Change is the Common Denominator

Change is the best.

Change is the worst.

It’s like eating a Sour Patch Kid. It’s sweet and sour and you love it because it’s fruity and you dislike it because it tingles your salivary glands.

But change is the only constant, right?

Moving to Orlando I faced a lot of change – a new job with new coworkers, industry and culture. I must choose new healthcare practitioners – a new primary care doctor, pediatrician and begrudgedly, a new dentist.

I can roll with all these punches but the biggest change I found? Finding a new hair stylist.

Sure, hair grows back. But there’s something sacred about the stylist’s chair. Having a vision or an ask and trusting them to work their magic to make it a reality. It’s nerve-wracking when you have no history with the professional holding the scissors!

I itched for a cut recently and I finally took the leap, researching a salon on my own, making an immediate appointment, and getting a shorter do.

As I sipped on red wine at my new salon, my hair loaded up with conditioner while my new stylist finished with another client, I thought about the similarities between getting a haircut and moving your career forward.

Know when to change

I know I need to see my stylist when I live everyday with my hair in a tie or clip. When I go weeks without breaking out the flat iron. I get stuck in a hair rut, and the only thing that can cure it is a new cut or updated color.

Same thing at work. Do you know the signs of restlessness? You can’t concentrate. You aren’t feeling passionate about finding new ways to do things. You feel frustrated or passionless about your work, and maybe you’re not as optimistic. Maybe your performance suffers.

Be honest with yourself. Are you having a bad day, or do you need change in your career? Self-awareness at work goes deeper than just being able to see your areas of strength and opportunity. It’s about knowing when it’s time to move into a new role, or a new company. It’s about speaking up to your leader for a new challenge if you feel you need something more.

I practice self-awareness to a fault; I’m always asking myself questions about my behaviors and skills – How could I do this better? How could I have approached a situation differently? What is the lesson learned in both failures and successes?

Whether we embrace it or not, change is inside of us as much as it’s around us. It’s up to us to harness it and use it to our own advantage.

Research the change

When looking for a new salon and stylist, Instagram makes it easy. A lot of salons use Instagram to post the before and after work of their professionals as well as the services they offer, tagging the stylists or estheticians in a caption. See something that catches your attention? Click on the tagged stylist, look at their Instagram profile – which is basically a portfolio of their work – then call the salon and book the appointment.

Setting yourself up for change in career or job can be as simple as setting up an ongoing job search.

Many, many years ago, when I made the decision to shift my career from reporter/editor into corporate communications, I spent more than a year just reading job descriptions to fully understand what I wanted to do. What did companies look for? What interested me in those descriptions? By the time I applied for the job I secured, I had fine-tuned my search based on the skills I wanted to learn, improve and strengthen. I also knew patterns of which companies seemed to be hiring and growing, and which companies seemed to experience a lot of attrition.

Set up searches on job sites like Indeed.com. You can have results emailed to you. Even when you’re NOT looking for a new job, set up that search. Look at those jobs. Utilize LinkedIn, too. Follow companies you’re interested in. If you don’t want to leave your company, make a point to review your company’s career postings to see what’s available to you.

Whether inside your organization or outside, it’s good for you to understand the changing needs of organizations in your chosen field. For example – as time has marched on, social media and multi-media experience has become paramount in corporate communications. Jobs – and descriptions – have evolved over the years to reflect that.

Research change even before you anticipate it, and make it happen!

BE the change

I understand what it must’ve been like to be the stylist holding the scissors to my hair – and that side of it is just as nerve-wracking! You want to do right by your new client. You want to be the professional that the client relies on and trusts to deliver what you want – and more!

Still relatively new to Lockheed Martin, when I walk into a meeting, or take on a new task such as strategic communications planning for next year – I have an opportunity to be the change.

I must build relationships and build trust. Every day, I try to establish myself as a trusted advisor to the executives and teams I support and manage. I try to meet the deadlines that are set for me or that I set for myself. I try to stay true to my word and be available, engaged, open and honest.

I also have an opportunity to provide new ways of thinking, leading and executing – outside hires know that they’re expected to bring fresh thinking to an organization. Being the change is part of why you’re hired. It doesn’t mean anything is wrong or broken, it just means there are different ways of doing the same thing.

Just like my stylist listened to my request for a simple, shorter hair do and executed it, I listen to my business partners and understand their goals. I whip out my “scissors” and I carve out a strategy or idea that will make them happy customers, drive toward their success, and give me the opportunity to bring my fresh perspective to the table. I want them to feel the equivalent of when I look in the mirror as I leave the salon, and I feel like a million bucks.

So, you see, change is not just the only constant, it’s the common denominator. Let it be motivating.

Also – personally? I love eating Sour Patch Kids. The sweet fruity flavor outweighs the tingly sour flavor. What about you?