This is Part 2 of a two-part series on leading yourself while ‘adrift’ from an organisation. In Part 1, I broadly covered the potential for learning and growth when in a state of limbo, like what many are experiencing during the Pandemic of 2020. The series continues … Being in limbo or adrift, is to be amidst uncertainty and ambiguity. Can you image what could be more uncertain and ambiguous than right now? And how do you prepare for that? Looking back, if you had known this was the situation you were going to arrive in - what preparation would you have made to ease the current situation?

Possibly the most common question I get asked is "what training or course do I need to do to get into change management". And for a long time there has been stock standard answers that I'm not sure I've always agreed. In my heart of hearts I don't think training programs turn you into a change manager or should give a newbie the keys to the proverbial Ferrari to rip up the transformation highway at full tilt. Here's why.

The 'pandemic of 2020' has disrupted our personal and work lives. For some, this disruption has been to be cut adrift, to be untethered, from an organisation or employment. So much daily structure, personal identity, and validation comes from having a job. To be adrift is functionally unsettling:  routines are lost; skills are not used; and activities remain undone. It's emotionally destabilising: there's a shame element to say "I'm unemployed", is if my value ceased when nobody nor an organisational identity, is seeing and utilising the value I have to contribute.  In being adrift, it's also to lose touch with resources and opportunities to gain personal value and contribute value. You are lost in limbo. Actually, that's just one perspective.

“Value” is a term popping up a lot in my conversations lately. Like many words in the English language, it gets defined and used in diverse ways – which is a source of frustration in those conversations but also a catalyst to have a conversation that is richer in meaning. So why is the notion of Value useful in thinking about and making change?