Making a Change
By: Jeff Altman
Tags: Courage, Career Angles, Career Advice, Change, Change Your Life

I was reading a book called, “The Spark, The Flame and The Torch” by Lance Secretan. There was a point in the book where I stopped in my tracks to really what he calls, “The CASTLE® Principles.”

CASTLE® is an acronym for Courage-Authenticity-Service-Truthfulness-Love-Effectiveness.

Ostensibly, the book is about leadership for leaders and he believes all these factors need to be in play when someone tries to lead a group or organization. After all, they’re going to be times we need to be courageous. You should be authentic in all your dealings with people. Serving others is a prerequisite of leadership. Being truthful? It should go without saying but needs to be said, unfortunately. Can you love your people? You can do all these other things and unless your effective, you will have failed.

But all of this starts with courage.

Courage is the starting point for change.

Unless you’re courageous and overcome the fear or anxiety that might keep you in place, you can’t change.

Change involves risk and we live in risk-averse times.

What’s the risk that you will experience if you change?

What might happen to you if that happened?

And what might happen to you if that occurred?

What’s the risk if you don’t change?

And what might happen to you if that occurred?

Most people have a scenario created in their minds of, “damned if you do and damned if you don’t.” As a result, people stay in place and don’t make the change that they say they want.

I’d like you to take a moment and think of a moment in the past where you were courageous or brave?

It doesn’t have to be a major event (however you define the major event). It can be at work. It can be in your home life.

Where have you been courageous before?

Tell yourself the story again but, this time, don’t minimize it. Just tell yourself what happened and what you did.

Have there been other times where you showed courage?

Maybe it was courage in showing people who you were.

Maybe it was a business decision or a decision to leave a husband, wife, or partner. Maybe was the decision to have or not have children. Maybe was a decision to get involved with unpopular politics.

Remember what it felt like to take that risk.

Feel the feeling once again.

You’ve been courageous before and you can be courageous again.

With this change, you may not need to take an all or nothing approach. Maybe the best thing to do is to put your toe in the water by talking to people about what you’re thinking about.

It starts with courage.

Ⓒ The Big Game Hunter, Inc., Asheville, NC 2020

ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a career and leadership coach who worked as a recruiter for more than 40 years. He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with more than 2000 episodes, and is a member of The Forbes Coaches Council.

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