NavigatingNavigatingThe Tides of ChangeThe Tides of Change

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The one thing you can’t prevent inbusiness or life is change. Whethersudden, slow or somewhere in

between, change is going to occur nomatter what you try and do to avoid it.But what exactly makes change so chal-lenging for many people to embrace?And why is it more common to per-ceive change as stubbornly inevitable asopposed to gloriously reliable?

For starters, change can just bedownright hard, says Brenda Norman,whose Lebanon, Mo.-based store,Norman’s Bridal Shoppe, wasdestroyed by fire in 1987.

“Right after the fire (my husband andI) just didn’t know what was going tohappen,” she says. “It was mentally andphysically draining. Particularly with thiskind of change, we were not at all incontrol.”

Indeed, experts say that “not being in

control” is really what’s at the core ofmost angst and anxiety surroundingchange. As a general rule, humans likecontrol.

“Most people dislike change becauseat the very least, it represents theunknown and unfamiliar and at itsworst, it means loss,” says KathyCleveland Bull, president of NCompassConsulting (www.ncompass-consult-ing.com), a firm dedicated to helpingclients navigate the art and science ofchange.

“We may not believe that our cur-rent circumstance is perfect in our work

or in our life, but at least it is known,which provides a certain degree ofsecurity in a fast-changing world,”Cleveland Bull says. “The very samedynamic exists in our organizations,which are made up of a collection ofpeople resisting and fearing change. It’sa very challenging scenario for leaderstoday when adapting to change is arequirement for business survival.”

A Proactive ApproachYields Great Results

Subconsciously, peoples’ ability tomanage change sheds light on their atti-tude toward it.

Simply put, those who have a posi-tive attitude toward change tend todeal better with surprises whereascreatures of comfort are typically morerattled by change.

“As a species, we have a natural,

by Katie Roberts

Courage and a can-do attitude are critical for success.Courage and a can-do attitude are critical for success.

Adapting to change is arequirement for survival intoday’s business age.

hardwired desire to seek comfort andavoid pain,” Cleveland Bull says.“Because some business leaders andtheir employees see change as aninevitable, painful experience (and let’sface it – it can be), they instinctivelyhunker down to avoid the pain. Theymay even be aware that they are con-trolled by a drive for comfort.”

It takes courage to run out ahead ofthe pack, Cleveland Bull acknowledges.

“But that’s exactly where leadersneed to be to take charge in turbulenttimes,” she says.

In fact, that’s what Lisa Cacace hasbeen discovering over the past coupleof years.

In December 2012, she became thenew owner of Wedding Wonderland inKnoxville, Tenn. No stranger to bridal,Cacace had previously worked as amanager in the store and had alwaysdreamed of owning her own salon oreven that very store someday. So whenthe opportunity suddenly came up, shejumped on it.

At the time, she didn’t realize that aCPA, and not the former owner, hadalways handled the money and paid thebills. So there was no one in the storewho had been in touch with how toplan for and manage the budget,accounts payable/receivable, taxes, ship-ping fees, and financials specific to man-ufacturer and designers’ requirements,she says.

The steep learning curve ball nearlycaused her to close the store down,Cacace says. Adding to the difficultly, astaff member spread rumors that thestore was indeed closing, and the SmallBusiness Development Center recom-mended that Cacace file for bankruptcybecause of everything she needed todo to get the business back on track.

“When January 2013 hit, I was sotired from working 12-hours days andbringing home all the work and stayingup late to finish it —  I would ball myeyes out for two hours,” says Cacace,who says the stress also severely affect-ed her personal life and her relationshipwith her husband. “There were times Iwas so stressed, I really did want to shut

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change makes it easier todeal with future changes.

the doors and not get out of bed. Butthen I’d realized this change was reallywhat I had wanted.”

