INF Treaty.
"Change leadership is exemplified by finding a delicate balance between pragmatism and idealism to work towards a shared goal"
👏 Happy Friday!
On this day, December 8, 1987, the world’s superpowers reversed the arms race when Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev signed a historic agreement to reduce the size of their nuclear arsenals. This marked a pivotal moment amidst the Cold War, shifting the paradigm away from ever-increasing stockpiles of devastating weapons towards the hope of de-escalation and peace. As President Reagan signed the agreement in the White House, it marked the end of extensive negotiations and summits focused on curbing the existential threat posed by these weapons. The treaty prohibited both parties from possessing, producing, or flight-testing ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500–5,000 km. By the designated deadline of June 1, 1991, a combined total of 2,692 weapons of this kind were dismantled, with 846 by the United States and 1,846 by the Soviet Union. In 2014, the United States asserted Russia’s INF Treaty violation, leading the Trump administration to withdraw from the agreement in 2019.
✅ President Regan told us, “A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.” True leaders have the courage to change course, and progress requires persistent vision and pragmatic action. Both Reagan and Gorbachev faced resistance and criticism from hardliners reluctant to compromise entrenched perspectives ingrained over generations. Both leaders endured political hits for daring to deal with the enemy. This willingness to take personal risks and reject populism for principled progress is a hallmark of changemakers who shape history. However, both leaders also never lost sight of the idealistic vision that real progress requires or the belief that historic enemies can in fact identify some shared interests. Change Balances Pragmatism and Idealism.
“Change leadership is exemplified by finding a delicate balance between pragmatism and idealism to work towards a shared goal”
👉 Change leadership is the aptitude to develop and articulate a vision that will inspire the organisation to the new future. The first step for the leadership team in implementing their organisation’s change is to ‘Articulate the change vision’. Change leadership is all about having a vision of what the organisation will look like when it moves from the current ‘a’ state to the improved future ‘B’ state. This change vision must succinctly describe how the organisation, product or service will look after the change is successfully implemented within the time limit specified. It should be bold but realistic, it should paint a vivid picture of the future state that appeals to the employee’s hearts and minds. The change vision should be carefully crafted with the involvement of the leadership team as they will be the main communicators of this vision.
Have a fantastic weekend with the ones you love and care for, enjoy some fresh air, exercise, eat, drink and be happy.
Further Reading: Change Management Leadership - Leadership of Change Volume 4
Peter consults, speaks, and writes on the Leadership of Change®.
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Peter F Gallagher is a Change Management Global Thought Leader, Guru, Expert, International Speaker, Author and Leadership Alignment Coach.
Listed #1 by leadersHum Top 40 Change Management Gurus You Should Follow in 2022 (Mar 2022).
Ranked #1 Change Management Global Thought Leader: Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Change Management (2023-2022-2021-2020) by Thinkers360.
Ranked #1 Business Strategy Global Thought Leader: Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Business Strategy (2022) by Thinkers360.
Ranked #2 Leadership Global Thought Leader: Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Leadership (Aug 2020) by Thinkers360.
Business Book Ranking
Change Management Behaviour - Leadership of Change® Volume 6, listed among the 50 Books from Thinkers360 Thought Leaders to read in 2022.
Change Management Adoption - Leadership of Change® Volume 5, listed among year-to-date’s (Jul 2021) most popular books on business and technology from Thinkers360 member thought leaders.
Change Management Handbook - Leadership of Change® Volume 3, listed among the 50 Business and Technology Books from Thinkers360 Thought Leaders to read in 2021.
Change Management Pocket Guide - Leadership of Change® Volume 2, ranked within the top 50 Business and Technology Books (Jan 2020) from Thinkers360 Thought Leaders.