During your transformation journey you will encounter many challenges along the way. In the moment they will seem like massive struggles. In hindsight they will turn out to be small in comparison to what you may have already concurred during your journey. The real important part of managing personal change is to identify those around you that can truly support you. You may often confuse support as being comfortable or relaxing, but in the moment of challenge this support will seem like your mentor is being insensitive or does not understand. To be mentored through a period of change you must have people that will keep driving you towards the goals. It is completely natural that during a time of big change you will have an urge on some level to want to stop. Having mentorship around you that cares is crucial to moving forward. As I said, it may not seem as you are being supported and progressing but you are.
I recently had the opportunity to work with a team that is embarking on this same challenge. The organization has been working with external mentorship for a few years now. They have experienced a massive change in the leadership team. The overall business performance is higher than it has been in the past 6 years and profits are up. Levels of company engagement are increased and general moral is moving forward. Things appear to be headed in the right direction. In order to take the organization to the next level it was time for the leadership group to begin to dig deep and create a higher level of personal engagement and strengthen the leadership team dynamics. This is where the challenge begins.
In my experience as a mentor, coach and having gone through this type of change, once you begin to reflect on your contribution to the situation you become massively challenged and lose focus on reality. You forget all the positive change that had occurred and focus only on the discomfort and pain you experience by having to make real personal change. Making this type of change is the most difficult that can take place in anyone's life. The decision that all the work you have put in and all the achievements up to this point are the new norm. This can be daunting. There are not many people that desire to lay out a transparent plan and be held accountable to achieving it.
It is a skill to be able to move through these ever occurring stages of personal change with some level of grace and maturity. Here are 6 TIPS you can use when going down the path of personal growth.
1. Identify Your Mentor. Have a team or individual that you trust and can get you through the period of change. This person must be someone who has experienced a level of personal change you are about to go through. They must also have the skills and ability to model the behaviors you admire and be able to be honest even when you may lie to yourself.
2. Document Your Vision. Before you even begin the process of embarking on change, document who you see yourself being once the transformed state has been reached. Share the vision with your mentor and post it where it can be referenced when times are difficult.
3. Identify Your Obstacles. With your mentor, identify where you are likely to go off track and get yourself into a challenging state of personal integrity. Define and document what these might look like so you and your mentor can easily identify the situation when it occurs.
4. Know The Consequence. Share and document the consequences for when you are in the situation. What will go off track and how it will negatively affect you? You must understand what the price will be if you stay in a negative state. The key in this is not to avoid beginning in the situation, but rather to take personal responsibility for making it through.
5. Lay Out Your Plan. Document a plan of action that includes milestones, periods of celebration and rest. Anticipate when the obstacles you identified may come up. Know your plan and monitor your progress with your mentor. There is no better way to feel success and build confidence in your abilities then by understanding how easily executed a good plan can be.
6. Celebrate Success. In your plan include a major celebration event for when you have achieved your goal. This is important to plan to give you a reason to keep going when times get tough.
When embarking on any change it is important to find a strong mentor and create a solid plan. Without a plan for you and your mentor to use as a triangulation piece, your progression will be left to personal interpretation. As discussed, you will lose perspective during the change. This is a given when learning skills to effect change. Without a good plan you are only setting yourself up for failure and disappointment. When it comes to change, document, plan, monitor and celebrate. This routine will lead you down the path of a lifetime of personal growth and success.
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