I was thinking on the topic of change, of which there are many articles, views and books. What got me thinking was the notion of change itself, it’s very easy to say “we don’t like” change, indeed the Chinese curse “may you live in interesting times” is about this. But is this really true?

When a new phone is released, we are quite happy to upgrade or look at it, when we look at new fashion, we want to keep up with the change. In fact entire businesses exist purely because people like change and rapid change at that.

Thinking more deeply, what is it that worries us? It’s the unknown. With a new phone, we know what we are getting. We also know that others will most likely recognise it and appreciate it.

The Unknown

The common advice with the unknown is to keep going and get used to the unknown, learning to deal with uncertainty, yes but how?

One big thing is ownership. Take control of you, of your feelings and the situation, you always can affect yourself. In fact that is usually the only thing you can control.

  • Exercise any worry from your system, I tend to work through what is the real worst case situation, most times it’s not so bad. Worst come to worse…usually is best comes to best. If you don’t know all of the details, ask!
  • Be confident in yourself, you are a one of a kind person, smart and with unique abilities. You’ve made it this far and achieved many great things and many yet to come
  • Just make a decision, you always have a part to play. It may not be right all the time, but just commit and make a decision

What if the change is not clear, or the benefit or risk, let’s look at that, something that I have seen before.

What is the change + What is the benefit or risk + What is my state = Action taken

When the first two don’t exist, all you can do is change your state. This will be enough to manage whatever comes your way.

Change for a Leader

Understanding the change and your state is more pressured for a leader. When I mention leader, this applies to everyone. You could be a people manager, you could be a senior technician, you could be a father. The way you react is noticed by those around you. To coin a phrase. You cast a Leadership Shadow, a shadow that others view and can see how you respond.

So as above, take an approach from the inside, understand your state so that when you are showing up, you help others and not hinder.

So remember some of the traits of The Servant Leader

  • Be Authentic
  • Be visible and transparent
  • Acknowledge everyone going through this and their contributions