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PERSPECTIVE 18 Long Beach Business Journal
August 19-September 1, 2014
Lead Change. Manage Transitions.
EDITOR & PUBLISHER George Economides SALES & MARKETING EXECUTIVE Heather Dann SALES & MARKETING ASSISTANT Cori Lambert DISTRIBUTION Conrad Riley EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT SENIOR WRITER Samantha Mehlinger STAFF WRITER Brandon Ferguson PHOTOJOURNALIST Thomas McConville COPY EDITORS Lindsay Christopher and Pat Flynn The Long Beach Business Journal is a publication
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hether change is being thrust upon you or you are boldly going where others have not, it would be a good idea to dissect change to gain a better understanding of it. Change is not always the dreaded exercise often portrayed in the media. There are times when change ■ EFFECTIVE excites us, energizes us, and LEADERSHIP motivates us. Buying a new By Mick Ukleja car, getting a different house, developing that new relationship, are all examples of inviting change. So where’s the real rub in change efforts? It’s not the actual change, but the transitions – adapting to the change – that create most of the tension. Change is an event. Buying a new house and moving in. Transitions are the protracted processes that we must go through subsequent to a change effort. Getting used to the house – new ways of doing things, different impact on relationships, new routes to community locations – can take months of adjustment. The same principle is true when changing jobs, overhauling your golf swing, or adopting a new company policy. The transition requires new ways of doing things. This is not automatic. What is automatic are the 95 percent of the things we are now doing, the things on autopilot that we get so much done with little effort or thought. Folding clothes and driving cars fall into this category, as do many routines around the home and office.
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Vol. XXVII No. 16 August 19September 1, 2014
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The 5 percent that is left over is used to recognize and make necessary changes. Let me state the obvious. Something must end for something better to begin. And it can hurt! But there is a big difference between hurt and harm. Everyone hurts when making a change leading to growth and productivity. But it’s not harmful. Harm leads to damage. Do not avoid hurt because you confuse it with harm. Pruning can hurt, but it produces growth and development. This is why transitions require emotional awareness and regulation. Our emotional responses are real. Every leader must acknowledge this. Embrace the fact that you are uncomfortable. Then ask, “What is the stress from? Let’s analyze it. Is it from something that’s wrong, or is it due to the transitions in changing?” Just thinking about it can bring relief. Gaining insight into the stages of transitions is helpful. Here are four. The first stage involves “routines.” They are already in place. Familiarity with certain routines makes the transition much easier to navigate. Sometimes it’s a matter of building on what exists. It could be as simple as canceling a low-value meeting and sending an email instead. Small improvements can make a big difference. Don’t change everything, but improve something. A second stage deals with “endings.” The resulting discomfort is normal. This is because it has a more personal impact on our lives. Our natural tendency is to resist. This can make us crosswise with life itself. It’s a time of goodbyes. Grief is an accompanying emotion since loss is a factor. A third stage is abeyance. This is simply a time of waiting for a change to happen. It can be character-
ized by low energy, apathy or ambiguity. This is a condition where the person adapts to the “misery” because there is nothing they can do about it. It is out of their control. This can be incredibly distressing for those professionals who view themselves as energetic and decisive. They think, “What’s happened to me?” The key is to lead people through these stages to the fourth stage which is “starting.” The “starting” stage is a time of energy, vision, hope, and excitement. New things are eagerly tried. Freedom to make progress is juicing the employee’s energy. This eventually becomes routine, right where we started. Like all models, it is not always perfectly sequenced by you or your people. But it provides markers to know where you are in the process, and where to move them next. Understanding this model prevents everyone from being blindsided. Knowing what stage you are in minimizes the “despair.” If you want change initiatives to be successful, then transitions will take a lot of energy and require a lot of attention. If managed well, any loss of productivity will be temporary and promises more productivity in the future. If managed poorly, toxic behavior can be seeded in the organization and linger for years. Lead Change. Manage Transitions. (Mick Ukleja has co-authored several books including Managing the Millennials. He helps organizations create environments in which all generations can thrive. He is a keynote speaker and president of LeadershipTraq, a leadership consulting firm. His clients have included Fortune 500 corporations and non-profit organizations. Check his weekly blog at www.leadershiptraq.com.)
