Change

In the past 18 months, with the coronavirus, we have all had to change the way we live, work, and serve our members.

Chambers and associations have had to make some changes to stay relevant. It is often said that nobody likes change, so much so that hundreds of books have been written on this very subject. But we also consciously understand that change is necessary for all growth. During our adolescence we called it growing pains. Perhaps this is where the negative connotation begins to resonate in our minds. Though it will be different, we know that change doesn’t have to be painful. It is our subconscious resistance to change that creates that internal struggle within us, producing feelings of anxiety and trepidation.

If we are not overwhelmingly convinced that we should make a change, we will go in with one foot already out the door.

On the flip side, when we understand that the change is going to benefit us, our paradigm or thought process shifts because now we feel in control of the change, rather than the change being in control of us.

I have come to realize that it is often due to our minds being so emotionally wrapped up in past practices and past results that it binds and limits us from thinking about what we, in business, truly desire …which is more business.

Our perspective of what we can do is based on past results and not on our true potential. This negative perception can impede our forward progress. It is our excuse to stay in that comfort zone that we have so carefully constructed around ourselves.

With change comes different feelings. Often these feelings are referred to as strange, weird, or even horrible. And as we all know, there have been some big changes in our chamber and association worlds and not everything is the same as it had been for so long. Things are now different than the way they were, but sometimes we have to remind ourselves that if the way we are doing some things now feels a little different, that’s okay, because that different feeling is progress and growth.

As we are moving forward with these changes, in time, we will all feel more comfortable and become familiar with our “new and improved” way of doing things. That time is now.

This isn’t going to happen overnight. It’s not going to happen in a day, a week, or a month, and it’s going to take a little time for all of us to become accustomed to our newly expanded member expectations. It’s going to take some time for us to adjust the way we used to do things, and to do the things necessary to stay relevant and valuable to our members. Sometimes these expectations can be overwhelming and it’s a challenge to try and accommodate every individual or organization that we serve.

Those of us that have chosen to be part of this great industry understand we have been presented with a big challenge and guess what? We took it because we knew then as we are proving every day that membership in our organizations makes sense because we will continue to provide a unified voice for business and support a sound and healthy business climate moving into the future.