[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/05\/16\/navigating-professional-change-requires-bravery-not-perfection\/#Article","articleBody":"There are lots of conversations that happen in corporations about dealing with change: You cannot be averse to change. Change is uncomfortable but inevitable. Don\u2019t fight change.\nIn a year of constant change, I realized it\u2019s true: You can\u2019t fight change. However, you have choices.\nOver the last year, there were a lot of changes happening professionally that made me want to rethink my role. Things felt very unstable for me, but I was determined to ride through and make it work \u2013 until I got the call.\nNavigating professional change with dignity\u2026after the initial emotions\nI wasn\u2019t being let go, but my position was being given to someone else. I\u2019d no longer be leading my team; someone else would be, and I\u2019d be reporting to him.\nI\u2019m not sure how my manager expected me to take it, but I probably took it the worst way imaginable. I lost my cool. I yelled. I put the phone on mute and cried. By the end of the conversation, I was so drained and angry that I was in one-word answer mode. \u201cYes.\u201d \u201cOkay.\u201d I hung up without saying goodbye.\nI vented to my closest comrades. I went to Twitter to post something like \u201cHell Hath No Fury like a Woman scorned.\u201d I stopped myself. Instead I posted a verse on rejoicing in hardships and weaknesses, wishing that\u2019s how I really felt.\nI didn\u2019t sleep much, and to make things worse, the first thing I saw when I woke up was an email making the change official. I wouldn\u2019t be leading my team. Someone else would be leading the team but my work is appreciated. \nIronically, there were few times in my life that I\u2019ve ever felt so under-appreciated.\nAdvice on choosing bravery over perfection\nI don\u2019t remember the drive to the office the next day, but I do recall sitting in the parking lot for a bit, just thinking. Like it or not, I had a choice to make.\nI could sulk and accept what was happening to me, or I could take control of the change. I could put things into my own hands and choose what I wanted for my career. When I re-evaluated and reflected on what was happening, certain things on managing career change became very clear:\nTrust your gut: When you feel something isn\u2019t right, it probably isn\u2019t. I was told that \u201cchange is painful,\u201d the implication being that I was being resistant to change, and that\u2019s why I was feeling like things were spiraling out of control.\nWhat you really need to ask yourself when faced with change in your career is, \u201cIs the change for me?\u201d Yes, change is inevitable, but only to a certain degree must you accept it at work. Change gives the opportunity to re-evaluate your current situation.\nI had been re-evaluating for six months, wanting to try to make a change on my own. I knew this environment wasn\u2019t right for me, but kept on talking myself out of it. Wait until the end of the year. Wait until the end of the quarter. You should be thankful you have a job. Just wait and see what happens.\nI waited too long \u2013 until I was forced out. Reality is, the outcome didn\u2019t surprise me. I knew my team was heading in this direction, though I knew it was the wrong direction. Yet I kept hoping things would be okay for me. I should\u2019ve trusted my instincts.\nFortunately, I still had the opportunity to trust my gut. I knew I didn\u2019t want to continue in the team with a lower position. I knew I wouldn\u2019t be satisfied going to the role I was offered, so I decided I wouldn\u2019t.\nFigure out your areas of control: Others might\u2019ve thought my decision was emotional, reckless, prideful. It was all of these things. In truth, I\u2019m not someone who has ever done something without thinking out all the pros and cons. I was comfortable in my position. I was a recognized expert in my field. Part of me thought I could just ride the wave.\nMany people gave me the advice to play nice.\u00a0It will get better. This is a good move. My manager likely thought I\u2019d do the same; that I was being emotional, but would get over it and accept the change. But I had no interest in playing nice if it meant sacrificing my growth.\nI was given two choices: Stay and accept a huge step back in my career, or make the decision to move out and start fresh.\u00a0 At the end of the day, no one could force me into this position. I had the choice to accept it or move on. Though moving elsewhere was the harder, riskier decision, it gave me the opportunity to own the change.\nInvest in yourself: Things didn\u2019t instantly get better. I had a lot of hard conversations. I applied to several positions that led nowhere, taking several more stabs to my pride.\nA senior executive in a role I applied to told me while I had the experience, he didn\u2019t have confidence I had an executive presence. I had enough belief in myself to know that this guy didn\u2019t know what he was talking about, but it still grated on me.