We ALL fear change and that’s OK, says Marty Wilson. I was recently lucky enough to hear Marty speak at Mental Health in the Workplace, part of the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce People in Business series. He gave an inspiring talk on change and the fear that comes along with it. It’s a theme that often comes up in the workplace when you are faced with organisational change or are considering a career change, but what I couldn’t help think is how do we learn to embrace change and see it for the good that it can be?
As if we were linked via telepathy, Marty turned to me (I am sure at this point he was speaking DIRECTLY to me) and provided some answers to the questions I was contemplating.
First he looked at the Oxford Dictionary’s definition of the word life:
The condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change [my bold] preceding death.
Did you see what I saw? Yep, you guessed it. Continual change is a part of Life.
At this point I was thinking to myself, I’m good with change… right? I realised, not only was Marty talking to me (directly to me, again), he was talking about me. Yep, I’m not afraid to put my hand up and say, “My name is Candice and I FEAR change!”
Recognising your fears are part of the solution, Marty gave me a few tips on how to deal with them:
- Life is change
- Trust your instincts
- Be grateful for tough times
- Take more risks
- Make more mistakes
- Lighten-up
Marty followed-up with this gem:
“Imagine if you could choose to become someone who welcomes change and disruption as a normal and exciting part of business and life.” – Marty Wilson
So here’s what am I going to do: I’m going to stop imagining and start changing, change and innovation will now be my middle names. I am going to let go of the past and take a fresh approach, to work and life in general.
If I’m going to tackle the elephant in the room in my workplace, it’s our database. It’s a pretty large elephant, lives in the cloud, has a few wrinkles… I’m sure most offices have a database/system/process/technology elephant lurking about. It’s that shiny new technology that will help us to work smarter, not harder, but often feels like it’s programmed the other way around. So from now on, in my role as Operations Manager, I’m going to focus on what the technology can do for us, not what it can’t do (although a few magic tricks wouldn’t go astray).
Applying #FearLess in a broader sense, I am going to embrace all of the curve balls life throws at me, which are by dictionary definition, part and parcel with change. I am going to fear less about the doing and dive right into change. I’ll make some mistakes along the way, but that’s OK. I started last week by changing my commute from the 75 to the 48 tram. Big mistake, constantly overcrowded, can never get on, changing back today… Yep, I am all about the change now!
What changes are you going to make?
Leaving Darwin to further her corporate career in Melbourne, Candice brings 18 years professional experience and has used this to build a dynamic highly customer focused team. Her high attention to quality and process ensures an excellent experience for clients and candidates. She embraces the fact that notwithstanding the need for skills fit and great attitude on every assignment, ‘culture fit’ is also super important even for short term roles. Candice takes her work seriously but can lighten any stressed moment by channelling her stage diva double and sharing the bizarre headlines of the hilarious NT News.
