Leon C. Megginson once observed,
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive, but those who can best manage change.”
I have experienced change a few times in my life – more circumstantial than traumatic – but it’s been change nonetheless. There are so many different catalysts for change across all different walks of life, not just at work. Some we have little or no control over, others we proactively seek out.
For the purpose of this blog post, I want to focus on change in your career.
For me personally change in my career seems to happen in cycles and 2018 saw that cycle come around again. I took redundancy in a job I had been in for 10 years and bought into a start-up talent resources business, Sprout.
I also completed my yoga teacher training and started teaching in the West Auckland community. Not ground-breaking change, but certainly some big alterations in my life, which required mental and emotional adaptation too.
Here are a few things I took from the experience and will likely apply to others doing the same.
It’s scary
No matter how big or small the change, there’s the fear of the unknown. It’s confronting and it takes you out of your comfort zone. This was certainly the case for me, but I could also see the scale of the opportunity that came with it and that motivated me.
Change is often growth and if you don’t embrace it, you might not be growing and progressing.
The opportunity to learn
Change brings about opportunity and the biggest one is the opportunity to learn.
You are learning on many different levels. You are learning about yourself – your resilience, your passions, your triggers, your potential. You are learning new skills – working with new people, new cultures, new possibilities. This is why I refer to learning as a growth opportunity.
“The illiterate of the 21st Century are not those who cannot read and write but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn,” said Alvin Toffler.
No regrets
In my line of work I can’t tell you the number of people I meet who are terrified of change – as I said, it’s scary! But once they have adapted to their new circumstances, they often look back with no regrets on their decisions.
This is especially true for me personally – I couldn’t be happier about where I am right now. It can be hard to see it in the moment of change, but give yourself the time to evolve and reflect and you’ll likely realise this too.
Procrastination is not progress
You know you need to change, but you still need to do X, figure out Y and finish research Z. This is known as procrastinating!
I feel this when change is on the horizon. I start to get anxious, to think of all the ways I can delay the inevitable, but I then recognise this as procrastination. And so how do I overcome it? I jump in head-first and get on with it! Eat the frog and don’t delay – the wait is worse than the change itself.
It puts you ahead
At Sprout we support small businesses with growth and that requires a lot of recruitment. One of the key competencies required in almost all jobs we recruit is adaptability. The rate at which the world and business is moving requires you to be adaptable. If you are open and embrace change, adapt and demonstrate this with previous examples then you are one step closer to getting your dream job. Successful growth hinges on how adaptable you are.
So my advice to you. Make your 2019 New Year’s Resolution an openness and acceptance of change. It might be to look for a new job, to learn a new skill or to simply put yourself out there and meet new people. It doesn’t have to be big, but enough to get out of your comfort zone and choose change to grow and survive.
Wishing you all an amazing 2019 full of personal and professional growth.
