If there's one thing that never changes in modern business, it's that everything changes. That's the ironic paradox at the heart of our profession---and at some level, it's become essential to the continued growth and development of American business. Change stirs things up, cross-fertilizing ideas and aerating the waters of creativity. We may enjoy equilibrium---and humans certainly find it more comfortable not to have to scramble---but inactivity soon sours into stagnation. You can't rest on your laurels, because some hungry young company will always be pushing the envelope and trying to steal away part of your market share. 

And so it should be: competition makes us stronger, and change is good for us.

Corporate leaders sometimes forget this. They let their attitudes and strategies harden in place, assuming what worked well before will always yield success. Well, as Harold Geneen, legendary CEO of ITT Corporation, pointed out decades ago: "We must not be hampered by yesterday's myths in concentrating on today's needs." 

Breaking Free

As a leader, Geneen was a visionary, shifting as the business environment shifted---if not by anticipating the change altogether, then by leading the pack when it came time to strike out into new territory. As a Senior VP at Raytheon in the late 1950s, he was famous for giving his division chiefs plenty of decision-making freedom, while requiring a high degree of accountability. Later, as CEO of ITT, his strategies grew its annual sales from $765 million in 1961 to $17 billion in 1970, expanding the company into a wide variety of new ventures. He embraced change in all things, including the evolution of the concept of leadership---from the paternalistic "do it because I say so" perspective---toward one rooted in the concept of partnership and cooperation.

This is a crucial step for every leader to take, because as I point out in my upcoming book Execution IS the Strategy (Berrett-Koehler, March 2014), we can no longer afford to maintain a sharp distinction between leadership and rank-and-file. We must cooperate closely to help our organizations succeed, encouraging and practicing active engagement on all levels. Those on the front lines must be free to exercise their experience and good judgment without unreasonable hindrance, so they can keep us aligned not just with our organizational goals, but also with the changing reality of the modern business environment. Leaders must always be flexible, open, and encouraging of new ideas from those who have their ears to the ground.

Evolution in Action

Like creatures in the natural world, businesses must adapt or die---and the adaptation must be continuous, not occasional. So in addition to evolving your leadership style to fit the current conditions, keep these factors in mind as you lead your people down the yellow brick road to the future: