[00:00:00] Hi and welcome back to Reflect Forward. I'm your host Kerry Siggins and I hope you are having
[00:00:14] a fantastic day. Today, I want to talk about what to do when you feel completely overwhelmed
[00:00:20] by change. So this week, I was so happy it was over. I have never been so excited for
[00:00:27] Friday because we have so much change going on at Stone Age. We have all kinds of personnel
[00:00:35] changes. We have people leaving the company. We have people moving around in the company.
[00:00:39] We are working on a lot of big projects that require us to pivot a little bit and we took
[00:00:45] on too much. Shocking. We always take on too much and we're having to parse out what
[00:00:50] we're going to not work on and what we're going to work on. And there's just so much
[00:00:56] happening. Plus, you've got all the other things outside in the world that are happening.
[00:01:00] And I felt really overwhelmed by all the change and I can handle change so incredibly well that
[00:01:07] I was like, that's a lot. Like, a lot of a lot going on if I'm feeling like, oh, thank God it's
[00:01:11] Friday. I need to decompress this weekend because there's so much change that's happening.
[00:01:16] And so I thought that's what we would talk a little bit about today because
[00:01:19] there is not a time when a leader doesn't feel overwhelmed by change. And we certainly know
[00:01:24] our employees feel overwhelmed by change. And so what do we do in that moment when we know that we
[00:01:30] have to lead well through change, but we're feeling it ourselves? So I want to share my five strategies
[00:01:37] that I use to get through a lot of change and get through that feeling of overwhelm so that I
[00:01:43] can lead well. So the first thing is to embrace vulnerability like I am doing right now.
[00:01:49] It is not a weakness to be overwhelmed by change and it is not a weakness to say,
[00:01:54] I feel overwhelmed by change. In fact, admitting to yourself that you're feeling overwhelmed is
[00:02:00] pivotal. You can't do something about it unless you have admitted to yourself that you're feeling
[00:02:07] that way. I think a lot of leaders including myself, we just want to charge through it. We
[00:02:11] don't want to admit it. We know that we need to be able to handle a lot of change. And so
[00:02:15] we don't really acknowledge those feelings. And that's really not a healthy way to handle change.
[00:02:21] So don't be afraid to be vulnerable. Vulnerability is such a significant leadership trait. It
[00:02:28] fosters authenticity, which in turn cultivates trust among team members. And this is really
[00:02:34] what I experienced this week when I admitted that I was feeling overwhelmed by change. In
[00:02:39] fact, I was talking to my head of sales and he said, oh man KP, I'm really tapped out. And so
[00:02:46] I talked to him about how he was feeling. And I said, you know what? I feel the same way. There's
[00:02:50] a lot that has happened in these last two weeks. And man, it's just really tough. And he said,
[00:02:54] oh good, I'm so glad I'm not the only one feeling this way. And so we could laugh a
[00:02:58] little bit about it. And we talked about how we were going to work through the change and
[00:03:02] work through how we were feeling over the next couple of weeks and agreed that we were going
[00:03:06] to check in on each other to make sure that we were leading well and that if we needed to adjust
[00:03:10] some things, we could do that. Well, I wouldn't have been open and honest about it. He might have
[00:03:15] been feeling like I'm the only one who's going through this. And so because I was honest about
[00:03:20] the challenges I was feeling about navigating change, it really opened up the conversation
[00:03:25] for us to be able to problem solve and to figure out how we would work through it
[00:03:28] together. Now nothing changed about the change. But I know I certainly felt better being
[00:03:33] able to say it to him. And I know that he felt better saying it to me. And it's really beneficial.
[00:03:39] So don't be afraid to admit it to yourself. Don't be afraid to admit it to your team.
[00:03:43] You can all help each other. And as a leader, when you say, man, this is a little overwhelming,
[00:03:46] how are you feeling? It makes it safe for other people to say the same things. And when we
[00:03:50] get that off of our chest, we feel less overwhelmed. Number two, prioritize self-care.
[00:03:57] When you are going through significant change, we often neglect our well being. I know that
[00:04:02] I've said, oh, I don't have time. I don't have time for that workout. I don't have time to meditate.
