Adjusting to change key to success

  • Published
  • By Chief Master Sgt. Bruce Zahn
  • 97th Operations Group Superintendent
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  As we go through our careers, we will see people dealing with change in many different ways. Change may be physical or situational. Some believe situational change is the hardest to deal with because it gets them out of their comfort zone and may cause them to become disorientated or even make them nervous. I think John Fitzgerald Kennedy said it best when he said, "Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future."

Every day we get up and go to work, we will deal with reality that change is a constant in our lives. Every year we deal with the changing seasons, personal relations and supervisors that will come and go. As our Air Force undergoes change that affects our lives, the change is probably the result of customer needs. This may be caused by technological advancements, different principals and practices. Although these changes are said to be improvements, it is natural for us to resist the change because it is not what we perceive as the norm.

All of us have realized that we may not like some of the changes that happen to us and we may not be able to keep them from happening. We can complain and make it sound like we are the victims or recognize that as we deal with change, it will make us who we are as every day goes by. When dealing with change, everyone needs to mentally make a choice of how to react. When you choose how to react to an issue, give yourself a chance to see how your solution approaches with the current change. Remember you will not always make the text book choice, but it is your chance to grow within your career.

As this year ends and the next year begins, take a moment to reflect on how your life has changed either for better or worse. Although there is change that we may not want or cannot avoid or anticipate, it is a continuous process that can help us spiritually, mentally or personally. We invest in ourselves and become rich in knowledge by dealing with every situation we encounter. As we pass this information and experiences to our fellow Airmen, we can only hope this will help them become richer, complete our Wing's mission, and develop them as leaders.