire and adapt? Here are the four steps to change:
In 1982, Navratilova was in the middle of a winning streak and unbeaten going to the French Open, when she discovered the metal racket. "Why change when you're winning?" someone asked her. "That's not the point, this is a much better racket," she replied. She won the French Open.
Another important lesson Navratilova points to - the responsibility for change rests with oneself. Like for instance, responsibility of changing the strategy that doesn't work for you. "The mark of a champion is how good you are at your worst" she says, and she speaks from experience. Navratilova was 32 when Steffi Graf defeated her in 1988 and 1989 in Wimbledon. Watching the tapes later, Navratilova realized something wasn't quite right. Her footwork was the old-fashioned cross-step and she needed to change it to a different outside step. "After 26 years, I had to learn to do it a different way...completely rewire my brain. I had to adapt."
So how does one rewire and adapt? Here are the four steps to change:
1. Awareness of the need for change: This is critical, as without awareness, no change can happen. For Navratilova, it was her shock defeats in succession by Steffi Graf which brought about this awareness. Once awareness has been created and our intention to change has gathered strength, the next step is...
2. Knowledge on how of change: For Navratilova, the knowledge on what and how to change came from watching her game videos. This made her realize that she needed to change her footwork. Business leaders can begin by asking themselves, "which habits keep me from achieving my goals effectively?" This calls for a lot of reflection and even asking people for feedback and help.
3. Ability to implement required skills and behaviors: Very often, what keeps us from developing our ability to implement required skills and behaviours is a sense of being overwhelmed by the difficulty of doing it. For this Navratilova has a piece of advice, "You don't get to the top automatically. You take one step at a time. Each daily goal is a rung on a step ladder", she says. Every day, little by little, is manageable and you don't get overwhelmed by the big goal.
4. Reinforcement to sustain the change: Once our goal of change has been achieved, it needs to be reinforced. Remember, change is an ongoing process, so you need to monitor, assess and reflect continuously in order to sustain the improvement.
Call to Action
Personally dealing with change is one thing. As a business leader helping your people deal with change is another. Ask yourself:
-What are you doing as a leader to anticipate change?
-What are you doing to stay current with new market trends?
-What are you doing to encourage and help your employees upgrade their skill\s and knowledge?
Use the same four steps above to arrive at your answers.
2. Knowledge on how of change: For Navratilova, the knowledge on what and how to change came from watching her game videos. This made her realize that she needed to change her footwork. Business leaders can begin by asking themselves, "which habits keep me from achieving my goals effectively?" This calls for a lot of reflection and even asking people for feedback and help.
3. Ability to implement required skills and behaviors: Very often, what keeps us from developing our ability to implement required skills and behaviours is a sense of being overwhelmed by the difficulty of doing it. For this Navratilova has a piece of advice, "You don't get to the top automatically. You take one step at a time. Each daily goal is a rung on a step ladder", she says. Every day, little by little, is manageable and you don't get overwhelmed by the big goal.
4. Reinforcement to sustain the change: Once our goal of change has been achieved, it needs to be reinforced. Remember, change is an ongoing process, so you need to monitor, assess and reflect continuously in order to sustain the improvement.
Call to Action
Personally dealing with change is one thing. As a business leader helping your people deal with change is another. Ask yourself:
-What are you doing as a leader to anticipate change?
-What are you doing to stay current with new market trends?
-What are you doing to encourage and help your employees upgrade their skill\s and knowledge?
Use the same four steps above to arrive at your answers.
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