Life as we knew it may never quite be the same, but some things will remain. One of those things is the desire to feel capable. Of feeling like whatever comes our way, “we’ve got this”. But this can be especially challenging when going through periods of growth and change.
An organisational restructure, a new role or new business, stepping into leadership, living through the year 2020…
Photo courtesy of Prashant Saini – Unsplash
In times of change, whether good or bad, one thing is certain – there will be growth. Growth and Change are like a pigeon pair – in order to change we need to grow, in order to grow we need to change.
I work with individuals and teams to help them build their success, their way. While everyone defines success differently, every success involves stepping out of your comfort zone, learning new things, adapting to changing situations and environments; and that means, stepping out of your confidence zone and into uncertainty.
We can influence some things within our lives, and some things we cannot. One of the things we do have influence over – is ourselves. How we respond, how we react, how we adapt.
Change is challenging enough when you have welcomed it into your life, let alone when it is a change that you feel has been imposed upon you. My recommendation here is to find a way to choose the change. When you are in a state of denial and are actively resisting the change, you are relinquishing your power. Take back your power, while you may not be able to stop the change, you can influence the extent to which you are impacted and shape the response.
In his book ‘The 7 Habits of highly effective people’, Steven R. Covey shares his concept of Circle of Concern and Circle of Influence. Covey identifies that while we may be concerned about a great many things in our work and life (finances, health, family, national debt, national pandemic’s) there are only a few things that we can actually influence by our response, behaviour or action.
“Change is inevitable in life. You can either resist it and potentially get run over by it, or you can choose to cooperate with it, adapt to it, and learn how to benefit from it. When you embrace change you will begin to see it as an opportunity for growth.” – Jack Canfield
So, we have a choice to make. To improve our ability to respond in any given moment we must focus on what is within our circle of influence so as to function better in our personal and professional lives. Being aware of what we can do is so much more empowering that feeling that we have no control. Do your best to shift your mindset – get support to do this if you need to.
For more on Steven Covey’s model and ideas on how you can develop your Circle of Influence check out this great article from The Mind Fool “Circle of Influence: Unleash Your Power!”.
Growth and Change - A combination for success
Change is not a dirty word
In contrast - to remain personally and professionally relevant and motivated, we need change; and to do this with capability and confidence we need to balance growth with change.
Whether for you or your team, an insufficient or unbalanced investment in this pair can lead to frustration and/or stagnation of individuals and organisations. The risks include loss of personal self-worth, loss of good employees and loss of market share (we all know the Nokia story…)
When balanced, the rewards are people that are motivated and engaged and a business / organisation that thrives. All round, a fulfilling return on your investment.
How are you and your team managing through change?
Do you have your balance right?
I’d love to share my approach with you - to help you build your success, your way. See my posts over the coming days that will unpack each of these elements and private message me if you’d like to receive information about upcoming programs.
I’ll be posting every weekday in August. Follow me to benefit from my Adapt in August series and build your capability for adapting to change.
Keep well,
Vicki
My business is helping you with yours…
If you would like further information or to arrange some support in building this skill please don’t hesitate to contact me. I look forward to helping you build your success your way.
Yours in success,
Vicki
