Leaders deal with change. They observe change as it is happening, and they decide on the change they want to address or create. The latter is a decision based on priorities.

While I can’t make a clear-cut distinction that says it’s always like that, it is possible to talk about trends.

One of them is that efforts to become more efficient describe a reaction to the market. The leader finds himself driven for example by costs or competition and opts for efficiency.

Another is that leaders who develop new ideas and step out of the usual way things are done, search for something that will impact the market in a new way. Their effort is directed at being effective. They’ve chosen a change they can drive themselves.

There is no harm in reacting to what is happening. One could even say that it is practically impossible not to do so. To decide, ask two questions: “Why this change?” and “Why now?”

The answer will either be in the realm of something one wants to do or of something one feels obliged to do. The more obligations appear the more probability there is that one settled in a comfortable Hamster Wheel and lets oneself be driven.