January) – 25 copies annually. The Business Journal premiered March 1987 as the Long Beach Airport Business Journal. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited unless otherwise stated. Opinions expressed by perspective writers and guest columnists are their views and not necessarily those of the Business Journal. Press releases should be sent to the address shown below. South Coast Publishing also produces Destinations and the Employee Times magazines. Office South Coast Publishing, Inc. 2599 E. 28th Street, Suite 212 Signal Hill, CA 90755 Ph: 562/988-1222 • Fx: 562/988-1239 www:LBBusinessJournal.com Advertising and Editorial Deadlines Wednesday prior to publication date. Note: Press releases should be faxed or mailed. No follow up calls, please. For a copy of the 2014 advertising and editorial calendar, please fax request to 562/988-1239. Include your name, company and address and a copy will be sent to you. Distribution: Minimum 22,000. Regular Office Hours Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Business Journal Subscriptions Standard Bulk Rate: $28.00 1st Class: $70.00 (25 issues – 1 year)
Concussions And ACL Injuries – A Duo That Is On The Rise In Youth Sports ids competing in sports is as common as fireworks on the Fourth of July, because for most kids being active and playing sports is a way of life. Participation in sports offers social, emotional and physical benefits for children, and the rate at ■ HEALTHWISE which kids are playing By Kenneth sports has never been Huh, M.D. higher. In the U.S. alone, approximately 30 million children participate in some form of organized sports each year. However, just because playing sports is fun does not mean there isn’t potential for injury and that is where the numbers get interesting. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than 2.6 million children 0 to 19 years old are treated in the emergency department each year for sports and recreation-related injuries, while high school athletes account for an estimated two million injuries, 500,000 doctor visits and 30,000 hospitalizations each year. Whenever you associate the words injury and sports in the same sentence it rarely ends without talking about two of the most common and serious injuries in sports today – concussions and anterior crucial ligament (ACL) injuries. These two injuries seem to be grabbing all the headlines, but for all the wrong reasons, as concussion and ACL injury rates are on the rise in professional sports and now their presence can be felt in youth sports as well. A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and TBI’s are responsible for nearly 630,000 emergency room visits, more than 67,000 hospitalizations and 6,100 deaths in children and teens each year, according to research from the CDC. There are between 250,000 and 300,000 ACL injuries per year, and they're almost exclusively happening to
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athletes. The incidence of ACL injuries in adolescents has risen dramatically over the past decade and account for 30 percent of all knee injuries in young soccer players. Despite the fact that these injuries are two of the more prevalent injuries in sports, the key is to be aware and to learn how to prevent sport-related injuries. A concussion can be caused by a blow or jolt to the head that can change how the brain normally functions. Concussions can occur from a fall or a blow that causes the head and brain to move quickly back and forth. In most cases, a concussion is described as a “mild” brain injury because they usually are not life-threatening. Even so, their effects can be serious which is why kids and parents need to know how to prevent them. Some of the most basic ways your child can avoid a concussion is to always wear proper safety equipment and make sure it fits properly, follow their coach’s rules for safety, the rules of the sport and practice good sportsmanship. Awareness of signs and symptoms of concussions – commonly headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness and short
term memory loss – is vital to allow for immediate removal from the sporting event and to help monitor when it is safe to return. An anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury is a tear in one of the knee ligaments that joins the upper leg bone with the lower leg bone. The ACL keeps the knee stable and bears a large amount of stress during sport activities. Injuries can range from mild, such as a sprain of the ligament, to severe, when the ligament tears completely or when the ligament and part of the bone separate from the rest of the bone. However, if your child performs training drills that improve balance, power and agility to their lower body, and plan for at least four weeks of endurance training before their sport begins, they can help protect themselves from ACL injuries. A pediatric orthopedic specialist knows that musculoskeletal problems in children are different than adults so if your child suffers a sports-related injury you should take them to see a pediatric orthopedic specialist right away. (Kenneth Huh, M.D., is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, sports medicine specialist at Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach)
EARTHTALK: Antarctica’s Dear EarthTalk: To what extent is Antarctica really melting and what impact might it have on coastlines around the world? – Andrea Hutchinson, Cary, NC he Antarctic continent, roughly the size of the United States and Mexico combined, is composed of rock covered by glaciers some 16,000 feet thick. The glaciers form from fallen snow compacting into successive layers of ice, and they eventually move downhill toward the coasts and “calve” into the ocean as icebergs and eventually melt out into the sea. Antarctica and Greenland combined hold about 99 percent of the globe’s freshwater ice.
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According to the National Snow & Ice Data Center, the result of the entire Antarctic continent melting out completely would be sea level rise of about 200 feet around the world, which could in turn lead to untold devastation. While no one can be sure how hot things will get as a result of global warming, most climate models don’t forecast conditions hot enough to cause the wholesale melt-out of Antarctica. In fact, the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) reports that the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, which constitutes about two-thirds of the world’s southernmost and iciest continent, is remaining relatively stable, with some slight melting that is bal-