Change is ALWAYS personal
Grace Judson
Musing on the intersection of leadership, life, and individuality | trainer, speaker, consultant, author | erstwhile fastest knitter in the U.S. | cat enthusiast
Change. It’s always personal.
It can appear to be organizational. Or professional. Or community-related.
But if it’s happening anywhere near you, it’s also personal.
You don’t have to be directly involved in creating the change. You only need to be impacted by it in some way.
Maybe you’re the customer who now has to deal with a different website to place an order or request help.
Maybe you’re the community member who has to reroute their drive around construction.
Or maybe you’re the professional learning a new technology (oh, hai, AI!).
In every one of those cases, and any others you might think of, the change impacts us on a personal level. And of course, if you’re the one working on the change – revising the website, digging up the road, figuring out the AI infrastructure required, and so on – it’s impacting you even more.
On a personal level.
This is what change managers, project managers, community leaders, company leaders, often overlook. They don’t take into consideration that, in general, people don’t like change. People especially don’t like change that’s being pushed on them, shoved into their life without their request or consent.
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“But it’s their job!”
Well, yes, it is. But emotional reactions aren’t logical, and emotional reactions don’t always recognize the imperatives of paying the bills. And when change has been coming at someone without a break for a while (pandemic, climate change, AI, politics – I’ll stop now), it becomes legitimately overwhelming.
And hard.
Action Steps
So, what do you do about it?
Recognize it. And acknowledge that, if you’re leading a change initiative, there’s a personal impact on everyone around you. Including yourself!
Stop “communi-telling” about the change, and start having conversations. Talk to people, one-on-one, and find out what’s most problematic for them. You may learn things – you probably will learn things! – that will help make the change better, or at least make it easier for everyone involved. Because if one person has a concern, others do also.
Stay in touch!
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Helping CEOs and Boards Navigate Uncertainty, Drive Growth & Transform with Data-Driven Strategy & StratNavApp.com | Strategy Consultant | AI & Digital Transformation | Target Operating Models
5 个月Change (including strategy) always creates winners and losers. Even if everyone wins in absolute terms, some will win more than others, and those that win less will feel they are losing in relative terms. In any chance process, people will have their personal agendas (even if they share the group agenda also) which they will feel are satisfied to a greater or lesser extent. It's all a part of human nature, I think.
Executive Team Effectiveness Coach & Advisor | Leadership Coach | Master Facilitator | Talent Enablement Expert | Speaker
5 个月It's always personal, and that's what makes it hard (impossible!) to predict every reaction, as we humans are curious creatures. The most important thing we can do is remember that it's always personal and, to your point, start having conversations.
Tech Product, CMO (available) | Serial CEO, Founder | Ally of women in tech | Hilarious
5 个月Yes. Companies and organisations are made of people, so change happens in people ultimately, and each person changes on its own way.
The Service Culture Guide | Keynote Speaker
5 个月??% that people don't like change that's pushed on them. The best thing you can do is invite people to be part of the change that will affect them. People respond so much better to agency.
For funded start-ups to mid-sized company executives, I quickly turn stalled or declining revenue into steady, profitable growth.
5 个月I appreciate your point that reactions to change don't always follow logic. I've seen people resist in situations that were quite dire, and they knew it. Leading through change is absolutely necessary in order for companies to gain the intended benefits.