Why is change so difficult to maintain? How can exploring beyond quantitative data improve problem solving? This week Tony Daloisio, author of The Journeyman Life, joins Timothy R. Clark to discuss the recipe for lasting change and the possibilities of influence and intuition in leadership and business thinking. Here are some gems from the episode:

We only have two choices: will we change or will we change our belief about needing to change? Change requires conscious internal awareness and a willingness to reach the precipice of decision with the determination to do things differently. 

People are like rockets. Most spend their time trying to muster up enough determination to bust through gravity, which requires a sense of urgency and focus that is created through crucible experiences. While urgency is a catalyst, it is seldom a sustainer. Sustaining change isn’t as “sexy” as sowing the seeds of change, but a cadence of accountability and outside support will help us maintain momentum. 

Until a leader changes, nothing else can change. We cannot lead other people at a higher level than we are leading ourselves. Each of us, whether part of a team or not, has a brilliance side and a shadow side. Ignorance of this shadow side will cause our business culture to mirror our shadows instead of our brilliance. 

There is a difference between advocacy decision making and inquiry decision making. Do we engage in problem solving with a determination to prove the validity of our preconceived notions? Or do we engage in exploration of the problem, relying on the contributions of others? Are we willing to hold our opinions lightly? 

Dr. Tony Daloisio, author of The Journeyman Life, started his career as an inner-city high school principal where he advocated for disadvantaged youth. He received a PhD from the University of Connecticut in the field of Organization Psychology and Counseling Psychology, and now works as an organizational psychologist and a professor of leadership and organizational change at Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business. A partnership with the late Dr. Stephen R. Covey, author of the blockbuster New York Times bestseller The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, and then his son, Stephen M. R. Covey, brought on the development of the consulting practice Principle Centered Leadership in the early 2000s. He is also the CEO and founder of Charter Oak Consulting group, which was listed as one of Inc. Magazine’s fastest-growing companies. If you’d like to learn more about Daloisio and his journey, visit his website here.