Category Archives: Change

If nothing ever changed, there'd beChange.

  • A word that always signifies an ending or a beginning.
  • A word that can cause us to look backward and smile, or toss and turn at night.
  • A word that can fuel visions of hope.
  • A word that can stir fear and doubt.

When we go through seasons that cause intense pain and confusion we struggle to find purpose in the pain.

When something we have dreamed of happens we are thrilled – but often surprised that even in the midst of the most positive transitions we struggle.

Feeling helpless about division and destruction? Here's what you can do.When we are faced with circumstances that are damaging lives and organizations, we are faced with the choice to summon our courage and lead up or to wait for someone else to do it.

The articles below are filled with stories and tools that will help you understand, navigate and lead change with more grit and more grace.

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Help for Navigating Change: From Invisible to Making an Impact

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imagesOn November 29th of last year I wrote a post-titled Comfort or Magic?  Go?  Stay?  Stay?  Go?

What I did not say in the post is that the days prior had been filled with that question as we tried to decide if we had the courage to make a move across the world to a land that sounded stressful, backward, emotionally challenging and dangerous.

A few weeks later we “came out of the closet” and shared what we were doing and why. And for the past year I’ve included lots of our expat stories in this blog.

  • Yes – part of the reason was to share the adventure and the learning’s as they unfolded.
  • However, a bigger reason for sharing the journey is that CHANGE PLAYS A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN OUR PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL LIVES and even though it is the only constant in our lives… People struggle with it all of the time. 

Did you know that CHANGE was listed in three of the top 10 Human Capital Issues for 2013?  And Numero Uno on the list was Managing and Coping with Change? (The truth of that statement was evidenced when we hosted a Lead Change Event In Tulsa Titled,” Leading in The Midst of Change” and we had our largest turnout.)

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Finding Hope & Peace after the Shock & Awe of Painful Experiences

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Last week was the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

I wasn’t alive yet on that day, but immediately my mind thinks of events that have filled my lifetime that bring shock and awe, experiences that are burnt into our consciousness so deeply that it only takes one of our senses to catch a glimpse or a wiff, or a sound and we are instantly transported back in time.

Days like September 11, 2001.

  • Days that are impossible to understand and process.
  • Days that remind us who we are and what we stand for.
  • Days where strangers become friends and family.
  • Days where we grieve and work together.

Days that interrupt the life we have always known and distinctly mark it as the past, leaving us no choice but to create an alternate reality.

Days that we are all reminded that we were created to be a part of a community.

When I think of the days where shock and awe bring us together, I also think of days where painful events alienate individuals from the community we need:

Days we live through these words and the emotions and realities that go with them:

  • Bankrupt
  • Infertile
  • Betrayed
  • Orphaned
  • Mental Illness
  • Cancer
  • Terminated
  • Deceased

And then I think of the people that have pushed through the loss, the confusion, and the pain.  …People that grew wiser, and softer and stronger and turned the shock and awe into a defining moment.

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What has CHANGE taught you this year?

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In late November 2012 we had just said yes to our first expat adventure.  We were facing massive unknowns, planning for the transition that this change would bring and choosing our attitudes.

One year later as I reflected on that season in our lives, the thoughts and feelings came back in a flood of emotions.

In order to fully share that experience I have to take you back in time…

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Has life ever handed you one of those weeks?

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Have you ever had one of those weeks?

A week filled with news like this:

  • One more friend is diagnosed with cancer while others are in the midst of the battle
  • Several friends say their last goodbyes to loved ones that have left the earth
  • One more marriage is on the rocks
  • One more job loss
  • Another horrible diagnosis

While the world is focused on:

  • Terrorists
  • War
  • Refugees
  • Ugly politics

Have you ever felt shaken AND stirred?  Where the pain in the world becomes so loud it hurts?  This week was one of those weeks.

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Navigating Change by Faith: Walking on Stepping Stones In Dense Fog

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Are you in the midst of change and trying to balance the need to take ownership of that change with the need to walk by faith?

Years ago I was struggling to find that balance and wrote this:

I feel like I have been on a path of stepping stones.

Most days this path is surrounded by intense fog that is so thick you can’t see anything – not even the next stone.