210: Getting Comfortable with Navigating Change
Looking at what exists from a different perspective.
“When I explored my thinking on change, I realized that curiosity was a pillar for someone who is a change seeker or a change maker.”
My guest in this episode is Leanne Gordon, the principal of Leanne Gordon, a firm dedicated to helping individuals navigate what overwhelms them in the realm of change, their personal or their organization’s false starts in change initiatives, and the inevitable resistance to change they’ll encounter leading change.
Speaking of change, I’ve spent a great deal of time in my professional career helping individuals and organizations bring about effective change—changes that contribute to achieving desired results. I’ve led innovation efforts in businesses and schools. So, when I ran across Leanne’s profile as a change facilitator, I knew we had to talk.
As you’ll hear in our conversation, when it comes to facilitating change, Leanne avoids formulas and putting companies and leaders in pre-determined boxes. individuals and organizations are unique. Her brilliance in leading change efforts is her willingness to go slow to help clients uncover their real problems, and her attempts to balance most companies' short-term thinking with her encouragement to focus on their long-term health.
That said, she believes that many ineffective change leaders often share a characteristic: the failure to appreciate the human side of the change equation. Instead, they tend to focus on the mechanics of change. Focus only there, she warns, and the change effort is surely doomed.
“I don't need the people that I'm working with to be perfect, to be fabulous, or to be successful in whatever terms you want to use. I don't need them to be held up as great leaders. They simply need to authentically believe that people are the heart of organizations.”
Referenced
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Show Credits
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And speaking of being comfortable with change, there is this gem
We all have a story or stories inside of us. We actually do know where we want and need to go next in life. Sometimes we just need a little (a lot?) help clearing away the brambles and bushes to get at our truth. Check out Sarah Elkins’ Discovering Clarity course.
