Make Change Work for You

Book excerpt: Finding the courage to embrace change and take chances is the only way to succeed. Business, culture, and competitive landscapes have fundamentally changed, but basic principles and best practices for succeeding and future-proofing both yourself and your organization haven’t. With a mix of compelling stories, research from the social sciences and psychology, and real-world insights, Make Change Work for You shows readers how to reignite their career, rekindle their creativity, and fearlessly innovate their way to success by providing the tools needed to master uncertainty and conquer every challenge they’ll face in life or business. Make Change Work for You opens with an overview of the most common factors that lead to self-defeating behaviors, including fear of failure, embarrassment, underperformance, rejection, confrontation, isolation, and change itself. Using a simple four-part model, Steinberg guides readers to understand and better respond to the challenges that change can bring: Focus: Define the problem and come to understand it objectively. Engage: Interact with the challenge and try a range of solutions. Assess: Review the response(s) generated by your tactics. React: Adjust your strategy accordingly. And, finally, the book shows readers how to develop the vital personal and professional skills required to triumph in the “new normal” by understanding and engaging in the 10 new habits that highly successful people share: 1. Play the Odds 2. Embrace Tomorrow Today 3. Seek Constant Motion 4. Lead, Don’t Follow 5. Never Stop Learning 6. Create Competitive Advantage 7. Connect the Dots 8. Pick Your Battles 9. Set and Align Your Priorities 10. Always Create Value