Glasgow: Change and You – How to Approach Change at Work and in Life

WIBF Glasgow was delighted to organise this interactive session on how to deal with Change both professionally and as part of everyday life.

With real life stories and examples from the workplace, Athena McEwan took the audience on a journey of discovery, both of inner strength as well as of tools and techniques to cope with change. Based on latest research on the concepts of Change and Facilitative Leadership, the session aimed at providing a taster of all the resources available to ensure success in an ever changing world.

Athena McEwan is a lean six sigma Master Black Belt and has been dealing with Change all of her professional life, either as a leadership coach or as a leader herself in a variety of local and global roles. On a personal level, she has lived in five different countries and has had a few challenging changes to go through along the way. Athena is currently working at BNP Paribas Securities Services, based in Glasgow. She was a member of the Glasgow WIBF board (2016-2018, July), looking after communications.

The night started with a warm welcome by Athena and Manuela De Sousa, member of the WIBF Glasgow Board, after which attendees were asked to participate in an interactive game about change. The group looked at the rate of change over the past 30 years in everyday things as well as the workplace. Athena then presented recent research by Transcend and others on Change approaches and strategies for successfully embedding change at work.

The talk continued with an insight into Chip and Dan Heath’s book Switch!, a guide on how to deal with change in terms of three elements: our rational part (the Rider), our emotional part (The Elephant) and the environment (The Path). Having a scripted plan and acknowledging the emotional reactions to change helps a lot towards successfully managing it regardless of size or complexity, be it a full blown transformational programme at work, or family related changes at home.

The evening closed with some real life examples on how to use the tools presented and a more in depth sharing among attendees of personal stories and lessons learnt.
Some quotes from our members who attended the event:

• “My favourite event so far!”
• “I now feel I have the information I need to equip myself for all the change in my life”
• “I loved how interactive the event was and it was great sharing stories with other professional women going through similar situations.”
• “Great event and great turnout tonight!”

The night was enjoyed at the Bothwell street offices of BNP Paribas Securities Services, where our members, representing high achieving business women, enjoyed drinks and a chat before and after the event. This was a perfect opportunity for networking in a friendly and inclusive environment.