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Change is Constant; Growth is Optional
By Michelle Beese, MS, NCC, TSA Career Coach
What has changed in your life lately?
Change is with us all the time in all areas of our life, yet we often resist it strongly. Have you ever thought about WHY we resist change? It certainly can disrupt our routine. Change can also be uncomfortable, threatening or even frightening. It's the great UNKNOWN.
You might know you're going to have to start changing shifts at work on a regular basis, but you may not know all of the ramifications of this change until it actually happens. For example, are you going to have child care issues, new commute challenges, or an effect on your budget if your work hours change?
But, can you see any positives associated with changes that have occurred in your work or your personal life? (As a Career Coach, I view these two areas of life interwoven like a tapestry, and they must be looked at as a whole).
Think about the question I started with: What has changed in your life lately? Have you had a series of small, almost insignificant changes, or have you been hit with a huge life-impacting change?
Changes in the economy, for example, have affected all of us, leaving millions of Americans without jobs and many of us grateful to have work during this economic downturn. We may have had to deal with a change in the health status of someone near and dear to us, or perhaps in our own health. Even something positive like getting a promotion can bring about big changes in our life!
By recognizing the changes that are happening in your life, and the positive or negative impacts these changes produce, you'll be better prepared to deal with these changes. How can you prepare for change in advance, and turn change into an opportunity for growth?
I believe there are two major steps to help us deal with change and transform it into an opportunity for growth.
- The first step is to be aware of what is going on in our environment and pay attention to the winds of change. We can go to work on automatic pilot and just get through the day, or we can Stop, Look, and Listen to what is going on around us. Only when we pay attention can we spot the signs of change.
- Once we spot them, the second step is to start planning so we're prepared for these changes when they arrive.
Let's take a look at a recent example within TSA. In January, TSA switched over from QuickHire to Application Manager as the application process for a new position. Any time there's a change it involves a learning curve, and often a certain level of frustration. This change was announced before it went into effect – if you were being aware of what was going on in your environment (the first step), you knew this change was coming.
Once the change was announced, many of you took the second step and called a Career Coach to help you work through the new process, so you'd be prepared to use Application Manager. You still may have experienced a level of frustration and discomfort, but by working with a Career Coach, and calling or emailing the contact resource listed on the vacancy announcement, you were able to master the new process.
As is often the case, you really had no choice – the change to Application Manager happened, and you had to adjust. But did you take the change as an opportunity to grow and learn the new process? If so, most likely the next time you apply for a new position, the process will be much easier.
There's no question that change causes stress, and our own attitude toward stress affects how we react to it. I believe that stress is not a totally negative event – what is important for growth is how we respond to a stressful situation, not just the situation itself.
What if we took a different view and looked at stress as the Spice of Life? Crazy idea? Maybe, and yet we all know that we cannot avoid stress. It's a part of our life – and a certain amount of stress is actually good for our performance, keeping us sharp and on our toes. So, I challenge you to take a new look at the role of change and stress in your life, and choose to make them opportunities for growth!
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