In her May 24 “Your Best Next Move” video, Bobbie LaPorte shares how to approach the unexpected and embrace change with confidence at work to respond quickly. Don’t lead with frustration or resignation—lead with a possibility mindset to build confidence and momentum.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT OF “YOUR BEST NEXT MOVE: EMBRACE CHANGE WITH CONFIDENCE”
Hi, everyone. Bobbie LaPorte here again with my weekly tips for “Your Best Next Move,” where I help you have more agency in your work, acknowledge your capacity to act, and see what you can do right now.
Over the last few months, I’ve been sharing tips with you about how to use a possibilities mindset to find Your Best Next Move. And the more you intentionally approach how you respond to unexpected situations this way, the faster you’ll shorten your response time until it begins to feel more natural.
This week, I want to share an example of this from my upcoming book on this subject, which will be published later this summer. So, here’s a scenario to consider: Your company announced a major reorganization that was unexpected and significantly impacts your team. Your first reaction is one of frustration and fatigue to yet another change. You also feel unsure about what, if anything, you can do to prepare your team for how this may affect them. And like many of your peers, you simply feel resigned to whatever happens next, waiting to see how the whole scenario plays out.
As a result, you and your team end up on the defense, reacting to the change, feeling powerless and unempowered. So sensing a lack of engagement and productivity from your team, you recognize that you need some response. So you address the most obvious organizational changes that are needed, and you do your best to rally your team to get on board with the new direction. With these moves, you feel at least a small sense of control and agency, but the hits keep on coming.
As a result of the reorganization, your boss leaves, and you find yourself reporting to someone who was previously your peer. This is really a blow! You had a great relationship with your boss and were hoping she would provide the support and guidance that you need to navigate the new organization. So now what?
Well, you could dig in your heels and feel sorry for yourself and hope that the new boss just leaves you alone. But at the same time, you realize that this situation is here to stay, at least for a while. So you opt for a response that takes advantage of this opportunity to showcase what your team has accomplished and to start a positive, generative relationship with your new boss. With these moves, you begin to see possibilities and use your personal agency to make a more optimal move. This is what progress looks like as you practice finding Your Best Next Move.
So here’s my tip:
When these unexpected situations seem to follow one after another, you can’t afford to ignore them or to respond in ways you’ve done in the past. Try to think about using each of these situations as a lab, as a way to try new things, and to become comfortable acting without knowing what the end result will be. This is how confidence is built and progress is made in uncertain times.
I want 2021 to be a year of momentum for you…one of possibility thinking, where you take advantage of the agency we sometimes forget we have.
That’s my tip for the week. Enjoy the Memorial Day holiday weekend, right? Finally, our official start of summer! And hopefully, everybody can get out and be with family and friends. So I’ll see you next week, take care of yourself.