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John Slattery, Inspo, is a motivational speaker, MC, trainer, facilitator and coach. His passion is to help people to be the best that they can be through a mix of bespoke motivational talks, 1-1 performance and career coaching, and bespoke developmental training.
Like so many of us John has witnessed and experienced much change over the last year and a half, in particular. With change being the only constant in life we asked John to share his thoughts and top tips for individuals and businesses when it comes to managing change.
Here’s what he had to say…
I woke up last Friday feeling very tired.
The week had been so full.
During the week, I spoke to a person working in a HR role in a medium-sized business. They observed that their staff were exhausted.
I cycled to visit a family member on the Thursday evening. The bracket bust on my bike. Leaving me incapable of nothing more than a slow, awkward, precarious cycling crawl.
I thought, as I snail-paced my way to the closest rescuing Dart Station, that this might be a warning shot to me from the cycling Gods (do such exist?) of the dangers of doing too much too soon.
We are undergoing another period of substantial change just now. The change is at a different pace for us all. Nonetheless, it does involve an increase in pace in life. Work and social.
I like metaphors.
One that comes to mind is of a child looking out the window at torrential rain. Wanting to go out. The abysmal weather preventing them from doing so. For what seems like an eternity (or 18 months). And finally the weather clears. The child gets the all clear to head outside. And they run around endlessly. Eventually grinding to a halt when their energy is spent.
We are in a similar situation. Business is opening up. Offices are opening up. Social avenues are opening up.
From a place of slow, slow, slow, we are quickly heading towards go, go, go.
I offer that the most sustainable mantra to manage this transition is; go, slow, go, slow. A measured way to reawaken and re-emerge into work and everyday life.
How do we that practically?
Here’s some ideas:
For individuals:
Self-Check-in Regularly: Ask ourselves, how am I doing? with regularity. This is unchartered territory for us all. This question allows us to unlock our true current state and to take actions accordingly.
Go Gently: This current journey is a marathon not a sprint. I invite you to, to the extent that you can control this, keep a gentle hold on the reigns of your activity. The more you pace your energy, the more manageable this change will be.
For business:
Support your Staff: This is arguably the most opportune time in the history of your business to invest in support for your staff. They may never (hopefully) again have to manage the transition out of a lockdown scenario. I encourage you to take the opportunity and support staff in whatever way makes sense.
Prioritise People over Commercial Goals: Profits, targets, revenue. Staff typically are the biggest determinant in you hitting those goals. Consider, in the short-term at least, whether putting more focus on people-related goals is a better place for you to have your primary focus. Choosing this approach now may lead to far greater financial profits down the line than the current targets you have set.
This is unique change that we are undergoing.
Go, slow, go, slow.