How are your communication habits? Would others agree with your assessment? Do they change during times of stress? Change and stress complicate situations and relationships. It’s when we need more communication with each other, but what generally happens is just the opposite. Communication, transparency, empathy, and authenticity build relationships, and good relationships are good for … Read more
We have a habit of withholding in times of stress and change. But what we need to do is get back to the basics of communication and embrace the power of SMaC. Too often we find ourselves in only one circle or one overlap, when we need to be aiming at all three—Be Specific, Be Methodical, and … Read more
In times of change, we tend to avoid adapting to others’ personality styles. Our reduced capacity to adapt can cause us to revert to unhealthy habits, especially in conflict situations. If you don’t know your DiSC personality style, use this simple chart to identify where you are. It’s also a good tool to use to identify … Read more
Maturity in the Moment is how your actions affect others around you as well as yourself. And in times of change, these actions intensify. Notice that Selfish and Independent fall below the dotted line. The best leaders will avoid these levels when dealing with someone who is already there. Assuming negative intent may pull leaders below the … Read more
Now that we’ve looked at each phase of the Kubler-Ross Change Curve in detail, let’s apply it to a real life situation. It’s 8:20 AM and you’re already late for work, but it’s your turn to bring the Friday bagels for your team. They’re expecting it. So you turn left instead of right, calculating in your … Read more
The final two phases in the Kubler-Ross Change Curve are Experiment and Decision. If you look at the curve, you’ll notice these two phases are on the upswing, following the lowest point, the Depression phase, or Moment of Resignation. The Experiment phase is the initial engagement with the change. You don’t have their buy-in yet, … Read more
Change is inevitable, and for creatures of habit, change is hard. Yet, it’s also necessary. No one deals with all changes well, but there comes a moment in every change cycle when we must make a choice: accept the change or walk away. We call this the “Moment of Resignation.” The Moment of Resignation comes … Read more
The first reaction on the Kubler-Ross Change Curve is Denial. This piece is characterized by disbelief and evidence the change isn’t true. Comments from people in this phase can include: Oftentimes, the natural response to people in this phase is tell them that yes, it’s happening and they need to suck it up. It can even … Read more
We are creatures of habit, yet we experience change in every facet of our lives. Some of these changes are good, some aren’t, but regardless of where the changes fall on the spectrum, they all require a mental shift. In her ground-breaking book Death and Dying, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross discusses the stages of grief. She identified five non-linear … Read more
Here’s an idea for a team-building activity, with an added bonus— It can start the conversation about how important and welcome performance feedback is. First, ahead of time, ask each participant to come prepared with examples of two bits of feedback they’ve received in their career: By doing this, you’ll learn about each other and … Read more