Jan. 22, 2024

Ch ch ch changes… with Host Susan Ney | HR 67

Ch ch ch changes…  with Host Susan Ney | HR 67

Episode Intro:

Ch ch ch Changes… evokes David Bowie, Change – Taylor Swift and yes, The Times They are A-Changin, thank you Bob Dylan. But change isn’t just within song lyrics. Whether it be those New Year’s Resolutions or moving forward with organizational objectives, making small, incremental steps in the direction we are wishing to head truly works.

Interested in learning more? Hope you will join me!


About the Host:

Susan has worked with people all her life. As a human resource professional, she has specialized in all aspects of employment, from hiring to retirement. She got her start as a national representative for a large Canadian union. After pursuing an undergrad degree in business administration, Susan transitioned to HR management, where she aspired to bring

both employee and management perspectives to her work. Susan holds a Master of Arts degree in Leadership and Training. She retired from her multi-decade career in HR to pursue writing and consulting, and to be able, in her words, to “colour outside the lines.” She promises some fun and lots of learning through this podcast series. 

Susan is also the author of the book Leadership Inside Out: Effecting Change from

Within available on Amazon – click below

Leadership Inside Out: Effecting Change from Within: Ney, Susan G: 9781777030162: Books - Amazon.ca

If you wish to contact Susan, she can be reached through any of the following:

Website:          Home - Effecting Change from Within

Email:               susangney@gmail.com

Linked In:         www.linkedin.com/in/susan-ney-197494

Facebook:        www.facebook.com/susan.ney.5/

Phone:            (604) 341-5643

Thanks for listening!

It means so much that you listened to this podcast!  If you know of anyone else who might find this series of interest, please share. If you have questions about this episode, please send me an email at susangney@gmail.com


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Transcript
Susan Ney:

Hi, Welcome to HR inside out. I'm your host, Susan

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a. Wow, January 2024. At a time for new beginnings. Dear friend

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and colleague business intuitive Cheryl Brewster does monthly

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intention setting sessions and she shared that her motto was

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free to be me in 2023. It's now moved with the new year to I

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want more in 2024. And I don't think she's alone. Now it's

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obvious listening to her clients that she is indeed helping them

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to discover who That to me is, including what their personal

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Northstar looks like, to the point of indeed, wanting more. I

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know it's a journey. And it's one that I've certainly traveled

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many times in my own years. As I move closer to contemplating

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full retirement, it's one that it's a question that is again,

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increasing in importance for me. Who are we once we let go of our

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work identities? Or our heavier bodies? Or what are you working

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on that will result in change in your life? And how do we change

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to be able to get there? So topic for today's podcast, give

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me a drumroll dudududududu. The tool. Phil Eastwood for your

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group is encouraging us to take the 31 Day Challenge. Now this

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involves journaling every day for the next month. And he like

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I have found journaling to be a really valuable tool. And yes,

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contact information for all of those who I referenced, is

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included in the show notes to the podcast. He included an

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article in his day three prompt called tiny steps for massive

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change. And it reminds us that indeed, it is about the little

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things, the small actions that we take, that help us move

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progressively towards those goals. Phil shares that and I

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quote, massive change is not how we measure our progress. It's

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the little things, the small victories one day after the next

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that began to form the new picture of life. And we start

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putting them all together week after week, month after month

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after month consistently, that those tiny steps that we take

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will have a massive impact on our lives. Apparently, as soon

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as the 1% roll, it's also known as the aggregation of marginal

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gains. Yes, I know that's quite a mouthful. Interesting that

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it's a very same message that James clear shares in his

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excellent book, atomic habits, an easy and proven way to build

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good habits and to break bad ones. And the change, tiny

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changes do indeed create remarkable results. And jeez, it

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must be true. I was cozied up with a book over the holidays,

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called callings, finding and following an authentic life by

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Greg laboy and found the same thinking that was supported. Now

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the voice shares that the great breakthroughs in our lives

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generally happen only as a result of the accumulation of

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innumerable small steps and minor achievements. He also

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talks about how this can happen and how we can get prompted to

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make those changes. And he shares that we may be called out

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to reach out to someone to pick up an odd book on the library

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shelf. To sign up for a class even though we're convinced we

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don't have the time or the money. We go to our desks every

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day we turn left instead of right, and that these are the

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fire drills for our bigger calls. This led me to think of a

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time that I've been called to pick up an odd book off the

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library shelf, actually, like I did over the holidays. And that

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particular action prompted me to share my learning and thinking

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with you through this podcast. Why did I think that might be

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important? Because I like you and dealing with change in my

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life. Now some of its self inflicted, like my intent to

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find the hidden sletten slender body within me. And some had

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been created by my realities of the world that I live in family

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dynamics, work pressures, you know them. I want to do better

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in these areas and with some of them, I'm not sure when or how

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to start. When I reflect back on we're making changes been

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successful for me. It has indeed often been as a result of those

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small, incremental, forward moving changes that I have made

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along the way And it's often been as a result of those

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sometimes intuitive prompts, listening to what feels

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authentic and right for me, that has helped fuel my success. I'll

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give you a couple of examples. It was actually a conference I

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was sent to because my boss had registered and could no longer

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attend, that I was introduced to a whole new world of knowledge,

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new connections, New Directions, one that I suspect I would make,

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I would never have encountered, but for saying yes to the

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opportunity that had presented itself. That experience totally

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enhanced my life, it changed my life. And it very much broadened

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my thinking. Another example, was my decision to attempt to

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make peace with my father, that led me to become involved in my

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union many, many years back now. Now, that led me to involvement

