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So What About Change?

Written by: Paul Bridle

Article Overview: It is said that people don’t like change. It is said that people are scared of change. However, if we think about it, without some sort of change we would get bored! In fact, we have had to deal with change all our lives.

So What About Change?

None of us are the same person we were when we were born. Our early years were in a constant state of change. So if we have been living with change all our lives and had to deal with it all our lives, then why do we fear it? Surely we should welcome it, or at worst, recognise that it is part of the natural progression of people and life, and accept the inevitability of it?

At various stages in our life we have welcomed change with excitement. I know I still get excited at the prospect of going to new places and seeing new things. So that tells me that it is possible to be excited by the prospect of change. At the same time I also know that there are some things that I don’t like changing and as a result avoid doing so.

So what is the real issue here? There is no doubt that the fear of being made a fool of, or being perceived as inadequate, or no longer being able to cope, are all major influences in contributing to our fear of change.

However, I think that we miss an important aspect to understanding the impact of change on people. Maybe we need to look back at that period of our life that was full of change and ask ourselves what was in place that enabled us to be able to cope with change? The greatest change period of our lives was from birth to about twenty years old. We changed physically, mentally, emotionally and in every other way that you can imagine. All of that is a state of constant change.

When we were growing up we were able to deal with the changes because we had a ‘constant’ in our lives.

What is a ‘Constant’? A constant is a point that we know to be safe. It can be a person, or a place of refuge, or a place where, no matter what is going on in the world around us, we know that we can rely on things to be consistent. For most of us it would have been a parent. For many of us, Mum or Dad (or both) were our Constant in our formative years. When there were issues at school, with friends, or if something happened where we thought the world was going to end for us, we turned to our Constant who was there to reassure, support and help us move past the moment.

What made them our Constant was the way that we knew how they would deal with us. Whatever had happened to us, we knew that this Constant could be relied upon to treat us in the same way. It was that consistency that was a comfort to us and enabled us to deal with the many changes and challenges in our lives.

As we have got older that Constant may have moved from being a parent. It may have become our partner, or our job, or even our home. A Constant provides us with something that remains constant and we can rely upon regardless of the issues or challenges we face. In fact the Constant in our lives may be more than one person. Sports people have a coach who becomes their Constant for that part of their lives.

Loosing a Constant is like a ship loosing it anchor. It has nothing to hold it in place when it is needed. Another example would be to loose a compass when lost. Our point of reference has gone missing. Without this we have nothing to rely on.

It is when people are faced with this situation we feel unable to cope and suffer with stress and fatigue. It is not the challenge in itself that is overwhelming but rather being in a situation that you cannot fall back on something that you can rely on.

As leaders we need to understand two things from this.

1. People are looking for consistency in order to cope with change. Often in the work environment we (as the leader) are that consistency that enables people to cope with the change. If we are not consistent in our behaviours then we take away their ability to function effectively. If we are inconsistent, then people spend their time trying to figure out our inconsistency rather than deal with their job.

As a child, Mum or Dad was probably our Constant. It did not matter what happened in the World around us, we always knew we could go back and (even if we got told off!) we would be cared for, or helped to ‘get back on our feet’. Knowing the reaction you would get and having faith in their ability to understand our position (even if not agreeing with it) was our Constant.

Employees need that certainty. They need someone or something that is consistent or that they know for sure will respond in a certain way. As a leader, providing that Constant will often free people up to take on challenges and face up to issues and ‘have a go’.

2. As leaders we need a Constant. Interestingly when studying leaders over the two decades I noticed that many of them create their Constant with themselves.

In other words, their Constant is their own abilities. Their belief in themselves and their ability to deal with any issues is their Constant. As one leader explained it to me, “I know that I have the ability, brain power and work ethic and the ability to get the best out of people that will enable me to get a job anywhere if I had to”.

This person had found the Constant within them and knew that it didn’t matter what happened around them, they would be able to survive because they had the ability to earn a living at something and stay afloat in the sea of life.

This is interesting because it also goes back to the role of the Leader. If we think about this, maybe the Leader’s role is to help people find the Constant within themselves?

Consider your leadership style and ask yourself the following questions:

1. Are you being a Constant to the people you lead? Are your values and behaviours consistent with what you expect of your people and can they rely on you to behave in a consistent manner regardless of the problems around you and them? Or are you the Leader that adds to the challenges of change by being inconsistent in your behaviours?

2. Who or what is your Constant now? Do you recognise the Constant in your life and is it the right one?

3. Are you developing the Constant within yourself?

4. Are you helping people develop the Constant within themselves?

The World is going to continue to develop and change and we need to be able to respond to the changes. In fact if we are going to be really effective we need to be part of creating the change instead of always reacting to it!

A good Leader recognises the need to lead the change but also recognises the need to be the Constant to their people that enables their people to deal with change.

The rules are simple:

• Embrace the change before it arrives;

• Take a lead in making the change work for you and your business;

• Be consistent in your values and behaviours so that people know where they stand with you;

• Help people believe in themselves so that they can also embrace change.

Paul Bridle

Leadership Methodologist

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Article Tags: change period, dad, excitement, fool, inevitability, natural progression, nbsp, no doubt, place of refuge, rsquo, twenty years



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