Ultimately, pulling on the inspirationshe got from seeing happy brides andadopting a can-do attitude trumped herfears. Refusing to back down from thechallenges, Cacace started figuring outaffordable, creative solutions to addressher issues. She renegotiated her lease inorder to better manage payments andpainted the interior of her store a newcolor. She marketed the new lookthrough social media to show cus-tomers that the store had not closedbut simply been remodeled. As a result,the traffic that had dropped off due tothe store-closing rumors immediatelybounced back.

Cacace also ended up making agood contact through the SBDC,despite the organization’s differing viewabout her business potential.

“She recently popped in to see howI was doing, what my struggles are, andhow I’m handling them differently,”Cacace says. “I’m just not allowing stressto take over my entire day, and it wasactually nice to share that with her.”

Clearly, courage and a can-do atti-tude are critical to embracing and dri-ving change, which is one of the keyroles of any business leader. Whenyou’re fearless and proactive vs. fearfuland reactive, you naturally become lessresistant to change and more capableof handling whatever comes your way,says John Manning, president of MAPConsulting (www.mapconsulting.com),a general-management consulting firm.

“It’s really the leadership that driveschange in a culture,” he says. “That allbegins with that courageous mindset of‘Why can’t we do this?’ and ‘Why can’twe do this better?’ When the leader isproactively thinking this way, it sets thetone for a culture of change, one that’sgoing to consistently welcome changeand not fear it.”

Wanting to manage change effec-tively and doing it successfully are twodifferent things, however. Manning saysthat getting better at handling changefirst requires defining what the change

is and establishing the strategiesrequired for achieving it. Additionally,one must sponsor that change effec-tively (take ownership of it and get thenecessary buy-in), communicate it andthen implement it.

“These are generally the key steps tochange, but it’s important to realize thatthe sponsorship piece – which is abouttruly being onboard and getting yourkey people to sponsor and believe inthis change – is essential,” Manning says.“Research has continually shown thatmost new projects or other types ofchanges fail because of poor sponsor-ship.”

The Three Steps OfSuccessful Change

In understanding the dynamics ofsuccessful change, Cleveland Bull saysit’s helpful to become familiar with the“Three Phases of Change,” which werefirst ar ticulated by internationallyknown speaker, consultant and authorWilliam Bridges. His classic model is afavorite tool for consultants, counselorsand coaches in many fields worldwide.

The first phase is called Endings –where people leave behind what isknown and head into the unknown.

“Many experience classic feelings ofgrief during this phase,” she says.

The second phase is called theNeutral Zone, which refers to a type ofno-man’s land of ambiguity and uncer-tainty. People in this phase have left thesecurity of the known past but aren’tquite sure where they’ll land in thefuture. They have more questions thananswers.

“It is the scariest place of all phasesand, unfortunately for many, it is wherewe spend the greatest amount of time,”she says.

Finally, the third phase is NewBeginnings. We’ve arrived at the desti-nation, and it’s time to celebrate! Thenbegin the cycle again.

“We feel a sense of relief but alsohave gained the awareness in our jour-ney that there is likely another newchange ahead,” she says.

After the fire at Norman’s BridalShoppe, Norman and her husbandrebuilt the store bigger and better thanever. The loss and forced change pro-vided her an opportunity to redesign

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There are three universalphases people go throughwhen confronting change.

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her salon to be more purposeful andbeautiful. She made decisions to changelines and product categories to thebusiness’s advantage and learned justhow supported she was by her com-munity and the bridal industry. So therewas a lot of good that came out thissudden, difficult change.

However, although Norman felt likeshe’d arrived at her destination, as out-lined in the third phase of change, shealso realized she’d never be able to stopchange. And she was right – when gasprices started creeping up, and bridesfrom Springfield, about a half hour away,started resisting the commute to herstore, Norman started planning toopen a second store in Springfield.She’d oversee the store but also get alot of help from her daughter, who wasliving there at the time.

Unlike the fire, which suddenlyforced change and led to some mis-takes simply because decisions had tobe made quickly, opening a second loca-tion was a much slower sort of change.It gave Norman an opportunity to driveit and be much more proactive andthoughtful about how to make it suc-ceed.

