A Quarterly Newsletter

Control Your Future Success!

Develop the No. 1 Skill You Will Need to Succeed Professionally 5, 10, or Even 20 Years From Now

What’s the No. 1 skill you can begin developing right now to guarantee your success in the future — to be employable and promotable 5, 10, even 20 years from now?

The Ability to Adapt Easily to Change
If you’re surprised the top skill you’ll need to succeed isn’t technology-based, you shouldn’t be. Business technology evolves so quickly that tech skills you learn today will get you today’s jobs but will be long obsolete a decade from now.

What won’t be obsolete in a decade is change. In fact, the rate of change has been accelerating exponentially since 1990 — and will only continue to accelerate in the business world as well as in society.

Those Who Adapt Survive and Thrive
That’s why business gurus agree: Those who learn to cope with change — to see change as an opportunity instead of a serious problem — will survive and thrive in business and industry in the 21st century. The changes we face are dizzying.

Organizational structures are changing as departments and divisions disappear, only to reappear in new guises. Individual roles are changing, with employees reassigned or shuffled from one department to another. Hierarchical lines are changing, middle-management expectations are changing, organizational attitudes are changing as businesses merge, restructure, and retrench on the rocketing rollercoaster of the U.S. economy.

4 Key Abilities for Future Success
To succeed in this increasingly fast-paced business environment, you must develop and maintain four key change-related abilities:
1. The ability to recognize what isn’t working.
2. The ability — and willingness — to modify and adapt to change as necessary.
3. The ability to motivate others through the change transition.
4. The ability to live with ambiguity and discontinuity.

How Adaptable to Change Are YOU?
The toughest of these skills, of course, is the second: to be willing to change and adapt. Why is that so difficult? Because most of us wish change would go away! As soon as we begin to feel comfortable and at ease with our job and career, along comes some major change, and it seems we’ve got to start all over again. It’s like the old saying: The only person who likes change is a wet baby.

True, some people are simply more adaptable than others. Highly adaptable people who take to change easily generally either . . .

Then there’s the rest of us — the majority of professionals who can find it difficult to adapt quickly to major change. If that describes you, it’s generally because you . . .

Becoming more adaptable: change management strategies
Luckily, the ability to adapt to change is a skill that can be learned, just like any other skill in the workplace. Below are four change management strategies guaranteed to help you become more adaptable so that you can use change to your professional advantage.

1. Be proactive in dealing with change.
Change doesn’t wait until we’re ready to deal with it. Being proactive means assimilating and integrating the change as quickly as possible. If you take a wait-and-see attitude, you’re likely to miss a vital change opportunity. To be proactive, you must:

2. Take control of change instead of letting it control you.
Change generally brings about either continuous improvement or continuous chaos. Improvement comes when you’re in control of the “change vehicle.” Without that control, expect chaos to rule. To take control of change, you must:

3. Train and retrain.
Mastering new skills through training and retraining is crucial to successful change management. Adapting to change by learning new skills can be hard work, but it brings considerable rewards:

4. Position yourself to excel.
Change offers those who accept it and adapt quickly the chance to shine while others flounder. What’s more, change often provides you with opportunities that can lead to rewards, recognition or promotion. The key is to position yourself to take advantage of the change. To position yourself to shine, you must:

Effective change management is the gateway to your future success: Adapt to change, and you will survive and thrive in our rapidly changing business world. Learn to recognize the opportunities change can offer you — and to cope with change effectively — and your professional potential in years to come will be unlimited!

Article adapted from the National Seminars Group website at http://www.nationalseminarstraining.com/.

Women’s Health Series

Do you suffer from hip or knee pain? Each year, millions of Americans limp into doctors' offices and emergency rooms with hip or knee problems. “Hip or Knee Pain?” will be presented by Misty Spano, R.N., program coordinator for the Joint Replacement Unit and Spine Center at Johnson City Medical Center. Scheduled for Tuesday, October 25, 2005, location for this Women’s Health Series Lunch Break Seminar is the East Tennessee Room, D.P. Culp University Center, noon.

Spano will discuss the causative factors surrounding hip and knee pain. The latest treatment options, along with information on medications, nutrition and exercise strategies, also will be addressed during Spano’s presentation.

On Tuesday, November 8, 2005, “Carpal Tunnel Syndrome” will be presented by Bea Owens, P.T., Ph.D., physical therapist with Johnson City Medical Center. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common condition affecting scores of Americans on a daily basis, and most often brought on by repetitive wrist actions. Owens will address the causes and diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome, along with covering preventative measures and strategies for managing wrist pain.

Location for this Women’s Health Series Lunch Break Seminar is the East Tennessee Room, D.P. Culp University Center, noon.

"Negotiation Skills for Women"

Margaret Kellogg, L.C.S.W., will return during September and October 2005 to conduct the interactive series, “Negotiation Skills for Women,” as part of the Women’s Professional Enrichment Series for fall 2005. Do negotiations make you nervous so that you end up just settling for less? Are you unsure of the techniques for successful negotiations? Do you lack the confidence to negotiate for what you want? If any of these questions sound familiar, then join us for this three-part series.

Scheduled for September 29, October 6 and 13, the series will provide practical techniques that can be implemented whether you are negotiating for that big raise, a promotion, or just buying a car. Kellogg will share the top three secrets successful negotiators use, along with other useful techniques that will better enable you to keep your focus under pressure.

All sessions will be held at the Women’s Resource Center, Panhellenic Hall, basement suite 2, at noon. Reservations are required. To reserve a spot or should you require additional information regarding this series, contact the Women’s Resource Center at 423-439-7847.

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