Leading through change management

Change is all around us, it’s everywhere we go! I’m sure that’s a lyric from a song… Change in the general sense is unavoidable. Every change, whether you perceive it to be good or bad, holds opportunity.

There really will be a silver lining if you look for it! Change happens across every walk of life, to everyone, all the time. Change is, in fact, business as usual, and yet often when it happens at work our first reaction is to resist. Why is that?

People are nervous about change because it represents uncertainty. It can threaten job security, relationships and what we’re used to. But with change comes choice: you can choose to move with it or against it, through it or around it. But what you cannot do is avoid it. It will probably happen anyway whether you want it to or not.

So ultimately how you approach change is your choice. Only you can choose your best way forward. Use every opportunity of change as a chance to check in with yourself and your current goals. Will it enhance or detract from them? Arm yourself by knowing all the facts. Look at your current state, think of your ideal future. How does the change that is afoot help you on your journey? What stands in your way, what can you control vs what can you learn to accept?

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” 
– Charles Darwin

Watch Inspire Group Leadership Development Manager Nicolette's 1-minute video on leading through change management.

At Inspire Leaders we have our own change tool which we’ve christened the Accept/Change model. It’s very simple and yet is the perfect ‘cue’ print for approaching change. Ask yourself “Can I change it? If yes then do so. If no, then accept it in the way that best serves you.

There is fantastic content on the constant nature of change in this HBR article:

“Leaders should view change not as an occasional disruptor but as the very essence of the management job. Setting tough goals, establishing processes to reach them, carrying out those processes and carefully learning from them — these steps should characterize the unending daily life of the organization at every level” – Schaffer,  Robert H (26 October, 2017; Harvard Business Review)

So why, when change is all around us do we resist? Are we really all creatures of habit, happy with the status quo, existing in our every day? Well I’m not and I encourage you to step outside of your every day and dip your toes in the change that’s all around you – what’s the worst that could happen?

If you look at change from the perspective of how it can add value to your current way of being then you may be less resistant to it. There is always opportunity and it may knock at your door if you choose to let it! Whether or not you answer is up to you!

“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” – Albert Einstein.

Take a leap of faith, challenge yourself, find a different version of ‘you’ in the opportunities that change can bring.   It can revitalise you and awaken you to new horizons.

It’s also always worth keeping in mind that well-known adage “A change is as good as a rest.”

Embrace change; it could alter your life, and you want your life to be the best it can be don’t you?