Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM JANUARY 2018 38 O n some level, when the calendar page moves from December 31 to January 1, nothing is really different. You probably live in the same house. Use the same favorite mug for your morning coffee or tea. You might have the same partner or spouse. Or not. But mostly, we like new beginnings anyway, and I, for one, am a big fan of both reinvention and new beginnings. January 1 is as good a time as any to begin imagining something different is just over there, on the horizon, and we can be filled with equal parts trepidation and equal parts excitement. When imagining new beginnings in your work, I like to consider three places for investigation. 1. The fresh start. Oh, I love a new journal—the cracking open of the spine, the blank, stiff pages, the unwritten lines full of potential and possibility! Your new beginning can be like that, too. Sometimes, we are not so excited about this facing of the blank page . . . we miss our lists and instructions, our policies or time-tested processes and systems. Many talented, experienced professionals are uncomfortable with being beginners. They've been rewarded and affirmed for knowing and doing and being successful. Often, I have to remind my clients in the midst of change, you've never been here before. When two clients came together for an exciting merger, each week brought new challenges and new notions of maybe-this-won't- work conversations. Of course you're uncomfortable, I'd say, you've been successful on your own but now you're thinking you can do it together. Why would you possibly know how to do this? It's a new beginning, for sure, and has many cultural implications for change and growth. And, it's also an opportunity for a Fresh Start—perhaps start at the ground level or foundation of something and build it the right way, the way you've always wanted? " . . . Wherever you are is called Here. You must treat it as a powerful stranger." — David Wagoner 2. Go ahead, have a do-over. Almost all of the time, it's never too late to do the right thing; to have the courageous conversation; to make amends. Sometimes a new beginning is just about wiping the slate clean and starting over. Perhaps you've changed, or the circumstances and environment have changed. Perhaps the people have changed. Every day is an opportunity for a do-over. Once, during a particularly difficult time for me, I was staying in a hotel in Florida, traveling for business. I had trouble sleeping and was up before dawn. I went out to the beach and watched the sun rise over the water's horizon and was struck with the notion that without my will or permission, the sun rises every day. Every single day. On some level, you get to have a new beginning each morning. What if you began that way with your team or group? What if, no matter what, you began each work day imagining it as a gift you cannot give away or take back and that you're not willing to squander? What do you need to do to make it right, just for today? "You make a promise to yourself, and for once it holds you to it. For once it sets you free." — Libby Wagner 3. Look with fresh eyes. Sometimes my clients worry about navigating change, championing new beginnings or selling new ideas. They anticipate those who will resist or struggle with change. They voice the voices of the cynics and doubters and nay-sayers. I have to remind them that cynicism is just a cover up for fear—fear of being disappointed or being let down. Fear or anxiety come from exhaustion of too much change and not enough nourishing conversation or radical self-care. New beginnings are an opportunity to look with Fresh Eyes and to cultivate and curate wonder and curiosity. To be willing to be surprised by a different outcome. To lean into a beginner's mindset and to place curiosity and understanding as the point of your arrow for discovery. "This beginning has been quietly forming, waiting until you were ready to emerge . . ." John O' Donohue A NEW YEAR FOR NEW BEGINNINGS "Awaken your spirit to adventure; Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk." John O' Donohue Libby Wagner Culture Coach RO Libby Wagner, author of The Influencing Option: The Art of Building a Profit Culture in Business, works with clients to help them create and sustain Profit Cultures. www.libbywagner.com

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