Welcome to my first blog! I have a few topics lined up for the coming months, so please feel free to sign up and see new content as I develop them. However, this first topic seemed the most obvious given my recent career change, and I thought it would be a good time to reflect on the drivers for this.
Why Change?
For each of us this will be different, and making any change made for the right reasons needs some careful thought and planning. I have worked in industry in a wide range of roles for over 20 years and have recently taken the step to go independent for the first time. Reflecting back, this is actually the first time I haven’t worked for someone else at least part time since being at 6th form college over 25 years ago, so taking the decision wasn’t easy after working so hard to get up to an executive level in a great business I was proud to be a part of for over 8 years.
As with so many decisions it’s easy to procrastinate. It’s easy and comfortable to do what we know, even if we don’t enjoy it as much as we once did or can see something we’d rather do. It’s easy to wait for a sign, not make a decision, rationalise, tell yourself the grass isn’t necessarily greener, or try to convince yourself not to make a change for the wrong reasons.
Conversely it can be easy to change for the wrong reasons. In the past I changed roles to move on from something I really didn’t enjoy, and to get away from that commute I hated. The reasons for moving were valid, but I rushed to make a move that, with hindsight, was possibly a backward step (although fortunately it led to my best ever career move a year later!). To run from something holds a certain appeal when you’re tired, frustrated or stuck in the weeds, or even when things are going well but you’ve lost that passion and drive. It’s important to understand the real reasons you’re thinking it’s time for change. While all these negative issues are probably all valid, and may in themselves be real reasons for change, it’s at these times where clarity of vision and purpose is so important. Is the change really going to bring you closer to where you want to be? However, it’s often at these times when long term goals can be so challenging to think about. I also recognise I'm lucky enough to have a long term vision and that not everyone knows what they want to do, just that what they are doing isn't quite right. In these situations it might be more about considering and actioning the changes you can make. Not all change needs to be dramatic, and small cumulative changes can still make a big difference.
The reality is that we spend most of our time justifying the decisions we’ve already made, and although it probably took me a few months of self reflection and wrestling with it, the truth is I made this decision years ago. The dilemma I struggled with was did I really walk away from the most senior role I’ve had and relative financial security for something that might not work out?
I am now excited, and scared, to be able to do something I am truly passionate about. I believe it’s largely the risks we don’t take that we regret the most, and if this doesn’t pay off at least I’ll have tried. Ultimately I had the vision back at school that I wanted to make a big difference, working for myself to help other people realise their potential, and despite the draw of a good job, relative safety and a good salary, the time had come for me to make a change.
Creating the Environment for Change
I’ve looked at a number of theories around change, but few which I found applied directly in my case. Emotions and anxieties are often cited for both reasons to make a change, and reasons not to. It’s true we can get caught up in our feelings and do things for supposedly negative reasons, so I was careful to take some time to confirm my initial instincts that the time was right for me personally. It also took some pushing and support from my incredible wife as I wrestled with the decision I knew I wanted to make. Let’s be honest, change can be a risk, and I was in a fortunate position with a good job working with people I cared about.
When I thought it through, my fear was holding me back. I needed to work through what was stopping me. I needed to have a plan to deal with the fears that were real, and a way to work through those which were purely in my head. When I broke it down more logically it came down to a few main issues:
I had financial security for the first time in my life, did I really want to risk losing that?
I was in a senior role and had worked my whole career to get there.
I was letting the company down.
I was passionate about my teams and colleagues and loved working with them.
I might fail. The work might not come in, and I might have to start again back at square one.
When I was able to reflect I realised that my decision wasn’t to walk away from something, but to walk toward something I really wanted. Some of the fears were real, but the fear of not taking the risk and never trying to do what I wanted scared me more. Despite some of the entertaining rumours doing the rounds, my move from full time employment wasn’t a knee jerk reaction or me running away but was always part of the plan.
I had a plan and I knew what was holding me back, and then created a sense of urgency in my mind by agreeing with my wife a date when I wanted to move by. At this point I have to say that having a great support network (as much as I dislike the term) is invaluable when reviewing decisions. I have a supportive wife, family and friends who are prepared to challenge me, but were also happy to listen, support and coach me through the decision and the transition once I said the time had come. Whether it’s personal or organisational change, communicating well and having people come on the journey with you make it so much easier.
Why now?
I don’t tend to get stuck in the weeds, but I think at times we can get stuck in a routine. It’s comfortable, even if not as enjoyable as it might have been. We’re valued, wanted and relied upon and good at it.
