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Executing change requires larges amount of energy. As a leader you have a natural source of energy, passionate to win or hate to lose. Your preference will determine how you lead change challenges.

In the art of leadership and management you can see two different approaches for driving results.  Leaders passionate to win shows one or several of the following characteristics

• Their primary goal is to capture market potential – often in a fuzzy environment.
• Articulate new business opportunities – a positive rationale stimulating change
• Create a collaboration cave – focal point for team collaborations shaping ideas.
• Focus on doing the right things – Thinking outside the box and making choices to enhance likelihood of success
• Leverage the capabilities of the individual – fueled by their internal passion and energy as the prime driver.

As a manager hating to lose we are likely to be acting in situations characterized by one or several of  the following

• The primary aim is to avoid failure – measured towards clear target numbers
• Articulate burning platforms – a negative rationale forcing change
• Establish a war room – as the focal point for interaction around actions and deliverables.
• Focus on doing things right – low level of uncertainties of what to do, and all things get addressed.
• Exert pressure on the individual – to release energy to deliver in the areas they know well

Both these two skills are valuable but in different situations within an organization. As a leader you are likely to have a bias towards one of the two models. A passion to win is great for proactive pursuits of new opportunities.  You are likely to be superior in pursuing transformative change ahead to the change have taken place in the market.

If you hate to lose you are superior to bringing a business back on track.  You control your destiny for a business suffering from execution issues ahead of an inflection point

Good questions to work with here are:

1. Which of the two sources of energy models is my primary one? – You are likely stronger on one than the other
2. Which type of energy and leadership style support the change you have ahead of you? – All change initiatives requires a lot of energy and the right sort of energy.
3. How could I best develop the side which is my weak side? – You will likely need both in your career in the future

Additional reading on the challenges of change projects and what make them complex:

• Cracking the code of change [ARTICLE] – by Harvard Business Review
• Most change initiatives fail, but they don’t have to [ARTICLE] – by David Leonard and Claude Coltea, Gallup Business Journal
• Managing change initiatives: Manage how-tos for greater compliance [ARTICLE] – by Wharton