Change is Here to Stay by Angela Fieler
There is no doubt there has been a lot of change over the past 18 months. “What used to work just isn’t working anymore. I think it’s because my teams are more broken than ever before.” That’s how a recent executive coaching session started. Change is constant, but it’s not always easy. My grandmother used to say, “Nobody likes change – except most babies with wet diapers!” That’s because change impacts people on an emotional level. Most people associate change with loss – if nothing else, the loss of what you know and are comfortable with.
Look Beyond Your Horizons
That was certainly true of the leader I was coaching. He’d been a leader a long time and had learned some tried and true techniques that have never failed him before. Suddenly, he found himself on uncertain ground. What he was feeling was preventing him from seeing another way. He’s not alone – in this article, How Coaching Can Help You Move from Crisis Management to Crisis Leadership, Magdalena Nowicka Mook discusses the challenges leaders face today and how coaching enables new thinking.
Focus on What You Can Control
In my example, I used a series of thought-provoking questions to help this leader free his mind. Instead of focusing on what wasn’t working and what he couldn’t do, he was able to come up with several ideas that might work. He won’t know how well any of these ideas might work until he tries them, but just knowing he was able to come up with that list has given him the confidence he needs to lead in these uncertain times. This approach takes vulnerability. As Kris Baird pointed out in a recent blog, Leading Through Upheaval: Get Vulnerable, admitting that he doesn’t have all the answers doesn’t show he’s weak. It shows that he is human.
Change is inevitable. What does not change withers and dies. Are you ready, able, and willing to lead through change? If you have found yourself hoping that things will go back to the way they were or waiting for your team to bounce back, it might be time to consider leadership coaching.
Baird Group offers a half-day workshop, Leading Through Change, as well as individual coaching. Contact us for more information info@baird-group.com.
Tags: change, coaching, executive coaching, healthcare, Leadership, leading through change
