Charity management: Change, Change, Change!

Music and charity management have things in common – Recognise any of these songs?

‘Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes’ – this is of course from one of the many songs of the late, great David Bowie, very aptly named ‘Changes’. An optimistic song, he wrote this whilst going through a lot of personal change.

Then you have Sheryl Crow singing about what changes would be good for different people to make in their life.

‘A change, (A change would do you good) Would do you good,’

And last but not least in this musical look at change, we have ‘Wind of Change’ by the ‘Scorpions’.

‘The future’s in the air I can feel it everywhere Blowing with the wind of change’

Whilst writing this, I discovered that the band wrote this song whilst in Moscow in 1989. They were inspired by their previous visit in 1988 when they played in Russia and were cheered on by so many Russians despite the fact that they were a German band, during a time of great tension between the two countries. What an inspiration of the power of change!

When you realise how many songs are written about change, you realise how much it impacts people and how frequently. Change is happening all the time. It happens in all elements of our life. Sometimes we feel that change is being done to us and sometimes we drive it ourselves. Sometimes we welcome it and sometimes we reject it. Sometimes we feel frustrated by change and sometimes we feel inspired by change. But whatever happens, change isn’t going to stop.

So how do you deal with the change that is an inevitable part of your life?

We all react to change differently. Remembering this helps you deal with your frustrations when other people ‘just don’t get it’. It also helps give you permission that it’s ok to feel a wide variety of emotions and you allows you to work out how to move forward with the change.

So do you look for what will be the same when the change happens or do you look for what will be different?

Are you someone who looks at what you will gain in the future or do you look at what you are leaving behind?

Do you need to know all the details of the change or are you happy enough with knowing the general direction?

Are you someone who seeks to make changes all the time or are you more comfortable when things are changing?

Thinking about your answers to these questions can help you better understand how you deal with change. The more you understand this, the more equipped you will be to deal with change in the future. What do you do, how do you think, what do you communicate to yourself and others that helps you deal with change? And what do you do, how do you think, what do you communicate to yourself and others that gets in the way for you dealing with change?

There are lots of questions for you to ponder over. It can be useful to reflect on how you have dealt with change in the past and what you have learnt from your experiences. Of course every change is different but you may be able to recognise patterns in your behaviours, thoughts and actions that can help you better deal with change in the future. Don’t disregard the past, use it to help you move forward.

Charity management at Charityfair

To find out more about how you can best help yourself through times of change, come along to my workshop Managing yourself through the ups and downs of change at Charityfair on 24-25 May. We won’t be looking at song lyrics I’m afraid but we will be looking at the Change Curve and helping you explore how you react to change and how you can help yourself through it … because at the end of the day, the best person to get yourself through change, is you!

Book workshops now from only £35.