What I Learned this Week: Michael Fullan — Motion Leadership

This week, I learned leaders create meaningful change not by developing perfect plans, but by generating momentum through movement, learning, collaboration, transparency, and continuous action.

The book, Motion Leadership: The Skinny on Becoming Change Savvy, ‘moved’ me because instead of talking about normal leadership topics like vision or strategy, author Michael Fullan focused on implementation and how to actually create change.

It can be summed up by saying, “Be relentlessly consistent at doing what matters most while seeking continuous commitment."

Here are some of my key takeaways:

• Get Skinny: You can move quickly when you identify and focus on what matters most — not a million different things.
• Ready-Fire-Aim: Don’t wait until you have the perfect plan — you never will. Get started.
• Implementation Dip: There will be a learning dip — keep going.
• Behaviors Before Beliefs: Everyone won’t be on board, see the vision, or believe in success at first — they will have to see it to believe it.
• Competitive Collaboration: We learn better together.
• Capacity Building Over Judgement: Instead of being judgmental, grow your people.
• Learning is the Work: In the beginning, the work is harder because it's new. Keep learning, growing, and going.
• Transparency Rules: Be as open as possible, as early and often as possible.
• Create Systems of Change: You can’t make people change, but you can create systems and environments where change is either inevitable or forces them out.
• Assessment Literate: Be able to read the room or situation.
• Build Trust: Build trust through integrity and competency — being good at doing what you say you will do.
• Change Context: Context matters, and leaders are able to communicate and change it.
• Humble and Confident: Change savvy leaders are confidently but also seek opportunities to learn.