Greetings Readers & Friends,
This week's post is based on an overall assessment that I have come to find in my life's journey to be a true characteristic flaw in human beings. I am guilty of it, and so are many others. I cite it as a flaw because it keeps us in one place. It's a complacency tactic that stuns our growth and our reach to our full potential as people. Thus, it closely mimics the body's immune system that goes into defense mode to fight against infections and other harmful invaders. The observation that I am referring to is the human "hard-nose" resistance to CHANGE.
As we all know and technically accept, change is inevitable. It's going to happen and happen consistently. So why do we fight it so much and so hard? Is it fear, fear of failure, or is it the unknown, or is it the fear of the unknown? The guess is yours to make. I work in the field of higher education where growth and change is an ingrained necessity to produce a quality societal workforce that in turns drives the quality of human life. To build, feed, and inform the ideologies of curious and inquisitive minds on an consistent basis takes a great deal of change and a great deal of confidence. However, what most don't realize is that the coaches need coaches (i.e., higher ed. faculty and staff need guidance and support) in order to continue the level of motivation, uplift, and inspiration that is needed to nurture growth and change within individuals who exercise the tenants of growth and change in academia.
That brings us to the psychological acceptance of change. This is where the observed challenge for us all exists. The lack thereof is our Achilles heel and will be the downfall of our very Existence, our Relevancy, and our Ability to compete in a world that is Competitive......ironically in growth and change. As most favored Orator, British Prime Minster Winston Churchill, once said " a person who doesn't change their mind, doesn't change anything." The Prime Minster's position on change and doing things differently led Britain to victory in the Second World War. Although pressed with major opposition (i.e., resistance to change), it was the persuasive and borderline hypnotizing measures of trust and risk that was received through his passionate and soul-activating orator skills that enabled the Prime Minster to inspire hundreds of thousands of men to believe in themselves and their ability to successfully defeat Germany; a belief that enabled the men to take a chance on his alternative position to military tactics needed to overcome Germany and re-secure liberal democracy in Europe.
So why do we not hold each other accountable for the change that needs to occur? Why don't we coach each other or push each other across the line when we begin to see others plant their feet in the weeds; plant their feet in the garden of inertia? Some do it to avoid conflict. And some do it for the need to be liked. However, is the need to be liked more important than the health of our economy and the quality of life? Ask yourself these questions. You see, I am a big picture person and a visionary thinker. Every single decision that we make and every single action that we take...known as the "small scale," impacts the "big picture" (i.e., the outcome and state of our lives as human beings). If you really truly think about it. If you can position yourself in a quiet space to wherein which you can only hear the loudest of your thoughts, you will understand, hear, and visualize the significance of change that we are conditioned to accept and function with without any resistance; simply because it is a collective conditioning that is common place, expected, and change that we have no control over. There is change in the seasons, in the months of the year, in the days of the week, in the time of day, in the practice of daylight, in family and structure, in age, in skills, in experience, and in people. It's apparent that we openly adjust with change in the way that we do things from a societal standpoint; from a standpoint of civilization. And history has shown us that it does us some good. In realizing this fact, we have to condition the defense mode that kicks in when change is presented to us on a personal more smaller scale, to first analyze the benefits of the noted change and how it can impact the "big picture"...and make a sound decision from there. That is the point of all of this; thinking beyond ourselves with ourselves. It sounds crazy, but it's true....think about it.
In order to effectively advance our economy and expand our quality of life, we have to hold each other accountable to change and its necessity. What I mean by this is quit simple. If you are in a meeting and you hear and see your co-workers resisting or attempting to resist to the need to change in order to enhance communication and streamline processes (e.g., establish monthly department meetings as opposed to quarterly or the implementation of a new finance system and performance accountability software), directly engage them with sincerity on their position to resistance to scan for logic and widespread benefit....to see if it is there. Most of the time with resistance to change there is no logic because it's personal and has nothing to do with the topic at hand. But our personal ...our survival mode....can stop and stall progress, which should not be. The scan may cause you to have to dig deeper in understanding so that you too can inform and feed your co-workers to realize the faults in their thinking and its counter intuitiveness towards the industry/ company's bottom line. In the end, we are all agents of change and gatekeepers of productivity. And we should all hold each other accountable to the constant of our universe; change. So as you move through your everyday lives (whether personally or professionally) try maintaining an awareness and accountability for change. Be the Shepard, be the Lighthouse, be the Beacon, be the Voice of Reason when you begin to see the inverted fold or hear the unsound response to change that in the end can only make us better as a people, as a world, and as an existence.
Don't be afraid of the opposition that will definitely come with change and the acceptance of it. Don't be afraid to not be liked. As noted from the words of Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In publication, "If everyone likes you then there is something that you are doing wrong. And if you have a desire to be liked, you are holding yourself back." You are holding the world back! Forward thinking and advancement are the blessings of our world. Now it's our job to show appreciation and continue the work with Change as the north star. I challenge us all!
Onward,
VirginiaSlim
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