Speaker 1: 0:01

In my last episode, I spoke with Scott Hanton about transitioning from his work in analytical chemistry to leading a team. He had moments to make a career-changing decision. There are times when you have to do the research and analysis for a decision and other times when you need to make a snap decision, like Scott did. For the first decades of my life, I went where the wind took me. It was as if I was in front of a buffet and wanted to taste everything without committing to one choice. When I was uncomfortable, I'd walk away from all I knew and start clear over again. As you might imagine, that was a little disruptive and an overuse of my change management skills. Finally, I learned how to balance how I manage change. It was a series of steps and missteps that have me in better shape, while truly accepting that we are all a work in progress. Hi, I'm Becky. Welcome to Short Story Long. In this podcast, we discuss ways you can integrate who you are into how you lead. Today, I am offering strategies for building your skills as a leader. Let's break down how balancing the cost and benefits of change is so important.

Speaker 1: 1:20

One of the benefits of Flowing as the Wind changed in my early years was that it cultivated a growth mindset within me. You may have heard of the book by Carol Dweck where she describes the difference between a fixed and a growth mindset. A fixed mindset is the belief that abilities and intelligence are set and cannot be changed. A growth mindset perspective is foundationally the opposite. With that you recognize that obstacles, challenges and changes provide something to learn, no matter the result. It can be hard to make a shift or to decide to take on something new because you see the possibility of failure or embarrassment. When you embrace that growth mindset, you realize it's a challenge and you won't know everything. Growth can happen fast through transformation, or it can happen slower through commitment and perseverance. Naturally, transformation means taking more risks, operating with less information and taking a first step when you really can't see the second one.

Speaker 1: 2:27

Scott was faced with a choice between working for someone he would not want as a leader or taking on the role himself. He knew he wasn't an expert in leadership, even though he had some foundational experiences. He was asked to take a major leap into a role with a different context and a career goal that looked nothing like his prior goals. How do you even make a choice like that? The truth is, some of you will never enjoy the experience of agility. I'm a little odd in that I enjoy the rush of reviewing all the angles, with a little bit of time pressure. You may not love the time pressure, but you have skills and experience that will support you in making those choices. You might remember when I was talking to Teresa a couple of episodes ago that she too really put a limit on the amount of time before she made a decision because she knew that that time pressure would give her an extra push and a little bit extra growth in that regard. Turns out that worked out well for her and it worked out well for Scott and it may work out well for you.

Speaker 1: 3:41

One thing in Scott's story really stood out. He said and of course I'm paraphrasing here hey boss, let's try this conversation again. Then he walked out and re-entered as if the first round hadn't even happened. After gathering small pieces of critical information, he took a step back, reviewed and embraced making a decision. Scott prioritized based upon what he knew and made the best decision possible in that moment. Truthfully, if a conversation with friends and family had him regretting the decision, he could have gone to work the next day and said he changed his mind.

Speaker 1: 4:23

Who knows what the company might have said, but that's secondary. He still had agency to change course if he wanted. That's actually usually the case. A change you make usually doesn't eliminate other options permanently. Sure, in some high-stakes situations you might, but that's not the most common.

Speaker 1: 4:46

Agility finds good partnership in iteration. You might say to yourself I chose this, but I'm going to change my direction by a degree or two. I want you to reflect on that for a moment. How many people would notice a couple degrees, of course, change in what you decide to do? And if they do, what flexibility and empowerment will you request when you are making a big change?

Speaker 1: 5:16

Another relation to agility might be a sibling to iteration. That is, to fail fast and learn from your mistakes. So okay, imagine Scott becomes a leader in the organization and finds out it is super hard for him. Maybe he makes a few mistakes along the way. He actually even said that he did. He absolutely failed fast and learned from those mistakes. He didn't have some of the skills and it left him with less resources than some of his peers. He was motivated to learn that skill and even later outperformed those colleagues. It's not bad to have knowledge, skill or experience gaps.

Speaker 1: 6:00

When you embrace a growth mindset, you recognize you can learn what you need to learn. Whether you made the right decision or created the right change is actually in the eye of the beholder. When I flipped my life upside down without much forethought, I may have had some small regrets, but usually was headed in a direction that suited me better. Thankfully, I've learned to temper how much I change at once, though it is still quite dangerous when you hear me say I have a cool idea. There are a few key points that you might want to bring to mind when it matters that you are effectively agile. One thing is that growth mindset. You do have the ability to learn new things. Your intelligence can grow from wherever you are today. One of the other things that I think is really key is that recognition that you can make slight adjustments and course changes as you go, because making a choice doesn't actually eliminate all of the other alternatives.

Speaker 1: 7:08

The other strategy I talked about today is to fail fast and learn from any mistakes you believe you've made. You likely have higher expectations of how you perform on that new thing for the first time than anyone else around you. Give yourself some of that grace fail fast and learn. You may never love it, but you can gain more comfort with agility. You have what it takes to shift and flex. You have the ability to solve problems. Sure, it's worthwhile to ask yourself about the worst that could happen. I ask my clients about that all the time. It's also worthwhile to imagine a world where things work out. There's a non-zero chance of good things happening, so you can embrace that too. Thanks for listening. If you found this episode helpful, share it with someone who could benefit from it. Until next time, I'm Becky Fraser, reminding you to integrate who you are with how you lead. Okay, bye.