In September of 2005, I wrote the following vision statements for my first MBA class:

Five years from now, I am well known leader who joins the Eastern and Western paths of reason.  Together with my counterpart we have built a school for our integrated philosophy which extends worldwide through several campuses and the Internet as it exists in the future.

After nearly two years and countless iterations of my new firm, I have settled on the following statements:

Vision

Perfect Paradox seeks to help people find immortality in every moment of their lives.

Mission

Our mission is to provide tools, treatments, and perspectives which enable people to find their own dreams and achieve them.  We deliver these elements through speaking engagements, workshops, publications, multimedia, and the Internet.

The similarities between the two statements are remarkable, especially considering that I have written a book combining Eastern and Western thought which seeks a publisher through one or more literary agents.

Yet this paper examines how my vision and mission relate to change management and more importantly, Change Leadership.  The question remains, how do I represent change leadership, and how can I grow my skills in this area?

Very simply, focusing on the perspective of my key audience and narrowing my focus onto the key stakeholders will better facilitate my goals and mission.  For example, I as a philosopher and dedicated adherent of both the Eastern and Western paths of spirituality, I have a flexible nature.

Unfortunately this variability can be a weakness as well as a strength.  As a strength, I can adjust my writing, such as on my daily blog, and my speaking, to reach many audiences.  As a weakness, I end up reaching no one.  Thus, I need to narrow my focus.

Part of this involves deep character building.  I have a tendency to seek the approval of too many stakeholders when charting a change.  While consensus-building is important, one cannot please everyone as a change leader.

In fact, if you please everyone, you are likely not leading change!

So, my current focus in involves building a core of inner strength that allows me to remain centered in my vision and mission.  Because of my sensitivity and empathy I can easily lose focus and become hurt while leading change.  Although as an infrastructure consultant it was easy to push someone else’s vision, as a visionary, it is different when I am nurturing and growing my own child

Many people advise not to get too emotionally involved in one’s work.  I see this as vital to all change leadership.  Without having an emotional stake, one can never truly inspire that vision.  What I do need to learn and am trying so hard to, is to separate people’s resistance to ideas of change, from resistance to me.