My Year of Change
One Giant Leap
Remember that Temptations song, Ball of Confusion? I never really understood that song until this past year. But now the ball is rolling forward. I found a fascinating book called The Language of Emotions, by Karla McLaren. In it, she stresses the importance of emotions and how business has rarely honored them. That’s why so much of my change work focuses on the human element. She addresses many of our key emotions and how they can impact us and our work. Since I have spent a lot of time confused during this year of change, I found the...
read moreThank God for Unanswered Prayers
Last night I hit rock bottom. I held my head in my hands and yelled, “How freakin’ long is it going to take to figure out the talent I want to stress in my new life direction?” Luckily I was home alone at the time. I’ve spent several years trying to achieve the following goals: Finding my “main thing.” Figuring out how to market it to Corporate America. Finding ways to generate business for fast income. Thanks to friends and family, I’ve finally realized where my problem lies. Garth Brooks used to...
read moreSeeing the Future Today
My change has been transitional, but it was propelled by the shock of hurricane Irene. Something about that storm stirred up my soul as much as my yard without the unsightly bills. I focused a lot on what I had lost when the oak trees went down. Then one day, while in Southport, I found a live oak that had survived many hurricanes and filled my heart with light. My hope was restored but the change was already on the way. Now I’m over six months into this change journey, and am finding that my body won’t let me go backwards. I know...
read moreWhy Opening the Door to the Future Requires No Linda Blair Moves
You know that feeling, when you are anticipating something new in your life, like a new relationship? The first date is about to happen, and you spend a week preparing with trips to the store and salon. Everything is enveloped in hope . . . this could be the guy or the girl, this might just be the beginning of the rest of your life. I remember playing that board game called “Mystery Date” where you would open a little cardboard door, revealing your date behind it. The best part of that game was the anticipation of which guy...
read moreLife is Getting Colorful
I just looked back, and my year of change officially began on November 1st, 2011. That’s officially. I’ve spent about six years thinking about this change, so for those of you not ready to make a leap like mine don’t think this came fast or easy. Today is March 30th, 2012, almost 5 months later. As of yesterday, my journey is kicking into high gear. Yesterday I wrapped up my client work. Today I will send my last invoice. My hope is to channel my hyperventilation into extremely positive energy. Believe me, there’s...
read moreReaching for the Starbucks!
I am now within one week of saying goodbye to my routine and my money. I have to admit that this is making me want to eat everything in sight and curl up in front of the television, allowing the sounds of HGTV to envelope me with phrases like I like the natural lighting and This will be great for entertaining. However, I’m also feeling a considerable amount of positive energy that seems to be bubbling in a cavern deep in my heart. While the bubbling hasn’t come to the surface, I know that it’s there, like carbonation for my...
read moreA Stroke Of Insight
I look to my left, I look to my right, And I find other people fully in sight, Their words and encouragement diminish my fear, They journey with me during my change this year. – Donna I don’t claim to be a poet, but wanted to find a way to thank all of the people who have been helping me along this change journey. Sometimes I feel like an infant all over again, learning how to read, and walk, and speak. I want to express my extreme gratitude to: My mom, who listens to me ramble about my ideas every morning. My husband, who...
read moreBe the Panic – My Year of Change Kicks In!
I’m almost half-way through my year of change, and breathing is getting a little more difficult. For the first month I felt the comfortable excitement of someone who has planned change but is doing very little that is truly different. The second and third month I focused on some small changes, but still didn’t foresee the panic that was to come. The fourth month I was ready to dance. I am now one month away from total panic, when my pay check stops. I mean, come on, I have a daughter that will need financial help over the next...
read moreI Didn’t Think the Pain Would be Worth It
Working on a memoir about my year of illness (at the tender age of nine) I have been reminded that there is incredible power in pain. Who would have thought that 42 years after being sick I would still be learning from it? I didn’t believe that when I was sick, let me tell you. I was alone for most of the day, and terrified by every foreign sound. We weren’t in a great neighborhood, and I had to hide under counters when people I didn’t recognize came to our front door. I had my blood taken every single week, and had three...
read moreFourth Month of Change and the Net Begins to Appear
In the past few weeks I’ve noticed that I am starting to feel things again. Yes, it’s mostly fear, but it still FEELS good. I’m hitting the fourth month of my year of change, and I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The light might not come with a lot of financial security, but it’s there. The last few years have been like walking through a thick, mental fog. The only thing I knew for sure was that I was not happy with where I was, but had no sense of what direction I should go. I was also...
read moreAbout Donna Strother Highfill
Change is challenging. Sometimes it’s downright difficult. Why? Because change involves more than a process – it involves the beating heart of the people who will be asked to change. My new book, Real People, Real Change offers a behavioral map to guide change leaders through the complex and often confusing maze of change in the business world. Change looks easy on an Excel spreadsheet, but there are people that must be moved and inspired. Change requires a leader who is able to inform the mind, engage the heart, and put feet into action. To do this, they must have the courage of a warrior.
Real People, Real Change
As a leader, do you implement change only to watch the projects, processes and initiatives stall because you can't get the people driving them to change? In my new book Real People, Real Change: Stories of a Change Warrior in the Business World I share real stories to illustrate how leaders can move people to action.
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