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Staff and members are looking to association executives and other leadership for guidance on how they should respond during this time of incredible transformation across the industry. How do you handle change amid challenging situations? You can do it with negativity, or you can do it with a conscious focus on joy.
“Life is all about learning, unlearning and relearning,” Amanda Gore, below, CEO of The Joy Project and closing speaker at the 2024 Joint AE Institute, says. “We can rewire our brains and change our story anytime we want to. Emotional intelligence is about knowing yourself, managing yourself and managing relationships.”
- Be aware of the stories you tell yourself. You can do this by observing your own thoughts and feelings and considering how you feel about yourself and how others feel around you.
- Understand the core fears that unconsciously drive us: “I’m not worth loving,” “I’m not good enough,” “I’m unsafe in some way,” or “I don’t fit in.” If you’re able to dispel these fears in yourself and others, people will feel better around you.
- Manage yourself and your mood to build resilience and to model the right spirit for your team. For example, use “gratitude glasses”; there’s always something to be grateful for. During moments of stress, take two deep breaths and blow the air out forcefully.
- Manage relationships by giving people recognition and acknowledgment. Create a “ta-da” culture by recognizing people’s accomplishments, big and small. And smile with your eyes as well as your mouth.
“The first emotion in response to change is fear,” adds Gore. “Your mission today, should you choose to accept it, is to challenge your fear story and consciously choose gratitude. That’s what starts rewiring the brain for joy.”
