Jill Whittington writes about how you can stay ahead or your own curve, overcoming resistance to change and being personally resilient.
How can you ensure YOU are staying ahead of your own curve?
I suggest that staying ahead of the curve in 2021 and beyond will necessitate us all to take personal responsibility for remaining resilient in the face of relentless change.
In her blog ‘How do you know whether your team is “Thriving”?‘, Astrid Davies asks ‘how would you know if your team is thriving?’
In this article, I am asking, ‘how would you know if YOU are thriving, thus staying ahead of your own curve?’
Post COVID ‘new normal’
Much has been written about a post COVID new normal. What however IS ‘new normal’? Dictionary definitions of these two words include:
- New – ‘not existing before; made, introduced, or discovered recently or now for the first time’
- Normal – ‘conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected.
So, are we therefore merely talking about change? If we compare our experience with the amount of truly unprecedented change that our grandparents and great grandparents went through without the resources we have at our disposal, it starts to put things into perspective. It also highlights their amazing resilience and adaptability.
Resistance to Change
I proffer that it is our resistance to change that is at the heart of the issue. The main reasons we resist change are not knowing:
- Clearly WHAT we need to change
- HOW to make that change
- WHY, it is important
Yes, our old friends who, what and why! So, what about the last of the quartet WHEN?
The WHEN is when you choose to change. Whatever the circumstances, whatever the pressures, change will not be effective until you choose to make those changes for yourself. Once that choice is made then the magic can happen.
If any of these elements are unclear then it is highly likely that you will experience frustration, anxiety, and stress about change in general as well as with change programmes at work.
Where do I Start?
As with all change wisdom, knowing your start point is vital.
Astrid referred to The Change Maker Profile. This powerful psychometric tool:
- Highlights how you can play to your natural strengths to maximise your contribution to change
- Increases your self-understanding
- Encourages willingness to change
- Clarifies the value in making changes
- Supports personal development and performance
- Develops your understanding of colleagues.
A reminder of the 5 proclivities of The Change Maker Profile
The Change Maker Profile will provide your start point and go a long way to answering your ‘why?’
I did a quick straw poll amongst my colleagues asking what things potentially cause them frustration, anxiety, and stress with change.
The ‘Implementers’ said:
- ‘People not doing what they say they will do, or not being able to do what I said I will do because of someone else’
- ‘Too much clamour for attention across a broad set of initiatives that risks diluting focus and extending outcome timescales’
The ‘Strategists’ said:
- ‘Clients and colleagues not setting the context and being clear on purpose, before diving into detail’
- ‘I need to know why I am doing something, and the outcome required before otherwise I become anxious’
The Polishers said:
- ‘Sometimes I find I focus too much on a task when it can be released ‘as is’ & be perfectly fine
- ‘I know I cause my colleagues frustration because I struggle with accepting good enough and can slow things down’
The Game Changers said:
- ‘I often struggle to explain how my ideas will work as I can see so clearly that they will!’
- Whilst my enthusiasm for ideas is infectious, I sometimes just don’t know when to stop talking!’
The Playmakers said:
- ‘People launching into the detail – I need the short version first as a reason to listen / read on.’
- ‘People with an un-team like mindset and pressuring me to rush into action without thinking it through first.’
Finally, a summarised response from those who have a totally balanced Change Maker profile:
- ‘I create my own stress. I feel like I can see everything that needs to be done and often take on too much’
Which of the above statements do you resonate with most? What would you add?
Where does your natural energy lie?
At this point I am keen to point out that The Change Maker Profile is not an assessment of your skills, experience or personality. We can all operate in each proclivity very effectively. What it DOES do is highlight where your natural energy and enthusiasm lies for making change happen. This is best described as when you feel totally in your zone, energised and it does not feel like work. How often do you feel like that?
If we operate in one of our lower scoring proclivities, we can feel drained and become demotivated quickly.
So what?
You may be thinking, that’s all very well but so what?
I hope I have described how The Change Maker Profile will help you understand the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ to enable you to identify elements that you may choose to make.
Now for the ‘how’
We are invariably programmed to do things in a certain way. Moreover, if it is coupled with needing to ‘go out of our comfort zone’ or are required to learn to do things differently we can become frustrated, anxious, and stressed thus diminishing our resilience.
This is because our brains are wired and programmed to do things a certain way from a lifetime of developed habits and ways of thinking.
In one of my previous articles ‘Organisational Resilience – The Individual‘ I explain how Mind Chi preprogrammes our brain to support us to remain resilient through change as a general support tool.
In addition to being a highly effective general support tool, Mind Chi can be applied to ANY specific personal change goal that you choose to make.
For business or personal terms, the list of topics is endless:
Mind Chi – 50 strategies
It is a truism that unless we reprogram our brains to change the messages it sends to our mind as to how we think, feel and what we do, making any changes will not be sustainable. The consequence is we can lose heart and give up and be behind the curve.
Two powerful tools working together…
- Your ‘Change Maker Profile’ explains the stress triggers your profile may present you, and how to harness them to flourish
- Mind Chi applied Resilience for Change Programme will support you to reprogram your brain to make the changes you choose, into new habits in just 8-minutes a day.
Together they will help you personally and you as a leader to truly stay ahead of your curve.
Jill will be writing more about Mind Chi applied over the coming weeks.
To reach Jill directly, click here. In the meantime, if any of this has resonated with you as a business leader, manager or individual, let me know via this link book a complimentary strategy chat.
