Take the pain early

Have you ever avoided change because it feels too hard to go through the pain inherent in making it happen?  It occurred to me while working through the at times tedious process of having my hair dyed purple that often the changes we want to create require sacrifice or discomfort (in my case sitting in hairdressing chair for up to 4 hours).  Looking in the mirror part way through the process I thought, sometimes things need to get worse before they can get better.   

The conversation needed with a poorly behaving team member, reaching the obvious decision that a member of the team needs to move on or restructuring the organisation to enable future success are just some of the common examples of decision or actions I observe Leaders putting off to another day.   

One of the most powerful lessons I’ve learned in my life is to take the pain early.  As a young child I realised the sooner I ate the food I didn’t want, the sooner the trauma of it would be over. 

As a young manager I learned the lesson of speaking up early whether it be with members of my team or colleagues I was finding it hard to work with.  

If engaging in conversations about sensitive or high stakes topics is something you struggle with, be assured that the sooner you deal with it the more likely it will go well.  Hoping things will improve without intervention is a naïve approach to take. 

In my experience the longer issues are left, or emotions are allowed to build, the more challenging the conversation is likely to be.   

The simple truth is if you want your team to thrive, stepping up and into the challenges you face is the only path forward. 

While it's true that in some circumstances you may need to work through a period of discomfort, until you step forward you can’t get to where you or your team need to be.