[00:04:07] I need to work late. So I'm going to not get as much sleep. But I know every time that
[00:04:14] I de-prioritize self-care, I actually wind up feeling a lot worse. And you really need to think
[00:04:20] about your overall well being because when you are taking care of yourself and you're in a
[00:04:24] better place, you're going to be much more resilient, much better able to manage what's
[00:04:30] thrown out you in a better mood even because you're going to need that to make sure that you help
[00:04:35] your employees transition through whatever change is happening. You know my saying,
[00:04:40] self-care is not a luxury. It is a discipline and that is true. So make sure that you're
[00:04:45] getting enough sleep. Make sure that you are eating well, drinking water, getting some
[00:04:50] exercise, even if it's just going out for a quick walk, taking some deep breaths if you
[00:04:54] don't have time to meditate, although I'm a huge believer in meditating. Prioritize
[00:04:58] your self-care and just remember that when you're well rested and you're mentally sharp,
[00:05:02] you're going to be so much better equipped to be able to handle the challenges that change brings
[00:05:07] and make strategic decisions and be there for your team who are most likely struggling
[00:05:12] through the same thing that you are. Number three, seek diverse perspectives. Change is a
[00:05:18] lot and change is complex and it's multifaceted and it often requires one viewpoint to fully
[00:05:25] understand. For example, this week I'm making some pretty big changes about what we need to do
[00:05:30] organizationally and rather than just feeling like that responsibility only falls on my shoulder,
[00:05:36] I reached out to my executive management team and said, okay, hey, here are some of the things
[00:05:40] that we're thinking about. What do you think? How do you think that we should handle this?
[00:05:44] And I really appreciated their insight and their perspective and I felt so much better like,
[00:05:49] okay, this whole decision and leading through this change doesn't have to all fall on my
[00:05:54] shoulders. We can help each other and I can get better perspectives and I felt so much better when
[00:05:59] I went and asked other people's opinions. So don't be afraid to seek alternate perspectives,
[00:06:05] both within the organization and outside the organization. Ask people what they think,
[00:06:10] consult with your team members, seek advice from a mentor, board member, industry peers,
[00:06:15] whatever that is, but get some perspective. That helps. Talk about what really needs
[00:06:20] to happen and what doesn't really need to happen. You do not need to bear the brunt of the change
[00:06:26] alone. In fact, when you lean on other people, they feel empowered to help too. I know my team
[00:06:31] was really grateful to be able to be part of the conversation and to offer suggestions and to
[00:06:36] offer help. I know that when I reach out to my mentors, particularly one of my board members,
[00:06:41] he appreciates being helpful and useful by being a sounding board to me. So it can be a
[00:06:47] win-win when you go out and you say, I don't have to do this alone. I'm going to get other people's
[00:06:51] opinions. Number four, delegate and empower. No leader should or can handle everything on their
[00:07:00] own and delegation is not just a means to manage your workload, but it's an opportunity to
[00:07:05] empower your teams. So by entrusting them to take on certain tasks and to delegate
[00:07:11] decision making to others, you can foster that sense of ownership and accountability
[00:07:14] within your own team. And this leads to a much more resilient and capable team. This has recently
[00:07:20] happened when we were going to need to move a department from one of my executive team members
[00:07:25] to another. And in the interim, I thought, I'm going to take this department on. I just need
[00:07:30] to lead it. I don't want to burden another teammate by asking one of them to manage these
[00:07:37] teams. And in that moment, I thought, I'll take it on. And then as I thought through it,
[00:07:42] I thought, you know what? I really need to delegate this. I am not in a position as the CEO
[00:07:47] to be managing these teams at the level that they need. They need somebody who's going to
[00:07:52] really be able to dig into the details and prioritize. So I reached out to another one
[00:07:56] of my executive team members who I knew would be able to take on these two teams. And I asked
[00:08:02] him if he would help me. And he said, absolutely. I am happy to do it. And he jumped right
[00:08:08] in and the teams are doing really great. And he feels empowered. He's taking more on. He's
[00:08:13] learning new things because of my ability to delegate to him. This was a better situation.
[00:08:19] Now, I have to make sure that I'm not burning him out, but it was completely overwhelming for me
[00:08:24] to think about how am I going to take on these two teams and lead this company with
[00:08:29] everything else that I have on my plate? And so it helped me manage that overwhelm that I was
[00:08:35] feeling. And now I can just focus on helping my executive team member who is managing these teams,
[00:08:42] help him do a really good job of leading, of solving problems. I'm digging into it with them. We even
[00:08:47] created an ownership group around these teams so that I can help lead the strategy,
[00:08:52] but I don't have to get into the day-to-day. So be creative. That doesn't have to just
[00:08:56] fall on you. You can delegate, you can empower your team and it builds a more resilient
[00:09:02] and capable team. And it gives you the ability to manage that overwhelm a little bit better.
[00:09:08] And then finally, give it time. Nothing is permanent. Nothing in life is permanent.
[00:09:14] And I know it might feel that way and when you're super stressed, it's hard to see
[00:09:18] how you're going to get yourself out of it. But time fixes all. And adapting to change
[00:09:24] is not an overnight process. It requires patience and perseverance. So give it time.
