A few years ago, I had the pleasure of attending a Leadership Conference at the lovely Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. While there, I had the opportunity to make a presentation to various education professionals  from nearly all fifty Big I state associations about how to deal with change, especially given the “interesting” times in which we are living. 

While the message at that time was specific to the challenges facing every educational institution, it’s valuable to leaders in any area of business. We are all dealing with the particular challenge of an economy that is unpredictable at best and contracting at worst. All of us are trying to do more with less. Many are challenged by technology that was supposed to make things easier, faster, and cheaper — but instead has made managing our people, files, customers and legal obligations even more difficult at times. More than once I’ve heard my clients say they feel like they are driving the car down the road while it is still being built.  Plus, as the leaders, you have to set an example in the attitude department, so perhaps this article will help you keep up the morale and motivation, internally and externally!

Three words came to mind when first preparing for the topic; hopefully, they will give you pause for consideration. And, because you are the leaders, you may find that this little idea helps you deal with employees who are feeling the same pressures by giving you some fodder for discussion.

ACCEPT

The most difficult part of managing and dealing with change is to simply accept that it must happen. For the educators’ meeting, we talked about the fact that even the best Ivy League schools depend on alumni donations, football tickets and other means of garnering income well beyond the typical tuition. Without these additional sources of revenue, they wouldn’t survive. For those of us in other industries, we find that our territories must grow, product lines must expand, good people must be recruited, longer hours must be worked and much more for the same compensation or less. This is a fact that must be accepted so that we can adapt and adjust.

While acceptance is a simple concept, it is remarkably hard to do, given our human condition. We got where we are quite successfully doing it our “old” way, thank you very much. It’s comfortable, easy and mostly on autopilot. Much has been written on this subject; in fact, some of us already teach, preach or train others on how to do old things in a new way. But actually doing it is still difficult. Brain researchers will tell you that this comes from the deeper, primitive “lizard” brain and has something to do with survival. Psychologists will say it is because we have emotional connections to the things we do and the methods we selected after careful research and long experience. Educators will tell you that adults must connect all new knowledge to some older knowledge that is already lodged in the deep crevices of the learning centers of the brain. Maslow would say we need to self-actualize. Certainly, they are all correct at some level.

I’m less concerned with why we are resistant, and more interested in the actual act of simple acceptance — click your heels three times if you must, but somehow you find a way to decide on acceptance, because the train of life keeps rolling. If you aren’t on it, you get left behind. I can’t resist a reference to the book “Who Moved My Cheese.” It is a quick read with a valid message. And to this point let me add this last thing: it feels great once you do make that decision. There is finally a relief in letting go of the resistance and accepting the inevitable. Once you try it, you’ll see what I mean.

CONTINUE

The second word may seem at first to be in contradiction to the first. You must continue! But, continue what? What I mean is that you can continue with your mission, your work, your passion. What I don’t mean is to keep using your buggy whip when no one drives a buggy anymore. Step one, acceptance, may lead you to accept that your product or service isn’t needed anymore and that you need to find something new to do.

As long as you know that what you are doing is moving into the future, and I’d wager just about everything we do in leadership can make that move, you can press on. In other words, don’t give up! 

This challenge is about moving forward when you can’t see the end yet. Long-range planning experts these days do a lot with a two-year plan and leave the five-year versions to bullet points! We know things go so fast that we will deal in five years with things that aren’t even on the drawing board today, much less invented and in production. Tik Tok is barely four years old, after all, but there are hundreds of millions of subscribers. 

There are days when we feel as though the light at the end of the tunnel must surely be an oncoming train. How did it all start moving so fast? Some sage advice was given to me once that I’m happy to share: just try one new thing at a time. Don’t buy an iPhone or tablet and then sign up for Twitter and Tik Tok on the same day. Some of you will chuckle and say “Who doesn’t already have an iPhone or tablet?” Indeed, some of you have two! 

Plus, some change isn’t about technology. For example, even the idea of a retirement which is years away could stop some folks in their tracks. That type of planning is years in the making, and is a case where resistance to change, and the ensuing lack of action can cause real problems in a person’s future. Continuing to keep the faith for such large issues is a subject for more serious venues. But the fact that you must continue with the mission remains true.

EXPLORE

Once you’ve accepted the change that is coming and found a way to keep moving toward your goal, the fun can really begin. Your inner explorer will come out and help you. Trying new things stimulates different places in your brain, including parts of the pleasure centers. This helps you keep pressing onward. That dopamine and/or endorphin rush can keep you motivated. Why else have extreme sports explored all over the world?

Many great authors have used the quote “Courage is not the absence of fear…” in one way or the other. Explorers need courage. Leaders need courage! We are the explorers of the new century, seeking out new ways to keep our people employed and our businesses open. This is critical territory that we must claim. We must keep searching and stake our claim when we find the new ground.  Our industry and our staff depend on us. Leadership is a frightening burden, to begin with, so we need to call on our most basic survival instincts to push us forward when times get tough.  We’re in good company. Our predecessors, who built this amazing industry, surely felt the same way. We’ve all heard the joke about the grandfather who told his grandkids that he had to walk up hill to school both ways!

Where do we look though for new opportunities? The answer here is the same as it always has been: we speak with others in the field, keep up our education, and do our research. Today, we might do the research online and not the library, or take the class online instead of in a classroom, but the process is the same. We chat with our fellow industry peers by email, text, phone, or Zoom instead of going out to so many meetings. This may not be quite as fun, but it is effective. Regarding meeting face to face: there is a study from a few years ago which indicated that visual, physical contact with other humans causes an increase in creative thought, because all five senses can be engaged. So, just in case they are right about that, you might want to keep going to “real” meetings occasionally to keep your right brain stimulated!

The adrenaline rush of speeding past the fear of the unknown is well documented in each of us. Most of us have had that moment in our own lives, where we felt the joy of being courageous and getting results. So, think of the next phase, the new product, the next technology, or the new workflow as an adventure to begin right now. Enjoy the moment for what it is: another day, another adventure, another chance to change your part of the world. Leaders have that joy every day because we influence so directly the lives of others. If they see that spirit of adventure in action IN you, maybe they’ll just catch it FROM you!