Effective leaders change what they can, let go of what they cannot control and work hard to identify the difference. Even though it’s paraphrased, I’ll bet this sounds familiar. As leaders we should not be afraid of the future. We should look for ways to embrace it and help prepare our team members to do the same. That means reducing the victim mentality among team members by focusing on positive aspects of change.

Involve your team members in change initiatives as early as possible. This delegation will keep you from spreading yourself too thin while allowing them some input and ownership in the process.  Encourage calculated risk-taking and  honest communications. Good news tends to flow freely, but bad news will seldom reach you unless you create a safe environment for the messenger. Let people know that you will be supportive of changes, even if they sometimes prove to be mistakes. If you have maintained a talented team, this environment will produce creative thinking that will result in cost-cutting and increased productivity efforts.