Change can feel like being lost in the woods at night. You aren’t sure which direction to go, the path ahead has disappeared, and part of you wonders if you should simply turn around. What you choose to shine your attention on in those moments often determines how you experience the journey.
I was recently meditating and the prompt was to think of my attention as a flashlight. It was to shine that flashlight on my breathing and notice when it started shining somewhere else. Imagine if we did the same while navigating change. Do you shine your flashlight into the trees to see what might be lurking? Do you shine it behind you to see if you could just retreat? Do you dim the light because you aren’t sure where to focus? Maybe you shine it on the path before you so you can see where you are going.
As a leader, you have to focus not only on where you shine your light but the lights of your team members. Are they all shining in different directions? Have some of them pointed them to a completely other path? Are they moving them from one thing to another so quickly everything is a blur?
First, acknowledge that you are in the woods too. You have to navigate the same path they do while also helping them through it. The team already knows you are affected by the change too. Pretending that you aren’t often creates more uncertainty and even mistrust. Instead, note you are experiencing difficult feelings and demonstrate how to regulate them. If they get away from you, recover, acknowledge it, and keep moving forward. You don’t have to be perfect.
Then, help team members take stock of where the flashlights are pointing. Help people understand what they’re being asked to do, what they may experience as they let go of old ways of working, and the emotions that naturally accompany change. When people understand the process, it becomes easier to keep their flashlight pointed toward progress instead of uncertainty.
Next, get all the beams headed in the right direction. There may be times that a sound in the trees or a shadow ahead causes the group to pause. Help them process the obstacle. What looks like a cliff may actually be crossed by a bridge they already possess: an existing skill, relationship, or past experience they simply haven’t recognized yet. Naming the obstacles can help the group refocus on the path ahead. If you or a team member finds themselves wanting to go back the way they came, explore what is pulling them back and how to let go and move through the change. Continued communication and check-ins can reinforce forward momentum and keep the lights on the path ahead.
Eventually, you and the team will come out of the woods and into a new beginning. Then it is time to celebrate the benefits of the change, the work they (and you) have done to make it happen and the opportunities that lie ahead.
Keeping everyone’s light focused, including your own, is challenging at best. Transparency, emotional regulation, naming the challenges, and focusing forward can make the next change feel less like a haunted forest and more like a walk in the park.
