Welcome in! If you are a convert to the change industry or possibly have recently been handed an initiative in which you are expected to build a change plan, and you don't know where to start, then you are reading the right message!

I'm so glad you clicked in today. I'm Rachel and I share real stories about change management, some inspiring and some downright frightening. Today's share is all about the unfortunate negative side of working in change and my first experience stepping into an official change role and how this was almost enough to scare me away from leading change...forever.

As I've shared in other articles, I was naturally curious and driven to the world of change through my experience in research, strategy, and project management. I wanted to dive in deeper on the people side and help make any transformations people experience a little less daunting by providing a path to get there. I could never have imagined what was ahead for me.

Naturally, when we are talking about people, the nature of work is far more sensitive. Change methodologies in the industry have identified that a person can be impacted by change in a variety of ways, defined by a categorical list. Some categories in this list are extremely sensitive and encompass a person's livelihood and how they put food on the table at home.

So here I am, this brand new change leader ready to make a positive impact for my customers. Though before stepping into my new shoes, I was not fully informed that my client's account would be experiencing a very large downsizing the following year (I'm talking people :() - this is critical information I found out on day two of my new job. What is worse is that I had limited support to lead this sensitive change, including any partners in HR and learning and development.

And so it became increasingly clear to me that I was expected to not only communicate this heartbreaking change, but also define the actual upskilling needed to get the employees that would be staying up to speed. Combing through the employee sentiment survey that I drafted and launched within my first month on the job was beyond heartbreaking: fear and confusion plagued the screen as I scrolled, particularly from employees in a specific region. It became very clear that transparency about the situation from multiple angles was missing. And that is the beautiful thing about people - because they can always sense when something is off and wrong, even if they don't have all of the information. This was evident in the survey results and meetings I attended.

While a huge part of me wanted to stay on this initiative and help people through this precarious path, I knew that steering this ship alone would not serve anyone right, including myself. I had to make a difficult but brave decision to accept that this particular change role was not where I should begin my career in this new space. Call it a crash course, call it a "career changing" role in change, call it whatever you will. I knew at my core that this was not the right position for me. But looking back, I am incredibly grateful for the discomfort and awareness this experience awarded me - it only broadened my understanding and gave me insight to anticipate changes of this nature.

I almost threw in the towel on change management altogether! But instead, kept searching for what was right. Since then, I have been very thankful to have led the digital transformation change planning for customers in a variety of industries as they adopted new technology solutions into their teams.

Keep flying with me on this journey, as I share real experiences and provide guidance that will help in your next change initiative.

Have particular questions about change? Hit reply, I would love to hear your story!