In my case we had gone through constant and largely positive change over several years, and generally it felt like we were moving forward, but I wasn’t enjoying it any more. I had taken on a very senior role having learned from a past mistake to take on the opportunities when they came along, and it did align with my vision to make an even bigger difference. However, the changes were procedural and governance related, and while hugely beneficial and important they didn’t inspire or motivate me. This is in no way a criticism, the changes were needed, but I felt like I was further removed from the team and people. Fortunately I had been pushing for some senior leadership team development programmes, and gladly took the opportunity to introduce an away day when it came along. The session was focussed on personal development, and getting up in front of the team that morning was a timely reminder of what excited me and what I wanted to do. The passion was reignited and from that point onwards it was always going to be a case of when I moved on rather than if.
Whatever reasons we have to put something off, when we start to tackle them we create momentum and understanding. It may well be that one of the reasons blocking you genuinely does need a plan to overcome it, but if you have a plan you know what you need to do to get there. If you can’t overcome it right now, it might not be the right time, and that might even be ok. However, by talking it through, understanding where you want to be and the steps you need to get you there, you can create positive action instead of reasons why not. It’s amazing how many blockers we can put in our way.
I refer on my website to one of the first leadership programmes I helped to run with Starfish Group. I was 29 and only just starting out in management, and although most of the delegates on the course were accepting of me, there was a relatively junior manager probably a year or two older than me who gave me some brutally honest feedback about my credibility, largely down to my age and experience. I knew the theory and I was good with people, but he was right that I didn’t have the first hand war stories to be able to draw upon, and as a result I didn’t own the room and was probably slightly apologetic for being there. As a leader it’s so important to be authentic, and I wasn’t a leader at the time, though in reality that didn’t stop me from being able to effectively run the programme!
So why now? I now have 15 years more experience and more war stories than I know what to do with. I have the confidence of leading over 1000 people in various roles, forming relationships with clients in a myriad of different situations, and improving performance in every role I’ve taken on. More importantly though, I have the strength of vision, passion and commitment to be able to take the next step on the journey, and I’m ready to take on the challenge.
All of this has created the environment for me to pursue my dream. I have reached a stage in life where I’m further up Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and need to do something that really motivates me, although it’s amazing how quickly the worry comes in around safety and security when taking the plunge! If it doesn’t work out, I can start again, but at least I’ll have tried.
Why This?
I’ve talked about my desire to work for myself, but why this? That one is easier to answer. I want to make a bigger difference. I’ve loved being able to implement cultural, system and governance changes in every role I’ve taken on, and fortunate enough to work with some amazing colleagues, but I want to have a bigger influence. If I can support more leaders and teams in their development, the cumulative effect will spread even wider, and the most rewarding part of my job has always been seeing people and teams progressing. Simply put, motivating others motivates me!
I’ve seen a lot of examples of top down leadership, not unlocking potential or rewarding effort as we move on to the next target and goal. These goals are often arbitrary, short term and dictated by a number or a date plucked out of thin air. It doesn’t create buy in, motivation or loyalty, and I see more and more people working ridiculous hours to hit a deadline that means very little in the scheme of things. More importantly I worry about the impact on people’s mental health, and in the modern world see more and more people never really switching off, even when on their hard earned vacation time. This isn’t company specific, and although employee welfare is often espoused, I wonder if it is really supported when push comes to shove. I hope so. Either way I believe if we create the right support for people and teams, we can help them overcome whatever obstacles are in their way, or the right tools to consider their own need for change.
I’ve also been on a lot of development courses. Most have been fine, but quickly forgotten. The biggest benefit I’ve tended to have from them has been based on creating the time to reflect more than the learning from the course or programme itself. Of course I’m bound to say that the programmes I’ll be leading are different, but I’m excited to be doing something I consider to be action oriented and practical, as well as challenging. I want to do something, whether via coaching or on a team or leadership programme, which helps to create the environment and momentum for change. I want people to understand and overcome their real issues.
So when is the right time for change?
Do we really understand what drives us, and are we running from something or to something? Does it even matter?
Ultimately each of us will have our own drivers, fears, values and visions. For some of us our visions might not always be grand and might not always be clear, and our own circumstances will determine what we can do and when. However, if you can create the environment for change, and (as my dad would say) keep the vision of the Cathedral while mixing the cement, we have a much better chance of achieving the end result we are looking for. In my case the road has been winding, with a few deviations on the way, but I'd like to thank all the people who helped me get this far. I hope your own journeys don't have too many detours and speed bumps, but when they inevitably come along try and learn from them and remember where you're heading!
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