[00:09:29] It will feel better in a week or two, just like I was telling you the story about
[00:09:33] talking to my head of sales and both of us feeling overwhelmed. We knew we said literally in two
[00:09:39] weeks we're going to be through a lot of this change and things are going to be better. Let's
[00:09:43] just give it time. When you're going through a big organizational change, like you're not
[00:09:47] just going to be able to flip that switch, it does require patience. It requires that
[00:09:52] perspective. Nothing is permanent. We are going to get through this. This too shall pass.
[00:09:57] Let's not make sure that we lose our minds right now because things are going to be better as
[00:10:02] we absorb the change, as we understand the changes, we implement the changes effectively.
[00:10:07] And I think it's really important to remember that negative things can happen when we try
[00:10:11] to rush through change. It can cause us to show up in ways that we don't want to when we're
[00:10:15] feeling overwhelmed and panicking instead of giving ourselves time like I'm going to go home
[00:10:20] and sleep on this, we might go and dive into a conversation and we're not in a good head
[00:10:24] space and we could damage relationships. It rushing through change can lead to half
[00:10:29] fake strategies. It can lead to burnout, set realistic timeframes and milestones,
[00:10:34] take a deep breath. It's always going to take longer than what you want it to get
[00:10:38] a good night's sleep and give yourself a break. Time does make things better.
[00:10:45] And when you take this more measured approach, this cool common collected approach by saying,
[00:10:50] hey, we're going to give it time. We're going to let this settle in. I'm going to give myself
[00:10:54] time to process it so that I can work through my overwhelm rather than just get consumed by it
[00:11:00] and stress myself out. You are going to be in such a much better place. Just remember
[00:11:05] enduring change, it is a marathon, it is not a sprint. And if we remember that,
[00:11:10] we will get through it so much better. So why is leading through change so important?
[00:11:16] Well, let's face it. Everything is going to be changing always. Everything always has been
[00:11:22] changing. But it's changing at such a rapid pace that it is completely overwhelming. And we do have
[00:11:30] to prepare our organizations for these future challenges. And we as leaders need to prepare
[00:11:36] ourselves. We need to effectively manage our overwhelm so that we can maintain that clarity
[00:11:42] and that focus, which is essential for good strategic planning, good decision making,
[00:11:46] and good execution. And when you lead through change well, it instills confidence and resilience in
[00:11:53] your team. And it matters not just for your organization, but for you personally. In fact,
[00:11:58] four of us reports that 31% of CEOs actually lose their jobs for failing to manage organizational
[00:12:04] change well. So those CEOs who can't do it, who succumb to overwhelm or who just are not
[00:12:08] good transformation leaders, they don't make it. And I don't know what the statistics are for
[00:12:14] executives and for middle managers, but I'm sure that there's a high percentage of people who are
[00:12:19] let go because they cannot manage change well. So it's really important for your success to be
[00:12:24] able to work through that overwhelm and do a good job in managing change. And we all know
[00:12:30] that when we're stressed out about it as leaders, our employees feel the same thing.
[00:12:35] A report by Gardner corroborates this when they said that an astonishing 73% of employees who are
[00:12:41] impacted by change report that they experience moderate to high levels of stress. And we all
[00:12:46] know that when you're stressed, it can lead to burnout, it can lead to dissatisfaction in your
[00:12:51] job and disengagement. So it's really important that we leaders manage our overwhelm and get
[00:12:57] through those icky feelings, work through them as quickly as possible while acknowledging
[00:13:03] them so that we can lead our employees well. So hopefully this inspires you to manage your
[00:13:08] overwhelm to change well, it's okay to be overwhelmed, we all get overwhelmed. But again,
[00:13:13] it's all in how we respond to it, how do we respond to our overwhelm? And that's what the
[00:13:17] ownership mindset is, it's being able to say, Hey, I could admit that I'm overwhelmed. And now
[00:13:22] here are the things that I'm going to do about it. I'm going to make sure that I take care
[00:13:26] of myself. I'm going to seek diverse perspectives, I'm going to delegate and empower my team to
[00:13:33] help me through this. And I'm going to give it a little bit of time because I know in a couple
[00:13:36] days things are going to be better. All right, that's it for today. Hopefully this podcast
[00:13:40] inspired you to manage that change effectively. We're all going through it. It is not easy.
[00:13:46] And I hear you, I am right there with you if you're going through big changes and feeling
[00:13:52] it. It's okay. All right, with that, I'll leave you for next week. If you like this podcast,
[00:13:57] please go on to your favorite podcast platform and write a review. It is so helpful with the
[00:14:04] algorithms and it gets the word out there about this podcast. I really appreciate it.
[00:14:10] And if you're looking for more tips on how to self lead, because really what this is all
[00:14:15] about is self leadership, how you're managing your stress, your emotions yourself. Check out
[00:14:19] my book, The Ownership Mindset. You can find it on Amazon or my website, CariSiggins.com.
[00:14:24] Thanks so much. Have a great day and we'll see you next week.