The Strength in Change

by Kathy Seaton

Our lives change every day and we find ourselves in the whirlwind of how to deal with it.

I recently got divorced and now have the challenge of shuffling two young kids between two houses. The change that the reality of divorce threw in my face rocked my world. I mean talk about a slow speed come apart—I thought my life couldn’t get any worse. I would find myself laying on the bathroom floor, in tears, praying for what I thought was normality. I found that weathering the storm ultimately changed my perspective, as well as my life. What else was I going to do…I didn’t have a choice, and I had two kids relying on me to rally. I changed and that change proved to be the best move for me.

Change is afoot everyday at work. Our bosses change direction, a corporate-giant buys us, or we find ourselves at the mercy of the distortion of leadership that impacts our jobs in significant ways.

So how do we deal with it? What do we do in the face of change? Do we panic and hide, or do we run at it and accept it?

There have been many times when I ran from it. I used to work in advertising and I recall a time when my boss got fired from our biggest client. A million dollar account. All of the sudden my trailblazer was gone—and I became the leader on the account. I was beyond freaked out. I couldn’t’ sleep at night. How could I operate this account when my boss had 30 years plus experience in big-client advertising and I only had 5 on small-scale clients with tiny budgets? Let me tell you, the change was ridiculous. I hit roadblocks all along the way. But luckily I had a great team behind me and their support led to great success. Somehow, some way, it all became clear and I figured it out.

These are the types of changes that we experience every day. Believe it or not, we can embrace change and use it to our advantage. With change comes strength and possibility. And that strength builds our confidence and our ability to become true leaders.

We live in a culture that moves all of the time. And if we can’t move with the tide, eventually we will be swallowed and left behind.

It was Charles Dickens that wrote, “There are dark shadows on the earth, but its lights are stronger in the contrast.”

I fight change everyday. But now that I’ve lived it and live with it, there are things that I know that I can do to be part of the change.

Here goes.

Social Change.

We all know that our society needs a major social change overhaul and we can contribute to that in a minuscule way. But our clear impact is social change at work. We have the power to change the interworking of our teams and amongst our peers. We have the choice to remove competition and animosity from our work environments if we chose too. Right now, competition for upward mobility is at a peak and coming at a pace that subdues creativity, teamwork, and innovation.

Social change at work can lead to more efficiency and success. But we have to break down the walls that people build around themselves. We all put up guards around ourselves and do so out of fear. But take away the fear of failure, or at least the propensity to believe that we will fail, and replace that with a culture that supports each other. An environment that breeds true teamwork. With that, people can make choices, decisions that are impactful, and find ways to make a difference.

Leaders are Born from Change.

Any significant transformation creates “staff issues.” People will be asked to step up, jobs will be changed, new skills and capabilities will be developed, and employees will be resistant out of fear. Dealing with change puts us in a reactive rather than proactive state of mind. We find ourselves stuck in a case-by-case basis that puts morale, and results at risk.

This actually is our time to shine. To be become a leader that develops a formal approach for managing change—beginning with building a leadership team or working with the current regime, and then engaging key stakeholders. Leaders must embrace the new approaches first, both to challenge and to motivate the rest of the institution. They must speak with one voice and model desired behaviors.

At the root of change is how to deal with your peers, because they are totally freaked out. They are talking in the corners, sending each other panicked texts, and the rumor mill is whirling.

Leaders can systematically break down the barriers by being open, by communicating, and by telling the truth. Reassuring people that the change is good. This level of sharing is what will make us good leaders.

 

Ownership.

Leaders of large change must over-perform during the transformation and be the ambassadors that breed teams of people that are in favor of change. This requires more than just buy-in or a passive aggressive attempt at convincing the team that change is acceptable. Leaders that own change demand ownership and take responsibility to make the change happen in all of the areas they influence or control. Involving people in identifying problems and developing new solutions often creates this type of ownership. It can be reinforced by incentives and rewards. These can be demonstrable like compensation, or (for example, financial compensation) or psychological (like camaraderie and a sense of shared control).

Prepare for the Unexpected.

Change never goes according to plan. Employees react in unexpected ways, areas of resistance go away and the work environment shifts. To manage change requires continued analysis of its impact and the organization’s willingness and ability to adopt the next wave of transformation. With data and reports from the team, supported by information and solid decision-making processes, change leaders can then make the adjustments necessary to maintain momentum and drive results.