Is your organization in a constant state of change? Acquisitions, reductions in workforce, leadership changes, strategy changes, office moves, technology upgrades and reorganizations are just some of the ways your work can be disrupted. When it happens, it’s easy to find yourself frustrated as work starts to pile up and you spend more time fighting fires so people can do their work than you do feeling like you are adding value in order to move the business forward. It’s a different game than many of us leaders were trained for, so no wonder people end up burnt out, exhausted or ready to throw in the towel for good.
If you can relate, I have 3 easy steps that I want you to start taking today, in order to calm your mind around disruption.
First, when you find your energy low and the emotions running high, stop and take 3 deep breaths. When change happens at work, our brain immediately goes into fight or flight. It really doesn’t know the difference between change and getting chased by a tiger, but this is not a life or death situation. It is simply change that may come with uncertainty, messiness and discomfort. So every time your brain starts to panic, come back to these three deep breaths and remind your brain that you are safe and nothing has gone wrong. You are right where you need to be.
Second, it’s likely you have many thoughts about what this will mean for you. You will be miserable at work. You might lose your job. You will never be able to execute a process smoothly again with new software. You might get a new boss who is terrible. The company you are acquiring has a terrible culture and now you have to live in it. All of these have very little truth. Unless you are a fortune teller, no one really knows what the future will actually bring. We only have the ability to create stories about it that may impact how we navigate the situation. So the best thing you can do is identify the difference between the actual facts and the stories that your brain creates so you can make a conscious decision about what you want to believe and what you don’t.
The final step is to move forward from a clear-headed space. When I talk about this in coaching, my clients typically ask “What does that even look like?” So let’s start with what it feels like instead. I know that you understand what overwhelm, frustration, fear and irritation feel like. It’s not that! Those emotions will block your best work. Instead, being clear-headed feels more peaceful and free. My clients say that they feel confident, creative, focused and wise in this space. They are open to life’s challenges, while holding onto a strong knowing that they can navigate whatever comes their way and even when they make mistakes, they will continue to support themselves through it. This state of being is similar to what athletes call their “flow state”, where they are fully immersed and present in what they are doing and not hijacked with negative thoughts about the past or future.
The more moments you create in this flow state, the more energy and wisdom you have to navigate disruption. Coaching is just one way to build your mental fitness so you can achieve this. Think of coaching as your personal trainer. You get one for the gym, why not for work?