\nTwice in a short period I was told by senior people that I didn\u2019t have what it takes to do a job that I was qualified for. I could have internalized it and believed what they were saying, but I forced myself to not take it personally and move forward.\nI had the opportunity to re-evaluate what I enjoy doing in my career and think about gaps in my knowledge and what I\u2019d like to learn. I\u2019m the kind of person who doesn\u2019t apply to jobs unless I feel that I match every qualification. I threw that out the door. I\u2019d invest in myself and build up my skillset. I\u2019d learn what I didn\u2019t know. I\u2019d show my executive presence and would not step down because I didn\u2019t feel qualified.\nI reached out to my network of people who I had met along my career, many who were more than colleagues, but also friends. I marketed myself without padding what I could or couldn\u2019t do. I was very honest on my gaps in my skillset, but was bold in how I said it. I pitched what I would be able to contribute, and my eagerness to learn what I didn\u2019t know.\nAs difficult as some conversations were, each one gave me the chance to honestly evaluate the skills I was lacking and how to build them to make my next career move.\nWhat\u2019s not said enough in corporate retreats or off-sites around change is change is inevitable, but each individual needs to decide if the change is right for them.\u00a0Yes, refusing the change can be a painful decision. It\u2019s an option, though that option naturally has consequences, usually being that you have to move on.\nThe best advice I received throughout this journey (and I received it from several people, male and female, friends, coworkers, and family)\u00a0 is that nothing happens without purpose. You can\u2019t see it now, but there is a reason that this happened.\nI\u2019m happy to say I was able to take a bold step forward in my career. It wasn\u2019t a dramatic step, but it was still a step with a team and a manager that have already helped me grow.\nThe story is still to be written on where this will lead and where it will take me in my career, but I\u2019m happy I was able to own the change that happened to me instead of accepting the change that was thrown at me.\nHR, better. Employees, happier. Businesses, healthier. It\u2019s time to modernize the employee experience.","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/05\/16\/navigating-professional-change-requires-bravery-not-perfection\/#Article_Person","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/05\/16\/navigating-professional-change-requires-bravery-not-perfection\/#Article_Person_ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/lisa-m-james-150x150.jpg"},"name":"Lisa James","sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/thebookoflisa","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/thebookoflisa"],"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/lisa-james\/"},"dateModified":"2021-03-11T11:18:41+00:00","datePublished":"2019-05-16T13:20:00+00:00","description":"We hear it all the time: change is inevitable. The reality is, change can be terrifying. Learn how bravery rather than perfection can help you navigate.","headline":"Navigating professional change requires bravery, not perfection","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/05\/16\/navigating-professional-change-requires-bravery-not-perfection\/#Article_ImageObject","height":"630","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/thumbnail-c59192309005bbe992233497590dc361-1200x630.jpeg","width":"1200"},"mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/05\/16\/navigating-professional-change-requires-bravery-not-perfection\/","name":"Navigating professional change requires bravery, not perfection","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/","additionalType":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q1193236","description":"Relevant, timely information & analysis on commerce trends, both consumer-facing and B2B.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","height":"96","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","width":"500"},"name":"The Future of Customer Engagement and Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/a-call-for-a-better-experience\/id1479742201","https:\/\/twitter.com\/FutureOfCEC","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/4844282","https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/feed\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/"},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/05\/16\/navigating-professional-change-requires-bravery-not-perfection\/#Article"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2019","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"05","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/\/05\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"16","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/\/05\/\/16\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Navigating change requires professional bravery, not perfection","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/05\/16\/navigating-professional-change-requires-bravery-not-perfection\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]