Understanding Emotional Responses to Change and Transition

1. Understanding Emotional Responses to Change and Transition Sara L. Gaba Partner Renaissance Resources www.leadershiporganics.org Where organizations are grown one leader at a time sara.gaba@leadershiporganics.org 804-399-0561

2. Thoughts on Change • It is inevitable • All change even those longed for have their melancholy • Often thought to be imposed by others • Humanely, we naturally resist change

3. Models of Change • Provide a framework within which to work • Allow a language to talk about the change and in some ways make it more manageable

4. Kubler-Ross FrameworkResponse to a Negative Change • Immobilization – shock, confusion. • Denial – ignores the changes or its consequences. • Anger – based on feelings of frustration and hurt. • Bargaining – seeks to minimize impact of the change, this signals the beginning of acceptance. • Depression –may perceive the situation as beyond their control and display lack of energy or interest. • Testing- sees ways where s/he can regain some measure of control, test news ways of coping with new reality. • Acceptance - fully accepts change although s/he may not like it.

5. Acceptance Active Anger Bargaining Testing Stability Emotional Response Denial Immobilization Depression Passive Time Graphic from Daryl R. Connor, . Managing At The Speed Of Change Kubler-Ross Framework Response To A Negative Change

6. Response to a Positive Change • Uniformed Optimism – High expectations not based on facts. • Informed Optimism – Reality of change becomes clear, may have second thoughts and doubts. The change can be rejected at this phase, if not prepared for this phase. • Hopeful Realism – As expected positive outcomes emerge, the individual concerns decline. Hope. • Informed optimism – Confidence grows as the facts point to a positive outcome. One’s expectations are being met. • Completion – Realizes even positive change brings disruption.

7. Change Responses Response To A Positive Change Informed Pessimism Informed Pessimism ( (Doubt) Doubt) Hopeful Realism Hopeful Realism ( (Hope) Hope ) Pessimism Informed Optimism Informed Optimism (Confidence) (Confidence) Uninformed Uninformed Optimism Completion Completion n (Certainty) (Certainty) (Satisfaction) (Satisfaction) Time T im e Graphic from Daryl R. Connor, . Managing At The Speed Of Change

8. Change Responses You will always get resistance to any major change whether is perceived as a negative or positive change.

9. William Bridges Model • Change is a discreet event – where one thing stops and another starts • Transition is a process – a gradual, psychological reorientation with natural emotional experiences • Understanding this distinction helps us understand our responses to change.

10. Endings Neutral Zone New Beginnings Bridges Model

11. Endings • A change has to take place, before this can happen it must also occur at the psychological level, not the legal or physical, the old has to let go. That is what we find hard. You can not move from this stage until you acknowledge the loss. • Questions asked at this stage • Who now has the power? • How are decision going to be made? • Which of the old rules apply and what are the new ones?

12. Helping each other in the Endings Phase • Establish what will change and what will stay the same • Get involved with the change, the more one stays outside the change the more it will feel like something being done to you. Ask each other how you can increase your involvement in the change • Encourage mourning by naming what has ended. Ask, “What will you miss most?” • Celebrate the ending, just like funerals help survivors realize the person is gone, so will a party mark the end of a past. • Help each other prepare for the new beginning

13. Neutral Zone • Similar to the Kubler –Ross framework’s depression • Life feels like continuous whitewater • Lack of energy and withdraw from others • Become prone to illness and accident • Can be a time of rethinking and creativity because we have an overt longing for answers • “It is the winter during which the spring’s new growth is taking shape under the earth”

14. Helping each other through the Neutral Zone • Remind each other, the inevitable discomforts of this phase are a positive opportunity to learn • Encourage the thought that having “nothing to do” is untrue. The task ahead is to concentrate on preparing for the future. • Develop creativity, use brainstorming and other right brain thinking to address the challenges of this phase • Encourage reflection, help each other see setbacks are often the point where new solutions to old problems emerge • Keep networking and cultivate your social and faith relationships to ward off isolation thinking.

15. New Beginnings • The official new start and the psychological beginning are two different processes • A new beginning can feel daunting, similar to response to a positive change • One can wonder if it is “real” or not? • The new is unknown – what will it take to be successful? • It is normal to feel doubts about competence at this stage and sometimes to experience a dip in confidence until the new situation becomes clear.

16. Helping each other in the New Beginnings Stage • Encourage planning, gathering information, imagining, visualization, thinking and preparing. Ask each other to imagine a typical successful day in the new job: what would be happening? • What new skills will you need? How many of those skills do you have? How can you acquire or develop what is missing? • Getting involved in the change will counter feelings of lack of control. How could you be wholly involved in this new life? • As with endings, never miss the chance to give a party. Bridges model description and coping/encouragement suggestions adapted from Coaching Skills – A handbook by Jenny Rogers and Solution-Focused Coaching by Jane Greene and Anthony Grant

17. Last thoughts • Change is inevitable but temporary • There are natural emotional and psychological responses to change • Change frameworks help to understand the change process and demystify it • Change is not happening to you, you will manage the change • Support is needed for going through the change, ask for it and give that support to others

18. Questions and Answers

19. Thank you for time