Move beyond theory to support your people through change
Each year, I spend time mentoring and supporting a group of young emerging leaders, and one of the areas I spend a lot of time on is building their change mindset muscle. I refer to it as a muscle because it is something that we all need to consistently work on to develop and strengthen. Change is the omnipresent part of being a leader. Not to get too philosophical, but even if we want something to stay the same, it’s not possible. Everything changes, and it is more than how we adapt to it; it’s also about how we lead and support our people through it.
There are more than enough theories, frameworks, and defined processes available to inundate Ph.D. students around the world, and controversially, I am not an advocate of one way of doing anything. Whilst it is beneficial to know and understand all these methodologies, it is important to remember that change management is not a linear process. A plan is a great place to align and articulate your thinking, but like all plans, they age pretty quickly and need to be adaptable to adjust to whatever your people and environment throw at you.
Change happens all the time. Every day. In the film industry, it often feels that it happens faster and more regularly. Something is always breaking. A project…