Navigating Change

So thankful for the opportunity to speak with the staff at Somerville Community Services about "Navigating Change"; sharing my lessons of both leading change and experiencing change in my career, business and life.

As humans we instinctively see change as a threat to our security, our identify, our freedom and our sense of belonging. It is uncomfortable, challenging and confronting because it is essentially about loss.

When we are leading change we can be paralysed by our fear of the unknown; get derailed by dissent; or fail to implement the change.

These challenges can be overcome with:

Informed-decision making that includes diverse or even dissenting perspectives. A room full of nodding heads won't come up with the most effective solution.

Focusing on the outcomes, not the process. The process of change often isn't linear, it can zig-zag; spiral and go backwards. By focusing on the outcome you keep motivated when the process goes sideways.

Understand the importance of the change from everyones viewpoint. The board will have very different perspective to the staff, so understand them all and you will have better engagement and more meaningful change.

Lead with empathy and compassion - acknowledge the losses as they are felt.

Getting comfortable with uncertainty to build trust and confidence in yourself; go somewhere you've never been before, do something new; eat at restaurant without reading a review.

Leading change isn't about what we are asking people to do; its about inspiring them to change their mindset, behaviours and attitudes.

And we all have to remember that change is an ending...but also a beginning.