INF Treaty.

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.

Further Reading: Change Management Leadership: Leadership of Change Volume 4

Peter consults, speaks, and writes on the Leadership of Change^®. He advises CEOs on how to prepare and align their corporate leadership teams to successfully lead their organisation's change.

For further reading please visit our websites: https://www.a2b.consulting  https://www.peterfgallagher.com Amazon.com: Peter F Gallagher: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle

Leadership of Change® Body of Knowledge Volumes: Change Management Body of Knowledge (CMBoK) Books: Volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, A, B, & C available on both Amazon and Google Play:

~ Leadership of Change® Volume 1 - Change Management Fables

~ Leadership of Change® Volume 2 - Change Management Pocket Guide

~ Leadership of Change® Volume 3 - Change Management Handbook

~ Leadership of Change® Volume 4 - Change Management Leadership

~ Leadership of Change® Volume 5 - Change Management Adoption

~ Leadership of Change® Volume 6 - Change Management Behaviour

~ Leadership of Change® Volume 7 - Change Management Sponsorship

~ Leadership of Change® Volume A - Change Management Gamification - Leadership

~ Leadership of Change® Volume B - Change Management Gamification - Adoption

Coming soon:

~ Leadership of Change® Volume C - Change Management Gamification - Behaviour

~ Leadership of Change® Volume D - Change Management Gamification - Sponsorship

~ Leadership of Change® Volume E - Change Management Gamification - Leadership Teams

By Peter F Gallagher

Keywords: Business Strategy, Change Management, Leadership