Last week I was delivering a workshop on change and change management and while I was going through the material it was great to see the lights go on!
Change happens every day, it could be a job title, structure change, re-organisation or a new product and I think most people will accept that it happens.
The problem, with change, is that it involves people and emotions!
Whilst we all appreciate, rationally, that changes are required in all businesses and in life, emotionally, sometimes, we try to resist it.
All of the delegates were familiar with the change curve, the stages we go through, and we came to the conclusion that change is not the problem.
The problem is the TRANSITION that people go through. The psychological and emotional journey that is different for everyone involved, and, as a leader this is where our focus needs to be.
While I understand the reason, and importance for strategic planning and being ahead of our competitors to survive and grow, I also know that we need people to be able to implement the plans. We have to understand the people around us, what is important to them and how, by changing something simple, such as a job title, can really de-motivate some but might not affect others.
I believe that if we have a genuine interest and concern for people, and their welfare, we can help to move through the emotional transitions, faster and without so much pain. In fact, this is not only required when we implement change, it should be, and is, a strong leadership trait to have at all times.
Being interested in others, supporting and encouraging them, reassuring, and making sense of changes, is what great people do, without having to ‘turn it on’ for the day – it’s who and how they are.
We all know someone that we would describe as a great person. Someone who is strong but empathetic, driven and mindful, engaged and engaging, maybe even just a genuine nice ‘guy’ (generic term).
How would the people around you describe you? What are people saying about you when asked?
On Sunday morning at 2am my eldest Daughter called to wish me a Happy Father’s Day – yes she was slightly drunk and apologised in the morning. My 3 other children also woke me up, later, to give me cards and gifts, and, for the first time, had picked their own cards for me this year.
The words in the cards and what they had individually written, made me realise that who and how I try to be, seems to be working, for them.
It felt good to be appreciated and I know that, probably, we don’t express it often enough to those around us.
This week I am going to notice who and how people are, just so I can thank them for being them!