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with the larger union movement, and eventual offer of employment

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with the Communication Workers of Canada. At the very beginning

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of my employment career, now this is experienced that have

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been extremely grateful for, because I eventually

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transitioned to working with employees within HR throughout

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most of the rest of my career. And going back to my roots has

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very much helped me understand people differently, and I think

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better. What small, incremental steps could you be taking to

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positively affect areas of your world that you wish to be

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different? Hey, couple more examples. I purposely parked

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four blocks from a doctor's appointment. And I took the

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stairs this morning. Another example, after being advised by

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a facial specialist that my skin was dry, because I was not

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hydrating adequately, and not drinking more water on a daily

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basis. Although changing habits through atomic changes works, it

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does also require patience, and persistence. If you're like me,

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seeing results quickly really motivates me. And though the

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wrinkles have not gone away, just in case you're wondering,

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just because I'm drinking more water. But it is a big problem

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of change. We tend to want to see that it's worth the effort,

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and we want to see it soon. I was on a call with a group of

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consultants the other day and we chatted about organizational

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change. I know it always felt to me that I had not yet adapted to

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one change before the next was upon us. I knew that everyone

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was struggling to keep up and as an HR professional, I saw the

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impact of constant change on our organizations. Over the course

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of my career, I witnessed the very real challenge of getting

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change initiatives to stick. Just like those weight loss

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programs that don't tend to work long term, the root cause of the

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matter needs to be addressed. And the steps are required to

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ensure that the change initiative is maintained, need

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to be in place. I see too many change initiatives fail both

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personally and within organizations, because it is too

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easy to return to what was more comfortable, the old way of

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doing things. And excellent recently published book titled

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work different 10 truths for winning in the people age speaks

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of the challenges that people leaders are up against daily.

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And what we need to be considering when creating the

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organizations that people actually want to work with it.

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And I will be interviewing one of the authors of that book on

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next month's podcast, and the final pages of the book they

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share and I quote, one of the biggest challenges that

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organizations face and implementing the recommendations

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in the book is resistance to change. Many organizations are

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used to doing things a certain way. And it can be difficult to

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get buy in from stakeholders for new approaches. So how can we

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change this? Whether we are reflecting on change for

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ourselves personally, or dealing with change elsewhere in our

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lives, like in our organizations? If the great

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breakthroughs in our lives, gender generally happen only as

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a result of the accumulation of innumerable small steps and

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minor achievements. Would not a similar strategy be appropriate

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at work? And when I think about it, most corporate change

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initiatives were the go bigger go home. Big project Big changes

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and big scary for many

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I know that we're I've broken projects into smaller bites,

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they have become less overwhelming and therefore more

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doable. And I also know that where there have been something

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requiring much change and many moving pieces, just starting

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somewhere has worked for me. Like when you write an exam and

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start with the easy question to build your confidence before you

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tackle the more difficult areas, or when dealing with annual

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performance reviews of working your way towards the more

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challenging ones, not starting with the most difficult ones.

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Then a shared by Greg and in the book callings. It's a drop in

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the bucket. But that's how a bucket gets filled up. Lots of

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different drops love that 2024 And New year, new challenges and

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new goals to accomplish. I'm going to listen to how I'm

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feeling I'm going to think about how I can meet those objectives

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by taking small steps towards them. And perhaps, as I see that

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I am capable of keeping those small steps, I will be motivated

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to take bigger steps and integrate those into my habits.

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If I fall and I'm very likely to, I will pick myself up, dust

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off those knees and get back onto the path forward. And there

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will be new. And so when I'm dealing with something new, and

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hey, I am I'm learning how to play chess. I'm a beginner and

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it is okay. That I need to read the introduction to chess book,

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many times that I still can't remember all the details of how

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the various pieces move. But I'm proud of myself that I'm finally

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taking the time to learn this game. I can't wait to play with

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my brothers. I know they're equally excited to hear that

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their sister is learning something they will be able to

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share and enjoy with her. And something old, how can you tell

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I have a daughter who's just getting married? No, I'm not

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going to continue on with something blue. But something

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old I have decades of paper files to go through and dispose

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of I have cupboards to purge and clothes to move along to someone

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who fits them better than I do. These are chores that have

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resided on my to do list for many years, it's been easier to

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ignore them. If they were not urgent. Yeah, they take up space

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in my life and certainly in my cupboards a drawer at a time,

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the shelf at a time. One handful of old documents at a time,

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small incremental steps. I know I can do this. What about you

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and work. All of those great ideas that were generated

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through your employee engagement survey, those projects that have

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been requested by the board, those emails that are still

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needing responding to after a period of time away. Start with

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something that resonates with you an idea that genuinely

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interests you, the client that you enjoy speaking with anyway,

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a piece of a project that gets a part of it on its way. And this

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indeed is how we change and how we have a better chance of that

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change sticking. I'm going to give it a try. And I'm going to

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let you know how it goes over the months coming up. Because

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yes, being accountable always, always also helps. I know

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there's a slim person hiding inside this body of mine. I know

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that I am capable of making fresh space within my home. And

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I have faith that whatever it is that you are wishing to make

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change on. You can do it too. And how about next month, I

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asked what the Mercer consultants and the authors of

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work different. My podcast guests next month, have found

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have been effective in the work that they do internationally

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with their clients to help ensure that those change

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initiatives are indeed successful. I wish you a

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wonderful new year and the very, very best in 2024 Thank you for

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supporting and listening to me on HR inside out. Remember,

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there to soar. I believe you can. Thanks for joining me and

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have a fabulous rest of your day. It's Susan signing out. Bye

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for now.