Survive Change at Work

Vanessa Gennarelli: Survive Change at Work

Shortly before this months podcast club we experienced some major change at work. Our executive vice president announced they were leaving the company. It was a shock and completely unexpected. Yes, at a big company like where we work we have a LOT of vice presidents, but executive vice presidents are people that run fairly large divisions and tend to be the center of the culture for that division - and such was the case for us. Many of us had been working with and building relationships with this leader for several years. And of course those of us that have been around long enough understand that when a leader at that level changes, that’s just the beginning of a series of changes that are likely to happen. I like to tell people to think about these as earthquakes and of course earthquakes often have aftershocks.

Of course, change is a constant, so there’s a skill in being able to roll with change and even survive and thrive through change. But it takes work. This months podcast seems very appropriate for the time we were in and I hope could help those of you if/when you experience change in your work life. Ot to think about how to support those that are.

The podcast is an interview with Vanessa Gennarelli who released her new book Surviving Change at Work this year.

Suggested discussion questions (if you need something to start the conversation):

• Have you experienced change in your workplace? How did you deal with it? How did the team collectively deal with the change?

• What’s the hardest thing about change at work?