Turnarounds…

…don’t just happen; not in life, not in businesses, not in churches. When an organization—or person—is in decline, something has to change for the direction to turn upward.

For Ebay, the change was a new CEO: John Donahoe. Ebay’s stock was in free-fall from a peak of $58/share in 2004 to $30/share, and was still declining when Donahoe took the reins on March 31, 2008. It slipped to $10/per share in 2009 (along with the rest of the market), but has since rebounded to $52/share, more than twice as much as the overall market has rebounded.

You can get the whole Ebay story in EBAY’S BACK by J. P. Mangalindan (Fortune, 2/25/2013). But for my purposes in this post, the story is simple: when things are in decline, something has to change. It could mean you have to change. Either the leader has to change, or the organization has to change leaders.

I have been on the receiving end of “change the leader” scenarios. Believe me, it is a lot less painful for the leader to change than it is to change the leader. So, what are you waiting for? Today is a great day to change! Get started.

By the way, this principle applies in your personal life as well. If your health, finances, emotions or relationships are in decline, CHANGE! Waiting for others to change is a waste of time that accomplishes nothing. You change! Start today.

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