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Articles on Immunity To Change

New Year's Resolutions (pt 2) and Performance Appraisals - How to Succeed

At this time of year, many of us find ourselves choosing a New Year's Resolution that we've tried before, or see items on our performance appraisal under "needs to improve" that have also appeared on previous performance appraisals. Why is it so hard to make and maintain progress towards these goals? In many cases, it is because of something that Bob Kegan and Lisa Lahey call our "immunity to change."

New years resolutions 2011 - Immunity to change coaching can help

Another year, another set of new years resolutions. Make this the year you succeed at keeping your resolutions, with a coach who knows how to help you overcome your natural immunity to change.

We all have immunity systems that make some changes difficult, but not impossible. Here are the steps I would use when helping you reach your goal with immunity to change coaching:

Overcoming Immunity to Change in Business Settings

Have you ever had an employee who, although strong in many areas, even "high potential", received the same feedback year after year about what he or she needed to improve? Or, are you now trying to change your own behavior?

Some issues that even high potential leaders typically grapple with year after year are:

  • delegating better
  • becoming a better listener
  • managing emotions

 

Overcoming Immunity to Change Coaching Can Help with Pesky New Year's Resolutions

Do you have New Year's Resolutions that you are still working on, or that you have already given up on? Are there changes you've been meaning and hoping to make for months, or even years? Often, it's not as much about motivation as about what's been getting in the way.

Harvard professors Bob Kegan and Lisa Lahey have developed an extremely effective method for dealing with behaviors and problems that are difficult to change. They call this method "overcoming immunity to change".

Almost April - How are those New Years Resolutions Coming Along?

Every year, many of us make New Year's resolutions with every intention of this being the year that we will follow-up. Every Spring, millions of resolutions are discarded once again, waiting for the following year to be picked up once again.

Why is it so difficult to make progress on these pesky efforts to change? As mentioned in a previous post, Kegan and Lahey have some answers, as well as a methodology to help us make progress.

Kegan and Lahey's Immunity to Change - action oriented developmental coaching

Kegan and Lahey have just published Immunity to Change - How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in Yourself and Your Organization. I think it is brilliant.

Kegan is the author of an adult developmental theory which I have found extremely useful. It dates back to 1982, with revisions to the theory in the 1990s (e.g., In Over Our Heads). In 2000, he wrote "How the We We Talk can Change the Way We Work" with Lisa Lahey. This was an extremely helpful book for promoting change but without a clear, direct link to the earlier developmental stages.

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