In a world constantly evolving, our ability to adapt to change often defines our personal and professional growth. But when change is happening to us and not for us, how can we prepare both ourselves and others for transitions?

Podcast guest, Kamaria Scott, has been on both sides of change and is here to help us reframe change from a threat into an opportunity for growth. Kamaria is the Founder and CEO of Enetic, a boutique consulting firm that specializes in helping organizations improve manager performance and enabling them to lead engaged, healthy and high achieving teams. An accomplished industrial-organizational psychologist, she has shaped her expertise over two decades, influencing both innovative startups and corporations such as BNY Mellon, FIS, and Accenture.

In this episode, we discuss how Kamaria was laid off not once, not twice, but three times over her career. She shares her reactions to those life changing events and how she mastered the art of graceful exits by the 3^rd layoff. Kamaria offers advice to organizations and leaders on better ways to handle layoffs and how to lead after select team members are gone.

Kamaria explains how to get your team change ready, which includes helping people move on for their growth and development. She describes how leaders can approach change-resistant team members and what to do when they’re handed an unfavorable change. Kamaria leaves leaders with advice on how they can get in touch with their own change readiness.

If you find yourself grappling with organizational changes or seeking guidance on leading through transitions, listen in for how to get your team change ready.

Key Highlights

• Changes come in all shapes and sizes – from mergers, acquisitions, and layoffs to technology changes.
• Kamaria got laid off three times.
  • Her 1st lay off was when she was around 30 years old and was a result of an acquisition. She didn’t handle it with grace, as she let all of her emotion out and was visibly angry. Kamaria felt unprepared and blindsided.
  • She handled it much better in the 2^nd one because she saw it coming. She had been thinking about what she wanted to do if she got laid off. Kamaria saw it as an opportunity and felt more in control. Also, she felt more supported through the change – got better severance and health insurance.
  • For the 3^rd layoff, she was ready. She knew her next step before they laid her off.
• Give those left behind the opportunity to grieve for their co-workers that got laid off. At work there are real friendships that develop, so when someone is laid off, let them deal with the raw emotion of change.
• Layoffs can feel random to people. If they can’t rationalize why that person, how do they not feel fear that the next time it’s going to happen to me? Have conversations about why the change happened and where they go from there.
• Prepare your team for change:
  • Push and develop new skills. Don’t let them get too comfortable within a role.
  • Using team members as support.
  • Celebrate milestones and laugh at failures.
  • Take stock of skills and strengths.
  • Get them used to the process of change itself.
  • Help them get into a future state – If you weren’t doing this today what would you do?
• People fear change because it represents risk – “I’m giving something up.”
• Using a coaching approach. Draw out their capability to navigate change.
  • Have you faced this before?  How did you handle it?
  • When’s the last time you looked for a job? What did you do?
• Help resistant team members – Ask yourself why? Come from a place of curiosity. What’s at the root of the resistance?
• You always have a choice. Sometimes there are changes we find unfavorable, but we also have the ability to say: “what do I do with this change?”
• It’s hard to give people what you don’t have for yourself. If your change readiness is low, you’ll struggle helping your team.

Links Mentioned

Kamaria’s LinkedIn

Website – www.eneticlps.com

Podcast: https://managertomanager.com

Full Bio

Kamaria is the Founder and CEO of Enetic, a boutique consulting firm that specializes in helping organizations improve manager performance and enabling them to lead engaged, healthy and high achieving teams. An accomplished industrial-organizational psychologist, she has shaped her expertise over two decades, influencing both innovative startups and corporations such as BNY Mellon, FIS, and Accenture. She focuses on aligning HR strategies with business objectives, fostering collaborative success. Initiatives under her leadership have received multiple Learning Elite Awards by Chief Learning Officer magazine.

Kamaria also hosts the Manager to Manager podcast, a platform where she extends her passion for leadership development and managerial excellence. The podcast serves as a valuable resource for new and seasoned managers alike, offering actionable advice, best practices, and personal stories to inspire and guide listeners in their leadership journeys.