Good Morning,
With the changing seasons, I am thinking about change this week. Normally, I am the one championing the changes, driving the process improvements, and seeing projects through completion. This week, though, I am taking the position of being a follower to a larger change that I did not expect or anticipate. This change will significantly affect half of my teams.
Change is always difficult.
Sometimes change comes at an unexpected time. As leaders we try to manage (and champion) change; but, there are times when the change is even unexpected for us.
The way I approached this unexpected occurrence was interesting as a self examination tool. At first, I denied it. Then, I got angry about it. There was not much bargaining I could do; so, I moved quickly to feeling sad that this change is happening. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross seems to have been on something with her stages of grief (You should familiarize yourself with her work if you don’t know who she is). I am not sure if I’m fully in the acceptance camp; but, I am to a point where I think I can make this change be a positive one.
I did learn something about myself. All of my emotions are centered around what will happen to my teams. Will my teams be OK? Am I abandoning my team? What will happen to my teams? What is the right thing to do? I discussed all of these concerns with several colleagues; and, they have given me insight into these feelings. They are totally normal.
There are entire fields of leadership that deal directly with change management, organizational change management, process change management. They always take a stepwise approach to change by examining the current state, a transition state, and an improved state. I looked at several articles, books, and literature, but the literature was of limited help. What helped me was the social connections of colleagues and friends.
Leadership experts will often give the advice to build a professional network. Usually, the intent of this advice is to help with career advancement or project completion. The headline might read “How networking will get you ahead”. What I think this advice often misses is the social ties that help us weather extremely tough and challenging situations. Without a robust network of colleagues, I would not be an effective leader. Surrounded by people that understand the challenges leaders face, helps me embrace this change.
Have a wonderful day,
Rory