A Reflection on Dealing with Change

The most significant conflict that I faced brought about some qualities in me that I was unaware that I had. At first, I thought I was in shock from the sudden emergence of the conflict situation, but I later realized that my reaction was a character trait I had developed over time. When the crisis hit suddenly, and with no prior indications of it happening, I received the news in a calm manner. Though inside, my first emotion was anger, but on the outward, I made a quick decision to remain calm. It was more like a fraction of a second kind of decision-making. I would like to develop this quality of remaining calm in the event of a crisis. I would also like to develop the ability not to get angry or emotional immediately when facing a crisis. I learned that remaining calm during a crisis allows those around me not to go into an uncontrollable panic. Do you need urgent assignment help ? Get in touch with us at eminencepapers.com.

When presented with a new experience, my first reaction is to make a three-dimensional analysis in my mind. It is an automatic reaction that does not require me to plan beforehand. I look at the experience from all possible angles before coming up with a conclusion on what the experience is really about, what it comprises, and what the experience is not expressing out rightly.

When I have invested significant time and work on a project, and it fails, I feel extremely disappointed. At times, the disappointment is so great that I become unwilling to try again and talk about it. Sometimes, I make a mental deletion and purposefully and consciously decide never to remember such a failure. What I fear the most after such an experience is retrying the project a second time and failing at it again.

The next time I face a potential loss, I will take the time to write down two lists. The first list will contain all the elements that contributed to the failure of the project. This will act as a reference for any future projects and will be helpful in avoiding repeating the same mistakes. The second list will contain all the things that I did right. For everything that I do right, I will pat myself on the back and reward myself for trying.

When faced with a situation, I tend to focus more on the opportunities that the situation presents rather than the problems that I am likely to encounter due to handling the situation. I tend to focus more on the short-term than the long-term impact and benefits of a situation. I also focus on the purpose more than on the circumstances surrounding the situation. When the situation is personal, such as one involving a relationship, I often find that I have no room for adaptability; I prefer to remain in control. Concerning service and self, I am broad-minded, and therefore, I prefer to involve others whom the situation concerns. I work at serving others rather than seeking self-glory. I am not an active listener, which is an area I plan to improve. I focus more on my expertise, and I find that I do not allow my audience to air their views over a situation.

My biggest challenge in learning from first-time situations is letting go of the past. I like stability and predictability. Having to let go of customs and traditions of doing things to adapt to new ones is an unnerving experience that I often struggle to come to terms with. It also creates a fear of the future because I constantly worry that if I finally adapt to the new challenge, it will change once again, and I will have to go through the change process all over again.

Change Mastery

The areas I need to build awareness are adaptability and fast responsiveness. I need to adapt to circumstances with minimal resistance and complete submission and surrender. Additionally, I need to adapt quickly to the circumstances (Kotter, 2012). To this end, I need to commit to being open-minded, quick to think on my feet, and even quicker to process a situation (with my 3D approach) and make quick and logical decisions. To help make my commitments a reality, I will inculcate new practices in my daily life. The first is to do daily mental exercises using Smartphone applications such as SUDOKU and Mind Tricks (Green, 2009; Stack, 2012). These apps will help me sharpen my outside-the-box thinking as well as increase my capacity to make mental decisions that are precise and fast, all made from an equally fast 3D analysis of a situation. The potential obstacle I am likely to encounter is time. Time to engage in the mental exercises will have to be created during any given day. My daily schedule is often too busy, and carving out time to carry out mental exercises will have to be a deliberate thing done on a daily basis. Another obstacle may be interruptions from external sources. These mind exercises require a lot of concentration, and interrupting my line of thought will definitely disrupt the purpose of the exercise. I intend to do this for two months, after which I will measure my success by timing how long it takes to complete a task via the Smartphone app. The shorter the time it takes to solve an app puzzle, the better the indication is on my progress in processing a situation and executing a solution.

Personal Comfort Level

From this chapter (5), I have learned that I have a good measure of resistance to change. After analyzing a situation and the outcomes from my 3D analysis seem unfavourable, I often hesitate to decide to change. I prefer stability and certainty in my personal life and situations. When anything external or internal threatens the stability of my environment or situation, I become unnerved and defensive of my present circumstances, not wanting to let go and enter into new levels of change. However, if the change promises to bring a better outcome over my current standing in whatever situation, I become more willing to embrace change, but not without a measure of doubt. Where I perceive the loss I will have to bear in embracing the new change, my internal thought system completely shuts off the possibility of embracing change, and it takes very long for me to shift from such a position.

Importance of Leaders to Understand Their Reaction to Change

First impressions are lasting impressions. When a leader outwardly opposes a change in actions and emotions, it sabotages the potential to implement that change (Anderson & Anderson, 2010). This is because employees will often remember their leader’s initial reaction, and this will trigger a similar emotion and subsequent actions from them, which are similar to those of the leader. A leader ought to show no emotion toward a proposed change. The leader also needs to motivate the employees to embrace the change’s potential. When a leader can convey the pros of the change to the employees, then such a leader will have an easier time steering the team to implement the change. In addition, the leader should make employees aware right from the onset of change implementation of their availability at all times to offer assistance to employees in coping with and implementing the change.

Role of A leader in Coaching Others through Change

As a leader, selling what one does not believe in is impossible. In the same way, a leader who does not believe in the change will not be in a position to convince the employees of the necessity of the change (Kotter, 2012; Anderson et al., 2010). A leader must first understand the need for the change, accept the change on a personal level, and adapt to the change. Once a leader achieves this, it becomes easier to sell the vision and purpose of the change to the employees. A transformed leader will confidently pitch the purpose of the change, be well-versed with issues of the change, and offer guidance while answering any queries raised by employees. A well-informed leader on the proposed change’s dynamics is better poised to instill the need for change in employees. When the leader successfully coaches others through change, then the percentage of resistance to the change within an organization is drastically reduced.

How Change Mastery is Applicable to Interviewing

A leader who is resistant to change cannot offer direction to employees who need the change. While interviewing business leaders, it will be critical to assess their ability to adapt and coach employees on change. A leader who gives examples of how and why they accepted and implemented change through adaptability and coaching will offer much-needed information to affirm the leader’s role in change management. Similarly, leaders who have resisted change will also be interviewed to find out the organization’s failures from the leaders’ failure to accept and implement change. In addition, the interview will ask the leaders to describe the style they used to successfully implement the change. This information will add to the knowledge of the effective implementation strategies for change.

References

Anderson, D., & Anderson, L. A. (2010). Beyond change management: How to achieve breakthrough results through conscious change leadership (Vol. 36). John Wiley & Sons.

Green, C. R. (2009). Brainpower Game Plan: Sharpen Your Memory, Improve Your Concentration, and Age-proof Your Mind in Just 4 Weeks. Rodale.

Kotter, J. P. (2012). Leading change. Harvard Business Press.

Stack, L. (2012). Where Did I Put My Keys?: Six Essential Skills for a Stellar Memory. AudioInk.

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