November 12, 2013 / Ask Mariposa

Ask Mariposa | Dealing with Change

Toby asks:  Our new VP has been on the job for six months and is trying to change everything about the way we do our work.  This has left middle management feeling vulnerable.  The consistent message received is that everything that was done for the past 4 yours was all wrong and needs to change.  How do we roll with the changes yet keep morale from tanking?

Sue Bethanis, CEO of Mariposa, responds:

Thanks for your question! The first thing I suggest doing is ASSESS the situation: 1) what changes are good? 2) which ones are not so good? and 3) which ones are hard? After you have done an ASSESSment, figure out for yourself which ones you can roll with and don’t need help, which ones are hard, and thus you need help with?  Go to your boss and ask for advice/help on the hard ones.  And ask him/her to give you some of the reasoning behind the ones that you deem to be “not so good.”  Have your assessment of the situation ready to give your reasoning as well, and let him know how the “not so good” changes have affected you in a negative way.

To learn more about the skills of Assess, check out our Executive Guide to In-the-Moment Coaching.

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