What to change when change is hard.
Ashleigh Tennent
Founder of More Happi. Coach and writer. Follow for insights on building a high performing coaching culture as you scale.
“My team doesn’t need to learn to embrace change!”
Said no leader ever.
At More Happi, change is something we’ve learnt to run towards.
(not away from)
But it hasn’t always been that way.
We know that it’s wonderful (and vital for growth), but it can be incredibly uncomfortable too.
When I think of change, a great quote by Henry Ford comes to mind.
“If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you always got."
As founders, leaders, parents even… we know that change is around the corner of every worthwhile decision.
But leading through it? Well, that’s where the challenge REALLY kicks in.
It’s easy to think that less change = less stress. However, the truth is that a rigid, unchanging culture can become stagnant and brittle.
This can lead to:
The result?
Less focus
Dampened confidence
Greater risk of burnout
The antidote:
The key is to foster an environment where change is expected, manageable, and even exciting.
At More Happi we’ve developed practices that build flexibility and resilience - allowing the team to confront changes with confidence instead of fear.
In addition to everyone in the team having access to a coach (and encouragement to use their sessions during work hours), we love Jonathan Haidt’s ‘The rider, the elephant and the path’ analogy.
How it works:
When we’re faced with change, our rational and emotional sides are often at odds.
Our instinct is to do things the way they’ve always been done, while our mind tries to convince us otherwise.
But what if you could direct both of them toward the same goal?
NYU psychologist Jonathan Haidt uses an analogy to guide behavioural change: the Rider, the Elephant and the Path.
✔️ The Rider is the rational mind that plans, analyses and problem-solves (the logical part).
✔️ The Elephant is the emotional mind that provides the power for the journey and is associated with willpower, emotions and wants.
Unsurprisingly, it’s stronger and more powerful than logic.
For example: The rider says X change will benefit the team long-term, but the elephant says that it’s too soon and settles to keep things the way they are.
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✔️ The Path is the environment we have to traverse to get to our goal.
The Rider can have the clearest direction – but if the Elephant doesn’t want to move, or the Path is full of obstacles, we’ll never reach our goal.
To make real change happen, it’s essential to work on all three.
Coach lab questions for your fortnight:
What change is causing the most challenge for your team right now?
What emotions is this bringing up for everyone?
How can you help your team understand the ‘why’ behind this change? How could you celebrate small wins and milestones along the way?
Who needs extra support, training or coaching through this?
Stop firefighting and get back to what you do best.
Give employees a reason to stay (even when budgets are tight), so that you can get back to building a successful business.
In my goal to support People People and Founders of start-ups, scale-ups and charities get time back for the stuff they enjoy (whatever that means for them), I’m now opening a limited number of complimentary 1-2-1s in June.
Chat with me to supercharge your strategies for effectively:
As someone who has navigated these challenges as a founder, leader, and certified coach, I'm excited to provide personalised guidance tailored to you.
Book a 1-2-1 with me and learn how. (30 minutes)
Yes, it’s totally free.
A little bit about me (your guide)
For those of you I haven't met yet, I'm Ashleigh, founder of More Happi :) Nice to meet you! 👋
I’ve worked across 9 industry start-up sectors, ranging from fashion trend forecasting, to wool, tampons, sustainable lightbulbs and more.
I trained to be a coach in 2020, after over 20 years in Product, Marketing and Leadership roles.
I noticed something that irked me.
Coaching is transformational for people’s life and career.
But the coaching industry was broken. 😟
Due to high costs, only the usual suspects at the top of organisations were able to benefit from the superpowers that professional coaching brings — fuelling a vicious circle of privilege that sustains the status quo and leaves everyone else behind.
It wasn’t fair. So I’m fixing it. And so far, thousands have benefitted.
Interested in learning more about the most accessible coaching service ever created? Discover more here.