After the great weather, which extended into the Bank holiday weekend, I feel grateful to live in Bournemouth.
The sun, sea and sangria was a welcome change and it put me, and millions of others, in a great mood. I noticed how vibrant people were, the laughter and, obvious positive energy was everywhere to be seen.
I am sure there were still people moaning, but I didn’t notice them because I was too busy having a good time.
I managed to take time out with, some, family / friends and include most of them in some form of social engagement. A tea and scone by the beach, a swim, the gym and even a bike ride followed by BBQ’s and a few drinks to catch up with everyone.
I really enjoyed the break.
I’m hoping that our Summer is not over already though! I love it when the sun shines but I also like the contrast of our seasons and would be bored of just sun all the time….As with the weather, there is change all around that can have a positive or negative affect on our outlook on life.
I like change, most of the time, but sometimes it’s a pain and requires unwelcome effort.
Every organisation I work in, is currently experiencing a high level of change in some way, shape or form. Restructures, re-organisation, mergers or acquisitions, it all leads to disruption and, in most cases, a drop in performance / output. When change happens our brain goes into survival mode and if we perceive the change as a threat, we engage our fight or flight modes automatically.
To be able to recognise and manage these emotional responses, in ourselves, is important and takes a high degree of emotional intelligence. If you manage a team, and are going through change, this requires a strong focus on others. Support and reassurance, understanding and empathy are needed to transform into the future, new version, as smoothly as possible.
When there is poor communication, minimal involvement and a mass of new directives, there is resistance and pain. ‘People problems’ rise, attrition goes up, absenteeism and sickness become issues and HR get busy.
Great leaders create a great culture which normally means that people feel valued, listened to and engaged with creating the future. Change is smoother and faster and feels positive.
As we all know, and rationally understand, change is necessary to develop and improve, but, we do love our comfort zones and you can’t blame people for trying to stay in them at times.
That’s why we don’t change our energy supplier as often as we should, or look for a different insurer when the car comes up for it’s renewal. We don’t want to have to put effort in to change, but when it’s forced, we often get a better deal or product and look back thinking “Why didn’t I do that earlier?”
Sometimes a small amount of effort can result in years of improvements. What are you hanging onto that you should be changing?