Are you an Agent of Change?

While business owners keep the doors open, change agents do that and more. They constantly challenge the status quo and find new ways to achieve greater success—and then work tirelessly to ensure that success.

These driven people share four traits:

1. They invest in good people. Success hinges upon the people you surround yourself with. Change agents find the best and invest in them.
2. They hate the word no. Negativity is not in the change agent’s DNA.
3. They are not afraid of risk. Calculated risk. But risk.
4. They never stop learning. Perhaps the most important one. They never stop studying. Talking. Meeting. And learning—from their peers, their partners, their employees and the world around them.

But change agents don’t have to be owners—they can exist anywhere within an organization. They’re the ones asking questions and finding answers. They’re the ones driving success. I’m fortunate enough to have plenty of coworkers, clients and loved ones whom I consider to be true change agents. I’m a better—and happier—man for it. Are you an agent of change for your organization? Do you recognize those transformative people in your life? Find them, encourage them—and never stop learning from them.