Small change: let pain be your teacher

One of the golden rules of change is: something will always go wrong. And often, that ‘something’ will be painful. Your people promising one thing then doing the opposite; your Board rejecting your strategy; an unexpected disaster that was outside of your control (thanks, The Economy). All of these issues — and many more — can pose big problems for any change agenda.

When this happens, it is common for leaders to put their heads in the sand, get defensive, or just steamroller on. This is understandable. But it ignores the gift of insight that pain wants to give.

In physiology, pain is the body’s way of saying “look, here’s something that needs your attention”. Instead of withdrawing from the pain, what would happen if instead you leaned into it — and asked what it’s trying to tell you about the work that you need to do?

Something to consider: what is the pain I’m experiencing trying to teach me?

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