Change is constant. Today change comes at us as consistently as the cab lines in Vegas and is as unpredictable as your cards at the blackjack table. Most people view change like they have just been dealt the two of spades. As if change is in charge and tells us how to deal.
To be the dealer, you must choose to make change happen for you rather than to you.
Change is Perpetual
From a sports agent to keynote speaker, I have learned firsthand the power of shifting, or should I say changing, our mindset around change.
Change was an epidemic for the athletes and coaches I represented and on some of the biggest stages in sports. From call ups, to being sent down to minors. Being hired, to getting fired. Being traded to be released. Getting healthy or getting injured. Winning tournaments and missing cuts. Change is perpetual. If change was a wheel, then my clients were the hamsters.
Learn to Embrace Change
My clients needed to embrace the change – and fast. The clock is always ticking in sports. There is a stack of people above, below, and beside them that want their job, so either change or pack your bags. On top of that, management knows there is a younger, faster, stronger version of him or her in a locker room somewhere ready to go. So if you want to survive, change isn’t a choice in sports. Embracing it is as fundamental as a helmet in football.
Imagine one day you are sitting in an office at Coca-Cola US headquarters in Atlanta and the next day you must report to your new office at Pepsico in New York. Everything about it is different, everything! It is not to say these athletes did not struggle with change, but they put on their poker faces. They knew if they did not want to do it, someone else would. They had to change their mindset, fast.
But we are not all in the big leagues or parked at a poker table. Nevertheless, change does not listen to our edit suggestions. Neverending, perpetual, wanted or not, the best thing you can do for yourself is to embrace it. Denying does not minimize change, but stepping into change can maximize it.
My Personal Experience
Fast forward almost two decades from the front court to backstage, I too, experienced change. As a motivational speaker, ironic enough, one thing that remained constant is the theme of change.
I’ve learned this firsthand.
The Mindset Shift
Before every speech, I have a pre-call with the team that is bringing me to the keynote. These calls allow me to get inside the head and the heart of the people in the room. Understand the behavior change we are driving toward. I have done nearly 1,000 of these pre-calls and surprise! The one common thread through hundreds of athletes and coaches and thousands of companies is that the mindset around change needs to shift.
Change creates chances. We can be the puppet to our fate. Or we can choose to embrace the change and control the strings.
In every pre-call, I ask what the top 10% are doing differently than everyone else, without exception I hear, “they are embracing change.” Be it leaders, salespeople, operators, athletes, or coaches – they ensure change happens for them, not to them. In fact, they ask for it, they welcome it, you know why? Because they get better from it.
Because here is the deal –
- Change is uncomfortable if we tell ourselves it is.
- Change is an opportunity if we tell ourselves it is.
The Power of Possibilities
Change is not a diet. It has no goal line. Change does not wait for confidence, or the green light. It lays the foundation for it. Change is about seeing the unknown as opportunities. Change may be never-ending, but so are the possibilities.
So next time the company announces an acquisition, new systems, processes or sales targets embrace it for what it is, healthy liv’in.
More on Change:
- Get Curious Inside of Change
- Episode 133- Katy Milkman on How to Create Change in Your Life
- Episode 127- General Stan McChrystal on How to Lead Through Change and Uncertainty
- How to Develop Resilience Inside of Change
Molly Fletcher inspires leaders, teams and organizations to up their game. A keynote speaker and author, Molly draws on her decades of experiences working as a sports agent. Molly is the founder of Game Changer Performance Group. Sign up to receive her newsletter, subscribe to the Game Changers with Molly Fletcher podcast, and watch her TED Talk on The Secrets to a Champion Mindset.