Gliding Through Change Gracefully

Awakened Leadership:

Gliding Through Change Gracefully

People have been talking about the necessity of ‘managing change’ in companies for decades. Change has become a company constant, which is why many consulting companies focus exclusively on helping companies ‘manage’ change.

The Awakened Leadership approach to change is based on a fundamental understanding of the human experience, which allows leaders to embrace and even enjoy change, rather than manage it. This results in a streamlined approach to change. If you’re not managing change, you can focus your energies on bringing quality thinking to the table and helping your company embrace change with optimism, creativity and ease.

I met recently with Doug Millliken, VP of Global Brand Development at the Clorox Company. Doug has been learning about Awakened Leadership for several years now, and brought several of these trainings to his company. I asked Doug how things were going. “Really well,” he said. “The company is going through a period of major change. I’m spearheading two programs that are completely re-structuring not only how we work, but how we think about work. It’s huge!”

I asked Doug how he was doing with all that. “It’s really different,” he said. “Before learning this, leading change projects on this scale would have had me overwhelmed, and freaked out. All the work that goes into it, plus feeling like I had to manage everyone elses’ reactions to these changes, would have resulted in a lot of stress. But that’s not happening! I’m actually having a lot of fun with it. Instead of experiencing stress, my mind is focused on getting new insights, and learning and progressing day by day. All the change is happening more naturally by having clearer thoughts, more enthusiasm and better conviction. Every day I come to work thinking, ‘oh boy! This is going to be great! This will be a lot of fun!’”

“What made the difference?” I asked Doug. “Understanding the role that thought plays in my experience,” he said. “I just keep looking to the inside, and remember where it’s all coming from. I stay grounded in understanding that my thoughts in the moment are just thoughts, that they don’t define who I am at the core, and that I should use my thoughts to progress our work, but not grind away on them. All that unnecessary thought that would normally take up a lot of mind share and create stress just evaporates. Then I’m back feeling enthusiastic, getting great ideas, and looking forward to the work ahead of me.”

Understanding the role that thought plays in our experience can make the difference between approaching change with stress – and then managing the stress that you and others experience – and gliding through change gracefully. It makes all the difference to the success of your company.