“Taking time to think is not a luxury item during times of change”
Eleanor Tweddell
How to think through change
Keynote Speaker
Consultant
Workshop Facilitator
Bio in 10 words: Change | Transformation | Rethinking | Podcaster | Writer | Bibliophile | The Lake District | Loves a good ramble
Location: UK
“Creating time to think and reflect in moments of change is not a luxury item, it’s essential to moving through what happens next well”
So, Eleanor, what's your thing?
I help individuals, teams and organisations to see change as opportunity. It started when I lost my job, and began to write about how we navigate change, and the idea that it could be an opportunity. There was a moment I realised that change is a messy process and need to embraced, so my work is now about creating space to think through change so that they own what happens next.
I work as a consultant to help organizations create change programmes to support new directions, I run workshops about navigating change as a team and I work with people 121 coaching who are going through change.
What are some of the common themes/trends you're finding when carrying out your work?
In the messiness of change it’s hard to find time to think, in fact it is seen as a luxury item in many cases. And yet creating quality time to think is the most powerful, transformational thing you can do in moments of uncertainty and change.
What role does your expertise play in shaping a company?
My work involves supporting leaders to work through their own change story and understand how they navigate change. From there we develop a strategic narrative and a change programme for the organisation. My focus is on helping employees navigate change, understanding their own change story and how they connect with the organisational transformation.
What has been your best success?
When I lost my job I think I was heartbroken. I was really enjoying the role running graduate and apprentice programme, the team and the graduates were special people and it felt great to be growing together. So moving through the shock on job loss, and creating the space t think about what happens next was hard - but I’m proud of the bold moves I took. Some weren't great. But I kept going. And starting the blog which became the book, and business, and now how its growing. I have to look back and think I’d be very proud of myself and where I am now - something good out of what felt like despair at the time.
What has been your best failure?
Change is messy. We often hope to find one beautiful perfect answer but it is rarely there. In my moments of career change I have made decisions I regret, poor investments, wrong directions. And as much as ‘change errors’ can be frustrating, they have to be part of the process. It’s where you accelerate growth and understanding.
Where do businesses go wrong when it comes to change?
When businesses are going through change they often pull back on being bold, honest, inclusive. Leaders start to minimise sharing and transparency. During times of change is the moment to dial up being bold, sharing and including people. It’s part of helping people through change, and part of finding the right direction to work towards. And it’s not just about leaders leading change, it’s about everyone in the business leading themselves through the change too. Everyone has to take ownership.
Share an exercise/action that someone can do now to help themselves/their business.
Your Change Story exercise
A simple exercise to get you, and your team thinking, is to go round the five steps to owning your change story. We all have a change story - the things we tell ourselves about how things are going, and what we’ll do next. Starting with these 5 simple steps, start to create time to think deeper about the change happening.
Sit with each steps for 2 minutes - set a timer - think of the questions and write down everything that comes up for 2 minutes, don't stop writing, even when you get stuck just keep writing whatever comes to mind.
Acknowledge - What is the change happening? How does it impact you?
React - What do you notice, about how you are reacting, about others around you?
Process - What does this change really mean to you?
Explore - What opportunities does this change bring? What ideas do you have?
Choose - What are your options? How are you going to be as you navigate through change?
At the end of 10 minutes look through what you have written. What things do you need to dial up, and dial down, are there some insights you need to remember, are there some actions you need to work on?
This is the start of owning your change story as you become more aware of the things in your control and the opportunities around you.
What book/podcast (related to your thing) do you highly recommend?
Well of course I’d recommend my own! Another Door podcast - sharing stories and experiences of when a door closes, and what to do next.
But also I really love the books High Status Happy by Viv Groskop and Purpose by Jessica Huie.
Work with Eleanor
Book Eleanor to work with your team - a group programme supporting teams through change - exploring dynamics, connections, contributions - and all the bits in-between!.
Book a keynote talk - ‘How to own your change story’ - how to see change as opportunity
Create strategic thinking time - work with Eleanor through a consultancy lens to develop your strategy to navigating change for your team, organisation, or you.