When faced with standing up for change in the workplace or in our personal lives we all tend to be struck by fear. We tend to turn into teenagers who just want to look cool. To never be embarrassed. Dr. Robert E. Quinn unwraps this for us. He interviewed thousands of successful men & a few women who experienced “terror in the early stages [of change].” These executives had just completed 4 days of his positive leadership executive education course at the University of Michigan, Ross School of Management. All were excited at the prospect of what they could do for their organizations by applying learnings from this course, energized, invigorated... and days later... felt "terror" around the idea of implementing tools for real change.
Do not worry about looking cool! What is needed to make real change happen? Pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones and risking looking silly. This is needed. At this point in life, as the mother of teenagers, I take great pride in looking silly. And maybe in embarrassing my teenagers when the timing is right. And of course, it needs to be lighthearted! I don't want to traumatize them. I get it. No one wants to look un-cool when a teenager. But we aren't teenagers are we?! With age comes freedom to look so un-cool it’s cool! Move out of your comfort zone.
How do I do this?
Listen to our Monumental Me Podcast conversation with Dr. Robert E. Quinn HERE or wherever you get your podcasts! Apple, Spotify, Google, Anchor and more.
Also:
Be curious. Ask questions.
Practice. Start sharing your opinion in a 1:1 situation. Move on to a small group. Send an email to a friend or post an opinion on your social media of choice for many friends to see.
Get out there. Join a group or a club for a cause. Join a discussion group on Facebook. Get political. Just put a toe in the water and then step in. It feels good.