Surrendering Doesn't mean Losing

Surrendering is a step to success

' Do I have to do this assignment?' asked a strong-willed student with a reputation for being a troublemaker. Her eyes flashed an unmistakable challenge: Just try and make me.

The teacher responded, 'No, you don’t have to do it.'

Surprised, the student asked, 'You mean I get an ‘A’ and I don’t have to do it?' The teacher shook his head. 'No, you get Failed … but you don’t have to do it.'

The student frowned, shrugged her shoulders and went back to her seat. In moments, she began work on the assignment. The student just wanted to let the teacher know she would fail if she wanted to. The student surrendered to the best course of action.

Surrender can be a positive course of action, as exhibited with the student’s decision to do the class assignment.

In today’s challenging economic conditions, competitive marketplace and macho culture, people are taught and expected to never give up, never give in. Yet we don’t hear or read much about surrendering. Giving up is surrendering. But surrendering is not necessarily giving up.

Surrender may be the most important decision you or your organisation will make this year in becoming more successful.

Seven Characteristics of Surrender

Surrender is sensible. It is not a foolish emotional impulse. Surrender is a rational, intelligent act, the most responsible and sensible thing you can do with your life. To become healthy, I must surrender to a healthy lifestyle and diet. To be successful, people and organisations must give up in order to go up.
Surrender is an admission of limitations. Pride prevents productivity improvement in people and organisations. I will know you’ve surrendered when you don’t defend yourself when receiving constructive criticism. Surrender is demonstrated through obedience, e.g., 'Yes, I’ll do that'. 'Yes' is a condition of surrender. 'No' is a contradiction to surrender.
Surrender is unavoidable. Surrendering to something or someone eventually happens to everyone. Therefore, we should make a concerted effort to surrender to good, not bad. The greatness of a man, woman or organisation’s power can be found in the selection and measure of their surrender.
Surrender is hard work. Unlike the picture of someone raising his or her arms in the air, the true practice of surrender is arms-down work. Surrender is the activity of doing what’s best for our organisation or ourselves. An organisation that surrenders to the principles and practices of Activity Based Cost Management for example, will find implementation and sustaining the system to be work, but work that bears much fruit.
Surrender brings peace. You will experience peace when you turn your personal and professional challenges over to a greater authority. Surrender is an act of trust.
Surrender brings freedom. Peace prevails when freedom of choice exists. You cannot solve a problem until you acknowledge that you have one and accept responsibility for solving it. Choosing to admit and confront problems opens a door to finding and freely choosing solutions.
Surrender requires trust. Surrender exists when you allow others to set the agenda and control the situation.

Partial surrender is no surrender at all.

On of the most profound business management statements I’ve ever heard is partial surrender is no surrender at all.

You can’t surrender your heart to Jesus on Sunday and keep living in sin every other day of the week.
The police say a criminal who surrenders to authorities but keeps his handgun is not surrendering at all. Marriage counsellors say a person who surrenders to spending more time with their family but continues to spend evenings and weekends answering business e-mails has not surrendered at all.

The principle... partial surrender is no surrender at all... has several business applications. For example:

CFO’s can’t surrender to ethical accounting principles and keep writing monthly journal entries to make numbers match the budget.
Managers can’t surrender to the principle of teaching employees 'how to fish' yet keep giving them the fish every day of the week.
Employees can’t surrender to a mission statement they don’t remember or believe.
Leaders can't surrender to the principles of good coaching while continuing to dominate discussions and control actions.

Is it time to surrender?
If you and your management team are frustrated and foiled by the existing systems, it’s time to surrender to improved operations that provide new perspectives and action plans to grow sales and profits.
If your organisation has heaps of potential yet there is concern over how to access it may be the right time to surrender to an external business coaching program.
If you’re frustrated with declining margins, it’s time to surrender to a new and improved pricing method.
If you’re personally at your wits end, it may be time to surrender to a personal coaching program.

Conclusion

Most people are miserable when they feel they 'have to' do something. Some say, 'You can’t make me'.

On the other hand, if those same people are given an exciting mission, confident leader, well-defined plan and a job comprised of value-added activities, they will 'want to' surrender to providing high quality products and services.

Let me warn you: When you decide to live a totally surrendered life, that decision will be tested.

Sometimes it will mean doing inconvenient, unpopular, costly, or seemingly impossible tasks.

It will often mean doing the opposite of what you feel is right. Success is not doing what is popular. Most people and organisations are not actually successful therefore doing what the majority of other people and organisations do often leads to mediocrity, not success. .

Achieving success requires profitable, not conventional actions. Success for you or your organisation will require what may seem illogical…..surrender.

Surviving and thriving during the most challenging economic conditions any of us have ever experienced requires surrender to new missions, new methods and new authorities. Surrender represents change, something most people and organisations resist, but with surrender and change comes new hope. Not just for survival but renewed, sustained success.

Think about it from a Structures - Waste - Culture perspective culture_triangle

By surrendering to improved organisational structures and a continuous improvement philosophy you will, by default, create the culture you need in your organisation to succeed.

Many organisations focus on motivation yet without sensible structures and systems that continually improve motivation cannot be sustained.

What 10 areas within your organisation would you change or improve if you had a magic wand?

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Look at each entry and consider, out of 10, how easy it would be to change or improve that area. If, given the right focus, change and refinement could be easily achieved give it a mark of 10 in the column headed 'Ease'.

If in, your opinion, it would be difficult to change or improve under current circumstances give it a mark closer to 0.

Now consider how large an affect each improvement would have on assisting the organisation in achieving its goals. how much easier would it be to win in the market place now this area is performing to its potential? If the affect is great mark it as 10 under the 'Value' column. If its value would be marginal mark it closer to 0.

How many columns show an 8,8 result or higher? These are not only easy to do but they are also of high value to the organisation going forward.

Get a team together and Mindmap the strategies for effecting change in these top areas and then get your One Page Plan happening.

By surrendering to a continuous improvement style of business that encourages 'buy in' from the rest of the team you are creating the culture you need to succeed long term.

For more information on strategy development and project team coordination Contact your Newcastle Business Consultant