Friday, January 21, 2011

How to Avoid "Killing" Yourself During the Process of Change

Changes can change the status for the better or worse. How do we make sure we drive change that delivers our progress?
The other day I was running a workshop with a team of people who were going through a tough time, while their company was taken over by a new owner and their personal future was unknown.  People were asking themselves “Why does it happen to me? ” Some of them were not happy, blaming everybody for the outcome, tired of not having what they thought they deserve, being frozen to do anything and waiting for a miracle to happen. The consensus of this group was clear. They needed a new vision – not just for the new Company, but for themselves as well. They needed a reason to wake up in the morning to go to fight for their Company, for their brand, for their market share and for their own future. They wanted open communication, consistency and honesty from the management team. The “do-ers” wanted to hear from somebody concrete steps to move forward, the “visionaries” were hungry for official go ahead for freedom to define the new rules of the game themselves.  They all wanted to be included, listened and managed with respect regardless of the fact if they were on the list to be fired.
People naturally reject changes that are forced on them. As the takeover situations become more and more frequent , the need to adopt to new conditions instantly arises. The key is to know that there is always a new opportunity awaiting us, regardless if we know about it or not. It may be in the acquiring company or outside. We have to believe in it first. We have to realize, that we will be rewarded with this new job only at a time when we overcome our fear, when we take the whole situation as a new exiting adventure – when we finally start to do something about it.  The sooner we will mentally give up the old circumstances, the sooner we will find the new opportunity. The visualized happiness from the new opportunity will bring us even faster towards fulfilling it.
The question, if we will be in the end personally successful or not, depends who we are as a person and how much desire we have to succeed despite tough times. We have to realize, that the success comes from us, from within. We have to stop relying on others to lead us throughout uncertainty, as well as to stop being dependent on the luck maybe coming to us. We have to take charge of ourselves, of our destiny.
Everybody had at least once woke up and realized the world around him has - without recognizing it - slowly but surely changed. The old opportunities no longer existed.
Changes are natural regardless if we expect them or not.  The way we drive change shows our maturity and readiness to accept even bigger challenges in future. We cannot wait until the effects of change reach us. We have to be in the driver seat ourselves. Finding new ways is not always risky.  Be creative!
ü  “Going into the dark of unknown is better than waiting where nothing is left.”                           Spencer Johnson, M.D.
ü  “The gate to change is unlocked from the inside.”  Dr. Morris Massey

2 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed reading this blog post! One thing that makes someone a good candidate for a job is their ability to handle change. Especially with technology being so prevalent, new processes are being adopted to create efficiency which requires change. Change is inevitable.

    Thanks for the post!

    AshleyCray.wordpress.com

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  2. Dear Ashley,
    Thank you for your nice comment! Great to virtually connect with likeminded people!
    All the best!
    Jana

    ReplyDelete