How to Succeed at Work
Large changes at work can disrupt your life and shake your foundation, but how you look at it will determine if you come out on top.
Every change is an opportunity for you to advance above your peers. What determines how well every person reacts to change is how much they fight it. If you immediately accept, irregardless of how you personally feel about it, the changes your employer initiates you are already a step ahead of every single other employee you work with. Often as people we seek to find reasons for change in order for our minds to accept it, but this is not the case in a work environment. Irregardless of how idiotic the change, becoming an agent of that change can allow you to shine.
There are two approaches you can take, depending on how far you want to advance given this opportunity.
Approach #1 – Accept and ContinueWith this approach you set your goal to simply adapt to your new work environment and continue producing at the level you were producing before. This will guarantee your continued level of work performance, and no risk to your job.
Approach #2 – Accept and Adapt
With this approach you become an agent of your boss' change. You begin with the same steps as Accept and Continue, but you further inject yourself into the process of implementing change in your company. Whenever you have the opportunity, you put yourself in a position to ask your boss about a recent change the company has had. Do this no more than once or twice a week or you will seem overeager. During these opportunities ask if there is anything you can do to help implement the new changes. Start out simple, not giving too much praise or showing too much eagerness. Simply appear a helpful employee. Within the first week talk to as many employees as you can and carefully gather information on how they feel about the process and what is bothering them. Specifically note disruptive employees who speak abusively about the boss. It is easier to get this information if you reflect what they are saying back to them; as though you actually agree with those points.
During your next few “prime moments” of asking the boss about the continued changes, mention you had heard some feedback around the water cooler if he is interested. While discussing these things ask him if there's anything you can do to help foster changes and keep productivity high. The closer you get to building trust, the sooner you can begin to use the information you gathered earlier about disruptive employees to your advantage. Slowly praise those who are supportive and demean those who are resistive to change in your boss' eyes. This will place you in the position of a trusted confidant who is making the life of your employer less difficult. Eventually, you will work yourself into a position of trust with your employer that will make you next in line for positions of authority that come up. Remember, always be helpful, but never ever show that you can do your boss' job better than him. Control your image so you are supportive and not a threat. This is a fine line to walk, but it can determine whether or not you come out on top.
While the second approach is manipulative, it is a proven method of harnessing a situation to your advantage. Every change is a chance to excel. Take a hold of your future and don't let your desire to have things be familiar prevent you from accepting change and reaching higher.
