“The only constant is change.” We had Richard Batenburg, CEO of CliIntel, on the show talking about the importance of embracing change. Where do you fall on the change continuum? Are you an early adopter or a laggard? Somewhere in between? Well, if you want to affect change in your organization, but you don’t have the authority, here are a few tips to help you influence the culture:

Be Brave. It’s hard to go against the culture or put a new idea out there. Often we are afraid of failure. But what is the worst that would happen? Someone says no? Are you worse off for trying, or is the company worse off for you not trying? Sharing ideas that can benefit your organization are worth taking the risk.

Break the rules. I’m not suggesting defying all the rules. I’m suggesting something more along the lines of intelligent disobedience. Sometimes the rules are archaic or don’t make sense. Understanding the essence of the rules along with the company’s vision allows you to know when it’s time to break out of the structure to
achieve the vision. If by breaking the rules (ethically of course) you can benefit the company, perhaps you should consider doing it.

Model change. The key to change is to get others to more readily accept it and implement their own changes as well. The best way to do that is through modeling change. You can’t expect anyone else do what you aren’t already demonstrating within your leadership.

Jana Axline is Chief Project Officer at Project Genetics and the author of Becoming You. Through her leadership musings, she inspires audiences to grow as leaders and ultimately achieve who they were created to be. For more information visit Project Genetics.