She ended up opening her newstore in a shopping center, then laterrelocated it to the revived downtownarea of Springfield – so it wasn’t neces-sarily a straightforward, easy sort ofchange. However, she knew she had toput her fears aside in order to moveforward with her goals.

“It’s scary when you’re making such abig financial commitment, but it some-times takes a bold move to see growth,and I wanted to see the business grow,”she says.

That said, Norman was able to let goof her worries in part because she hada good idea of what to expect whenopening a second location. She haddone her homework, and therefore tak-ing the leap was a calculated risk. Shecreated a plan, backed by strategies thatwould help her achieve her goals. Aswell, she called upon and tapped herresources for support – reaching out toher bank, trusted mentors and her sup-

port network of bridal-industry friends,who provided wisdom and tips aboutexpanding.

Emotionally, she also got reinforce-ment from her husband who support-ed her “grandiose ideas” with his goodbusiness sense, she says. Norman alsoknew that opening the new storewould be a hit to her original location,so she planned for that as well, puttingdifferent marketing strategies in placeto start drawing more customers fromup north. Finally, like all changes withinher business, she communicated it withstaff and got their buy-in and sponsor-ship for the change, so she could effec-tively implement it and execute herstrategies with success.

Having been through two big typesof change – the kind you can’t controland the kind you mostly can control –Norman has become a resource forothers in the industry, such as her friendBrenda Lever, owner of Uniquely Yoursin Tifton, Ga.

Lever is currently going through oneof those middle-ground sorts ofchanges that started out tricky and hasjust gotten trickier. For 27 years she’sbeen in the same location, but thespace she rents and the entire buildingwas sold in July 2013 to a man whoquickly started converting the businesscomplex into apartments. While Leversays she’s had time to look for a newplace to lease or buy, she was not pre-pared for the building’s new owner tobuild a large brick wall in front of herbusiness, blocking all visibility to herstorefront.

Most people now think she’s closedand because the new owner has beenso difficult to communicate with, she’sbeen struggling to get the word outthat she’s still open, Lever says. But she’sworking at it and trying to be creativewhile combatting her own angst andfears associated with her move, buyingher own location, and this new phase inthis bridal-store chapter of her life.

“I’m not one that likes change,” shesays. “But things change and you can’texpect to run your business like you’vealways run it or used to. Particularly inthis industry, it’s not just changing everyyear but every week and every day. Imight not be wild about change, but I’venow gotten to where I’m ready for it,

Change provides valuableopportunities for improvement

and growth.

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I’m more prepared, and I’ve got thesupport of so many people and friendsin the industry. This will absolutely be forthe best.”

Whether you plan for change orchange happens unexpectedly, there aregoing to be bumps in the road, andLever’s situation is a prime example ofthat. Although she admits being scaredto death when she first learned she’dhave to move and even more scaredwhen she had to undergo a triple-bypass in the midst of all this chaos,she’s let go of fear’s grip and is invitingthe right kinds of changes into her busi-ness.

“Letting go” of the fear is a provenand essential strategy for anyone whotruly wants to manage change success-fully, Cleveland Bull says.

“As Spencer Johnson wrote theinternational bestselling book, ‘Who

Moved My Cheese?’, he found a singlequestion that became so powerful thatit summed up the insights in the entirestory,” she says. “That question is ‘Whatwould you do if you weren’t afraid?’, andit can become a daily mantra or a goodquestion to ask so that as a leader youcan assess whether your initial resis-tance to change is due to fear or if it isa legitimate reason for not moving for-ward with a potential change.”

She continues, “True success in orga-nizational life is not a static result but adynamic, balanced approach to livingwith constant change and the ebb andflow of all the different aspects of busi-ness. It’s not judging change as good orbad, fortunate or not, but just as part oflife to meet head on. This modern andhealthy approach to business isn’tdestabilized by change but includeschange as reality. Change is viewed as acatalyst, an opportunity for growth. Andin the beautiful world of work, no onecan argue the existence of change.”

Ask yourself one powerfulquestion: “What would youdo if you weren’t afraid?”

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