Leadership Sustainability: Seven Disciplines to Achieve the Changes Great Leaders Know They Must Make

CHAPTER 7MELIORATION

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.

— Gandhi

So far we have described five of seven disciplines that leaders must develop to sustain what they start: They need to find simplicity in complexity, ensure sequence and timing, demand individual and organization accountability, take advantage of internal and external resources to support their efforts, and keep track to ensure progress in the right direction.

For the sixth discipline we found in our taxonomic research, we have chosen an unfamiliar term with a familiar message. Melioration comes from the Latin melioratus, meaning “improved” or “strengthened.” For leaders to sustain desired changes, they have to meliorate, or improve, build ...