Change often can ignite or kill people’s faith in the future. Resilience with and dedication to making change happen depends on them perceiving change as an opportunity. Blind loyalty produces stagnation, atrophy of skills, and less big picture thinking. People will pass up opportunities for development, risking the preparedness of the group in order to “be taken care of.” In this scenario any change is threatening and will likely be sabotaged. They are not up to the challenge. On the flip side, people who are open to possibilities, curious, and interested in learning what might come from change, they often enable it.

The first chore in managing change is the toughest: self-management. Get that right, and you are halfway there. Examine your own attitude to learning and growth. Evaluate your personal investment in pushing for change. Sometimes the best management tool is a mirror.