One of our clients was recently appointed as the head of a tough and demanding business. His selection was a surprise as many \u201crules\u201d were broken to give him the position. Our client was excited when he was appointed. He was confident and clear on the changes he planned to make to support the business in stepping into its new strategy. 5 weeks into the new position, he noticed that self-doubt had crept in. In fact, he had pushed his mandate aside and focus was being placed on \u201caligning to the new environment\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
More than ever, his need for self-management was highlighted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The definition of self-management is \u201cthe art of being the<\/strong> best of yourself despite all the complexities you face\u201d (Walter Vandervelde). <\/strong>Yet, when faced with significant changes and the complexities that come with change, the default is to look at the external environment, identify where we aren\u2019t aligning and to try to amend ourselves to \u201cfit in\u201d or \u201cmake it work\u201d. We forget why we were selected for the role in the first place. We also forget that in any situation, change provides us with the opportunity to improve an environment as we bring fresh perspective and insight into the space. When we change ourselves too dramatically to \u201cfit in\u201d, the necessary levelling up and improvement that we were chosen to facilitate is delayed and often lost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So how do we self-manage ourselves when there is incredible pressure from the external environment to conform so the environment (and the people in it) don\u2019t have to change? <\/p>\n\n\n\n The starting point is to remind ourselves of \u201cWHY\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Remembering \u201cwho we are\u201d is critical to self-manage. Especially when the environment is asking us to change so it doesn\u2019t have to<\/em>. How else can we know that we are being the best of ourselves?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once we have reminded ourselves of who we are, we need to highlight the change we are responsible for making.\u00a0 This helps us to prepare ourselves for the resistance.\u00a0 It helps us to anticipate and prepare for the push back and challenge.\u00a0 It also provides us with the opportunity to have empathy and yet confidence that we are moving in the right direction.\u00a0 Even the most healthiest business environments have opportunities for improvement.\u00a0 Even the most change resilient environments will experience resistance.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, it is important to be flexible and curious as we lead towards our expectations. We will also grow and change as we evolve to work within the new environment. Some conflict is to be expected. Remaining confident and true to who we are<\/strong> allows us to DO things differently<\/strong> while remaining true to who we are and what we are leading the team towards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If we find this process difficult as the executives and leaders of businesses, imagine the pressure our middle managers experience when going through the change. As Leaders, be firm, clear and empathetic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In times of significant change, it\u2019s not just our strategies or actions that matter\u2014it\u2019s who we are at our core that carries the most weight. When we lead from a place of authenticity, grounded in our unique strengths and purpose, we offer a powerful example to those around us\u2014especially our middle managers. They look to us not only for direction, but for inspiration on how to navigate complexity without losing themselves. When we consistently show up as the best version of ourselves, we create space for others to do the same. And in doing so, we don\u2019t just manage change\u2014we lead meaningful transformation. Let who you are speak louder than what you do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The definition of self-management is \u201cthe art of being the best of yourself despite all the complexities you face\u201d (Walter Vandervelde). Yet, when faced with significant changes and the complexities that come with change, the default is to look at the external environment, identify where we aren\u2019t aligning and to try to amend ourselves to \u201cfit in\u201d or \u201cmake it work\u201d. <\/p>\n RainTrees latest article talks about “The Power of Self-Management: A Call to Lead from Within”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3667,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[83,139],"class_list":["post-3666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-coaching","tag-power","tag-self-management"],"yoast_head":"\n\n