Now think about that for a moment. There are at least two ways in which you can interpret this statement. One way to look at it is to see that the rate of change is not constant, the depth of change is not constant and that the nature of any change is not constant. It changes all the time. It is the reality that change happens continually that is the constant.
To view change as a single event (as is often easier to cope with) is to ignore the reality that what changes and how it changes, is not fixed. And once we understand that it is called change exactly because things don’t stay the same. Change bombards us every day and we have a hard time to cope with the changes that are thrown at us from so many directions.
And this is where a second interpretation of the statement that change changes becomes important. If we understand that change is a constant, then we can prepare ourselves for those inevitable changes. Embracing change will change you. And if you allow change to change you in positive ways, then you are building a great coping mechanism for when it seems the world around you has gone mad!
If you resist change and ignore the realities of change, then change will also change you. But that change in you will be far less positive and is likely to cause great anxiety and fear in you. Therefore, allow yourself to understand that being kind to yourself during periods of change is vital and that allowing change to positively change you is a skill. It doesn’t come naturally and that is why building change coping skills is such an important component of leadership.
Choosing to be a leader is choosing to learn the skill of coping with change. Neglecting your learning-curve skill path is equivalent to saying that change is restricted to a single event periodically. Making change changes you positively a reality, will give you better coping skills as a leader as the inevitable change keeps happening.