Controlling Change

No one LIKES change, in as much as, no one seeks change for change sake. Change, however, is constitutive of growth, integral to our development, and instrumental in the realization of worthy goals and accomplishments.

Change, for change sake, is actively avoided by most people and institutions. It is changes that are thrust upon us, those beyond our control and without our approval that we resist most. We want control. We want to believe that we are steering our own ship of state. We want the illusion that the world is directly influenced by our wishes.

Millions each year discover, to their great dismay, that job change is being forced upon them. Some are given warnings: distant signs that things are not going well with their current employer; rumors of a merger or downsizing; changes in management; the rapid rise of a competitor and a slowing of sales for their company. These people can begin to prepare for job change, though they seldom do.

Others see no warning signs. One day they come in to work and are called into the boss’s  office given two week’s notice or, perhaps, told to clean out their desks and leave immediately – and given an escort by the security department. The ones with no warning are seldom in better shape than those who have ignored the signs of change.

In either case, not that the change has been thrust upon them, the feeling of control is lost. The very first step that needs to be taken is to find those things over which you have control. Your attitude is one of them – believing that you can take charge of this situation is one of the most important factors in having this unanticipated and unwanted change turn into growth and prosperity.

How?

You need to ask yourself these four insightful questions posed by author William Bridges in his book, JobShift:

     “1. What do I really want at this point in my life? (This is your Desire.)

     2. What am I really good at? (These are your Abilities .)

     3. What kind of person am I and in what kinds of situations am I most productive and satisfied? (This is your Temperament.)

     4. What advantages do I happen to have...or what aspects of my life history or life situation could I turn to my own advantage? (These are your Assets.)”

            Let’s examine these four questions in light of your current situation.

            Numerous books have appeared within the past few years posing the question or making the statement about the purpose of one’s life. Often, when unemployment hits, we think only of the immediate, the money and the bills. We think of the threats to our blissfully ignorant status quo. But, looking backwards and asking “if only” seldom generates positive results.

            What do I really want at this point in my life, is an all important question, for three reasons.

      First, it gets us thinking about our values. What do I really want, asks us to establish values and priorities. A lost job, on the scale of job stressors is very high. (Over 300 academic studies on various types of stress indicate that there are five major categories of stress:

• Brief naturalistic stressors: real-world challenges such as academic tests and employment interviews.
• Stressful event sequences: a focal event such as loss of a spouse, loss of a job, or major natural disaster give rise to a series of related challenges that people know at some point will end. The challenge is when no end is in sight.
• Chronic stressors: pervasive demands that force people to restructure their identity or social roles, without any clear end point – such as injury resulting in permanent disability, caring for a spouse with severe dementia, or being a refugee forced from one’s native country by war. Loss of one’s job that results in long-term unemployment, career change, and the development of new skills just to get a job.)

The challenge is to reduce the intensity, severity, and longevity of an out-of-work situation. This begins with discovering your strengths, or, as Bridges calls it, discovering what you’re good at.

Most people focus on skills and education. Few pay attention to their natural talents and strengths. This is a major mistake. Since skills are common among individuals and closely tied with job performance, skills are easy to measure and evaluate. Skills can be refined and improved up to the potential of the individual. Natural talents or strengths, are, for all intents and purposes, are unique and can be uniquely combined for maximum results. They are neither field nor skills dependent. Skills are not necessarily transferable between fields (a lathe operator is not necessarily a good brain surgeon). But, strengths, which are closely tied to natural talents, are thoroughly transportable from job to job and field to field. Focus on strengths.

This brings us to Bridges’ next question about the kind of person you are and the types of situations in which you work best. Let me illustrate this with a story. A client of mine is a qualifying agent for two major fast food franchises. You would think that by his title, Qualifying Agent, that his job is to make sure that people qualify to purchase one of the two biggest money-making franchises in the U.S. economy. The opposite is true. His job is, after a person or couple has qualified in all other respects: financially, technically, morally (they all must not have criminal records) and otherwise, the franchise sends the applicants to my client. He looks for fit. Are they physically able to do the work (should help not show up on time), are they temperamentally able to handle the types of customers, do they enjoy working those hours, etc. In essence his job is to disqualify people who, on paper, qualify for franchise ownership. He assesses them to determine the type of persons that they are and if the situation they are purchasing matches their temperament and attitude.

You might wonder why it is necessary for an agent to do this. Because most people are not willing to take the time and undergo the effort to do it for themselves. Most people are too lazy to be introspective. If you want to find the right work situation, you must do this too. Know the type of person you are and the situations in which you perform best. Look to do these things. Don’t try to be an all-around failure but to be a specific success.

The fourth of Bridges’ questions asks you about the specific advantages you have, about the aspects of your life history and situations that you can take advantage of. Another brief story will give you an idea. One client of mine had been an accountant ever since leaving the military. He had shown steady progress from an accounting clerk to finally becoming the Chief Financial Officer for a mid-size manufacturing company. You would think he would be very happy with his success. His accounting skills, training, and experience would be his number one asset. Wouldn’t you think?

No, they weren’t. They were his major liability. He hated what he did, even though he did it very well. Each company he worked for required “creative accounting” skills from him. His latest boss, without my client’s knowledge, had instructed department heads to post sales that had not been booked and postpone invoices for merchandise received and sold. These steps artificially cooked the books, reporting artificial profits under my client’s signature as CFO.

He went to three career counselors. They all advised the same thing, change jobs but get a corporate accounting position in order to retain earnings level.

When he came to me we began to explore his “off the books” assets. He loved to draw. As a matter of fact, he had developed a series of “back room” cartoons depicting the hypocrisy in the accounting/auditing departments of major corporations. It was done in such a way as to give a good laugh and still did not reveal any particular company or practice. One small newspaper about 50 miles away, allowed him to post his cartoon free each week. This major asset was not even on my client’s books. When I discovered it, we reoriented his skills and experience around this major asset.

He has left his former employer, does the accounting for a number of small businesses, and sells his cartoons to over fifty small newspapers for $10 per week. He’s happy and his banking on his new number one asset, his cartooning ability.

What “off the books” and on the books assets do you have that you can develop into a profit center (or profit centers) for yourself?

The process of change is integral to Creating the Future of Work. Taking control of change in your life requires that you creatively address these four questions in pursuit of the future you desire.