Leaders Embrace Change — Just Like Merkel Did

Leaders never say: “I can’t change”, or “It’s too late for me to change.”

For this reason, leaders never feel trapped. If they feel frustrated or unfulfilled, they try something new. They prize impact and challenge over security and comfort.

Angela Merkel started her career as a research scientist, having earned a doctorate in quantum chemistry.

But the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 stirred a passion in her for political reform. She was thirty-six.

She pivoted into politics and accepted a role as deputy press secretary to the then government – hardly a lofty position given her academic prowess.

That’s some pivot.

I doubt at the outset that Merkel thought she would one day be German Chancellor. But I bet she didn’t foreclose on that possibility either. She just focused on having a positive impact.

On November 22, 2005, Merkel took office as Chancellor – becoming the first woman, the first East German, and, at age 51, the youngest person to hold the office.

Be more like Merkel. Embrace change. All your dreams lie on the other side of your doubts.