Royal Changes

Like 1.9 million other people, I watched the royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle last May. And what a wedding it was with the beautiful dress and the adorable flower girls and page boys—especially the twin sons of the bride’s friend who so loved being in the spotlight as they carried her train up that very long aisle and taking their responsibilities quite seriously!  All the pomp and ceremony you'd expect, but with some exceptions.

I, like a lot of people, saw this event as more significant than the average wedding--even an average royal wedding. A normal wedding impacts the families and especially the couple who are joining their lives—but this wedding seemed to have broader implications for more people.

Think about all that was different about that particular wedding.  The bride is an American actress with an African American mother and Caucasian father. An African American Episcopal Bishop preached a sermon about love, a gospel choir sang Stand by Me, and a 19-year-old black cellist played. It was enough to shake the foundations of the century’s old chapel in which all this took place!  Queen Elizabeth’s head must have spinning, especially when the Bishop was preaching in a style that appeared to make her and many others in the Royal Family a bit uncomfortable. I imagined her saying or thinking “We've never done it this way!”  Change does not come easy in a world where traditions run deep!

Change is a topic that didn't escape The Manager’s Answer Book. Managers need to understand that everyone approaches change differently. Some fight and resist it no matter what. Some stay quiet, taking a wait and see attitude sometimes hoping that it will go away. Some—the change champions—embrace change for what it is—an opportunity for growth and progress.  Managers have to help employees understand their response toward change and how the change will affect them. They must be on the lookout for conflicts to ensure that the changes positively drive the results the organization is seeking.

Never would I ever have thought I’d write a blog to compliment Queen Elizabeth on her ability to accept change but here it is!  I hope you can take a lesson from this royal experience—even if you stayed away from all the wedding news and slept in that Saturday morning.

Barbara Mitchell