Embracing change is a #mindset. As the founder of Deemah Bader Consulting & Mentorship, here's my perspective:
Many of you have heard the saying that “change is the only constant.” Whether it comes via a top-down mandate in your organization or life inevitably forces it upon you, most of us fear it, resist it, don’t make time for it, nor have the tools to navigate it.
Fifteen years ago, I made the realization that change is the only way to grow, and #growth is what drives me to live a purposeful life. I inherited #change as a #personal #value, and I have stood by it ever since. To me, this means, I’ll embrace it when it comes unexpectedly, and I will search for it when I know I need to evolve.
My 7 principles:
I built #faith, first and foremost, and that I can overcome any challenge, I mean, ANY
I practiced #flexibility by allowing myself to adjust and adapt to new circumstances
I built #resilience by watching myself proactively recover from setbacks time and time again
I developed a #curiosity and openness to learning as I know knowledge is unlimited
I strengthened my problem-solving skills to be able to approach challenges more efficiently
I practiced self and emotional #awareness to manage my and other’s emotions during difficult change
I strengthened my #communication skills to understand and articulate change more clearly
A #McKinsey study cited that ~70% of change programs fail to achieve their #goals, which is often attributed to #employee resistance, and lack of management support. I can attest to this being the number one challenge I faced in my career as a change management leader.
Some of the key questions I ask myself when developing change management #strategies are – what change does the #stakeholder need to be prepared for? How will they feel about this change? What #communication, #training or #collateral is required to support this change? What’s the most challenging thing they’ll need to adapt to? Are they ready for it? Is leadership bought in and aligned? What will it take to ensure the solution is adopted in the long run?
I began to realize that starting from this vantage point is not enough and that we have to delve deeper and ask questions much earlier on in the #business process. We need to start by turning those questions around to look inwards, at our own teams, our processes and how we build our solutions. I began to ask myself, does my team value change in the same way as I do? Do our processes have formal control points that consider the impact of this new solution on the stakeholder? Do we prioritize building solutions that stakeholders are aligned with and are ready for?
Our own teams need to understand the value of change as a mindset and understand change management at an intimate level to increase our chances of successfully delivering solutions to our stakeholders.
As the saying goes, you can’t help someone before you help yourself. We must start at home.
Cheers,
Deemah Bader
Founder, Deemah Bader Consulting & Mentorship
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