DEALING WITH CHANGE
Change is a part of every person's life. Whether it's changes in the circumstances of your personal life or changes that happen within the workplace, we can all count on change to happen. Often times, we don't get excited about change because we are comfortable with our lives and routines the way they are currently. However, change cannot only be a positive part of our lives, but often a necessary part if we want to see development or growth in ourselves or the organizations in which we are a part.
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Think through the following questions:
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What changes have happened in your life over the last year? Were these changes due to choices you made, or were some out of your control?
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How do you personally react to change? Do you enjoy change or does it make you nervous and do you fight it? What challenges do you face that keep you from accepting change?
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What have been some changes that have happened in your life that were good for you? Were they hard changes to make, but brought about some great results?
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If you know that change is going to happen in your life, then it is important to know how to deal with change when it occurs. Having an action plan for dealing with change will not only help you deal with change, but it will prepare you to use change for your growth and development. Review the 4 steps of dealing with change from the video above. First, you have to come to the realization that change happens. As much as we may like some things to stay the same, recognizing that things may eventually change is a good first step to dealing with change. Once we acknowledge that change happens, then we can anticipate and monitor change. You can watch trends and observe circumstances around you to prepare for upcoming change. Now that we see change coming, we can quickly adapt to change and even be early adopters which can speak into how change takes place. Finally, we can learn to enjoy change and challenge ourselves to see the positive in change and look for the opportunities to develop ourselves through change.
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Think through the following questions:
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What are some business changes you've experienced since working at Chick-fil-A? Were you happy about the changes or were they challenging?
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Did you see the changes coming? Do you think anticipating changes in the business could help you better prepare and adapt to change more quickly?
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In hindsight, what were some of the positives you see from those changes now? How could keeping the positives of change top of mind have helped you better adjust to change and uplifted the attitude of you or the team in the midst of change?
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TAKE ACTION
As a leader at Chick-fil-A, you not only have a responsibility to embrace change, but to also lead your team through change. Your attitude and actions will set the example for how your team reacts to change. If you view change negatively, then your team will respond negatively, however, if you highlight the positives of change, your team will also be more open to changing and help you as you lead them into the future! See if you can use some of the steps outlined below to embrace and lean into change over the next 30 days.
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Recognize Change Happens - Create a list of areas in the business that you could see changing in the near future? Are there changes that you think will happen due to the circumstances of the business? Are there changes you think the business will need to make due to circumstances of the community or guest behaviors?
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Anticipate & Monitor Change - Schedule some time to sit down with a Director in the business to discuss your list of changes as well as ask them what changes they think may happen in the next 30 days. Review trends that you see happening and see if you have any items that you both think could be real possible changes that will or need to happen in the business.
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Adapt to Change Quickly - Prepare yourself for these changes and even become an early adopter of change. Share feedback with the Director team so they know you embrace the change and are wanting to help provide them the most feedback so that you can help lead your team through the change with the least amount of challenges and frustration.
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Enjoy Change - Be proactive in sharing with the team the benefits of the changes that are being made in the business. Point them to a positive future outcome and try to lead with a positive attitude. When you begin to see the positive results of change, be sure to share it and celebrate with the team.
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CHARACTERISTICS OF MASTERY
Understands that change happens and doesn't blindly fight change; monitors surroundings and tracks trends to anticipate change; looks for opportunities to change which could help the business or team develop and grow; quickly adapts to change and provides feedback to help with change management; identifies positive outcomes in change and can cast vision to team of the benefits of change.
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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES​
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"Who Moved my Cheese" by Spencer Johnson
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"Good to Great" by Jim Collins
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