Acceptance is Part of Change

I have enjoyed a varied career and a few years ago I shared with my team a chart of the many places I had worked over the years.  I had enjoyed working for a company for a few years and when I ran into a rule or an element that did not align with what I valued, I moved on.  Later, when I helped start a company, I ran into something I had not experienced: people requesting the company to change versus adapting to what the company was offering.  

My thinking and approach to work and career were being challenged, and members of the workforce were turning the workplace culture on its head in the process.  Yes, I do enjoy taking feedback and input from the team.  Yet, there must be an acceptance and appreciation for who the company or organization is to begin with.  To simply ask the business to change to meet the needs of individual employees is unreasonable and not possible.  

I am a leader who solicits and encourages feedback to improve systems, policies, and procedures.  I have always viewed the collective team as smarter than any one member, including myself.  I know that in a group of employees, some of the best ideas are still waiting to be discussed and implemented.  When we work together, the potential for new ideas and improvements is merely weeks, not months, away from implementation.  

I like to remember the words of the poet, Maya Angelou.  “If you don’t like something, change it.  If you can’t change it, change your attitude.”  She nicely incapsulates the concept that working for change is possible.  However, what you cannot change, you need to accept.  For me that acceptance was knowing that I did not ask a business to change to meet me or my demands; that seemed to level up to a higher plain of narcissism which is toxic in any workplace.     

My encouragement as a leader is to solicit feedback and ideas and make changes when and where possible.  Also, in the process define what is possible to set the parameters so that team members know the boundaries and have appropriate expectations that elements of the business or organization can improve and other elements will not change.  Do not expect your team to know what you do not effectively communicate.