Program Synopsis: Change = Opportunity
By Pam Flores

What does the word resilience mean to you?  In the Webster’s New World Dictionary on the shelf in my office it is defined as “the ability to bounce or spring back into shape.”  For many CREW members, including a good number of attendees at the Change = Opportunity breakfast on August 26th, the ability to bounce back, or roll with the changes, has definitely been the theme for 2009!  Let’s face it, in today’s uncertain economy, we are all going through one form of a reinvention or another.  The interactive presentation by Dorie Ellzey Blesoff on using our own resiliency to turn change into opportunity was a rare treat…and one that could not have come at a better time.

Dorie is a Coach, Consultant and Adjunct Faculty Member at the Northwestern University Center for Learning & Organizational Change with an MS in Organization Development.   She presented two frameworks designed to help us embrace change, become more resilient, and become inspired to tackle the challenges we all face now and in the future.

First Framework – Resilience   
Resilience, Dorie explained, is what helps us respond to the challenges we face and come out stronger.  Resilience is all about our relationships with ourselves, others and events.  We need to rely on ourselves, have confidence in our own abilities, remain future-minded and self aware and manage our responses to change with positive emotions.  Others are so willing to help, but how many of us ask?  Tap into your network and plant the seeds of collaboration.  Treat the events in your life as issues to confront – set realistic goals to proactively move past challenges.

Dorie then offered us four Resilience Practices  (based on an article by Karlin Sloan, CEO of Karlin Sloan & Company, a leadership development consultancy) that we could employ to improve our own resiliency:

1. Accept reality the way it is.  Accept what’s real and focus on the future.
2. Build relationships in your community.  There is no such thing as an individual problem – network to gain information, insights and help.
3. View the challenges and hardships you face as opportunities.
4. Pay attention to mental and physical disciplines – take care of yourself!

Framework Two – Change and Transition
During the second half of the session, Dorie explained that change is situational.  It could be losing a job, embracing a new process or system or welcoming a new boss.  Transition, on the other hand, is the psychological processes you go through to manage the change.  There are three stages of transition:

1. Endings.  Whether the change is good or bad, expect a sense a loss.  The best action to take during this stage is to acknowledge the change and honor the past.

2. Neutral Zone.  You are in the neutral zone when you have not yet let go of the old world and are not yet in the new – you are in-between.  This can be a very difficult interim period where most people have the toughest time.  During this stage make sure to involve others in what you are going through and again, network, network, network!

3. New Beginnings.  This is the stage where confidence returns and you realize there is life after what you are currently facing.  Resilience really comes through most in this stage as you move beyond what has changed, take control and manage how you move forward.
Recognizing the stage you are in and allowing yourself the time to work through each stage is crucial.

One of the exercises Dorie took us through was to think through a situation where we really displayed our resiliency.  It helped us all see our own inner strength and Dorie encouraged us to congratulate ourselves for that.  

The good news for us is that our CREW network is very strong. Let us remember that as we all face what is around the next corner.  For more sage advice and information on Dorie and her business, visit http://www.dorielzblesoff.com/index.html.