Brene Brown once wrote, “One day you will tell your story of how you overcame what you went through, and it will be someone else’s survival guide.”
GovLoop recently hosted a panel of career experts and government thought leaders to share their experiences and lessons learned in weathering tumultuous transitions while staying focused on their work and the mission of their organizations.
The speakers, recognizing that people often make changes during times of transitions, also shared ideas for how to find a new path forward.
Here are some of their suggestions for navigating the current transition.
The panel:
- Mika Cross, Government Workplace Expert and Workforce Transformation Strategist, Strategy@Work (moderator)
- David Bray, PhD, Principal, LeadDoAdapt Ventures, Inc.; Chair of the Accelerator & Distinguished Fellow, Stimson Center; Senior Fellow, Inst. for Human-Machine Cognition; and Expert, MIT Horizon
- Michelle Clark, Executive Director, Federal Alliances and Strategic Growth, Cornerstone OnDemand
- A’ndrea Jones, Perspective Pivot Executive, Innovation and Experience Design Solutions Architect
Keep Change in Perspective
Bray, who has held numerous senior roles in government, industry and academia over the last 30-plus years, has had to adapt quickly to unanticipated changes at several points in his career.
He worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 2000 to 2005, during which time he led CDC’s Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Program’s technology response to 9/11, as well as anthrax, West Nile, monkeypox and other international emergencies.
“You’re going to have things that happen to you that you can’t control,” he said. “You need to decide you can handle it with grace.”
Later, he helped agencies adapt to major technology developments, including Web 2.0, cloud and artificial intelligence. He understands that such dramatic changes can create a lot of anxiety, but he points out that disruption is not inherently bad.
“How do you distinguish between someone who is just a heretic and someone who is a heretic trying to bring an organization where it needs to be?” he asked.
Learn to Pivot
Jones, who has worked in government for 20 years, with a focus on innovation and workforce, said government employees, faced with big changes, should be open to the possibility of making changes of their own. She called it the power of the pivot.
“Don’t ever feel that you are so entrenched in what you are doing that you are not able to pivot,” she said.
But you also don’t want to rush into a pivot. Instead, take a personal inventory, looking at your knowledge, skills, experiences and connections, and see how they align with the opportunities that are available in the evolving landscape.
That way, she said, “we can determine the right pivot for us, so that we make that pivot in an intentional way and are sure of it.”
Maintain Your Balance
During times of transition, it’s easy to become so absorbed in work that you lose sight of other aspects of your life. Clark, a long-time senior executive in the federal market, learned this the hard way when the pandemic hit.
At the time, her father was turning 90-years-old, her son was turning 16 and, shortly after, her mother went into the hospital. Between the demands at home and the disruption at work, she had to ask, “How was I filling my cup?”
With everything going on right now, people need to ask that question for themselves. However demanding the current environment is, she said, “make sure you show up for your family, your friends and the people around you [at work].”
She recommends adopting a transition mindset, which has three key points:
- Remember your core.
- Stay true to your core.
- Stay connected with others.
Networking is especially important during major transitions, because it keeps you open to new and unanticipated possibilities. And openness is vital, said Clark. “We have to continue to push ahead,” she said. “You are always one conversation away from your next step, your next success.”
Get Comfortable With Discomfort
Cross, a government workplace expert who spent more than 20 years in public service, closed the event by reminding attendees that such challenging times can lead to real growth.
Cross said she always remembers a quote from Maria Roat, who was a senior IT leader in government for many years: “There is no growth in your comfort zone, and there is no comfort in your growth zone.”
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.