Major change happens to all of us.
Sadly, there’s no study manual to show exactly what to do.
Did you ever want to hide under the covers after you had to participate in a change you didn’t want, and perhaps, didn’t even expect? My guess is, that’s how Travis Kalanick feels right now.
Or, perhaps you took the opposite track and wanted to stand up to the world. Maybe you got a lawyer or a communications expert to help you duke it out, rather than stay silent.
Days after the change of command, that’s what some Uber employees did. Recently, a letter was signed by over 1100 of the 12,000 Uber employees. They chose the ‘stand and speak’ route:
“As the folks who’ve actually worked alongside Travis for years to help create Uber from nothing, we are extremely disappointed by the short-sightedness and pure self-interest demonstrated by those who are supposed to protect the long-term interests of our company.
Yes, Travis is flawed, as we all are. But his passion, vision, and dedication to Uber are simply unmatched. We would not be here today without him, and believe he can evolve into the leader we need. He is critical to our future success.”
Welcome to the world of GAS. You are witnessing the General Adaptation Syndrome.
When sudden change happens, there is a three -stage process that is both physical and psychological. If you are reading this, and are not a robot, you will experience the stress of change many times in your life.
Get to know the signs and be prepared from now on.
- Alarm Reaction Stage: This is where the natural fight or flight (I always add freeze) response kicks in. This is a natural tendency for you to protect yourself in what can be a dangerous situation. Your heart rate increases, you release the stress hormone cortisol, and adrenaline shoots up to give you energy. Most of us will revert to the basic patterns we learned as little kids for initial protection. Stop a moment and think about a sudden change and how you handled it.
- Resistance Stage: After the initial shock, the body begins some self-healing and heart rate and blood pressure will return to normal; cortisol and adrenaline also gradually lower. However, if the emotions around the sudden change are ignored and you don’t resolve the hurts, disappointments and regrets, your emotions kick into high gear to let you know all is not okay. You can become irritable, frustrated and lack concentration.
- Exhaustion Stage: If there is no resolution, just lots of avoiding, denying, and pretending, you’ll go into a time of chronic stress. That’s where depression and anxiety take over, as well as alcohol and substance addictions, to stay numb. You often feel hopeless and live with fatigue, burnout, and limited tolerance for what is going on around you.
Sudden change won’t go away. It can come in the form of being fired from a job, from your company being acquired or going bankrupt, from a climate catastrophe like Hurricane Sandy, from a divorce or death of a colleague or loved family member.
The best initial scientific research about GAS was done by Hans Selye, a medical doctor who did the first major studies about stress and its effect on humans over the long term.
Understanding the three major responses to sudden change can help you cope better. Nothing, however, will make change go away. We are not programmed to live in a world of sameness. Want to see how that type of life is, just watch the film, Pleasantville.
Best thing to do is get yourself a coach to guide you through the complexities of sudden change.
Back to Uber. It’s a work in progress, and Travis will continue to be a major part of the play. He just had a double whammy about sudden change. First, from the horrible boating accident that injured his dad and killed his mother. Then, from meeting with board members and having to leave the company he loves so dearly – at least, leave heading it, for the moment.
Stay tuned and learn what you can from how Uber and Kalanick maneuver the next chapter.
And for you, take some time and look at how you learned to handle change, so you are better prepared for whatever is next in your own life.
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The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.