Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkInSports.com and this is the Work In Sports podcast…

One thing I’ve noticed throughout my career managing people and working through varying situations is that there are two main ways people respond and react to change. 

There is a massive group of people who get angry at change, blame it, get frustrated, refuse to adapt because they like the way things have been.  

There is another group who owns the change. They adapt, innovate, adjust their strategies and approaches, and fit in with the change rather than expecting the world to come to them.

They recognize, change is inevitable. 

In 2020 - change isn’t just inevitable, it’s an in your face, punch you in the gut, steal your lunch, and laugh at you while it walks into your future. 

It’s trite to say, this year has been a roller coaster - it’s been a roller coaster in a tornado, hit by a tsunami and shot into space.

BUT, people, businesses, organizations, groups, non-profits -- have adapted. Not all, but many. They’ve taken personal responsibility for their growth. They have not only recognized change is here, they have accepted it, adjusted to it, looked for opportunities, and re-branded themselves. 

Change is good. It may not feel it at the moment, but looking back through history it is sometimes the worst events that spark the biggest sea change toward our future. 

I’ll give you one example, 

In 1965, at the height of the modern civil rights movement, activists in Alabama organized a march for voting rights, from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery, the state capital. 

A march. Not an armed protest, not a riot, a march for voting rights. 

Around 600 people assembled at a downtown church in Selma Alabama, knelt briefly in prayer and began walking silently, two-by-two through the city streets. They crossed the Edmund Pettis Bridge and were forcefully pushed back by police. Beaten, trampled, attacked - for marching. 

You’ve likely heard of this event, but at some point you should watch it. 

I did, again recently with my kids, and they were horrified. 

BUT, and here is the key. Think about this… 

What if police hadn’t attacked? What if there wasn’t a video? What if there wasn’t outrage?

What if  the 600 people just peacefully matched to Montgomery? 

Would we be talking about it today? Would we be considering the civil rights movement and its importance to our history as we do today? Would John Lewis be as impactful a character in US History as he has been? Rest his soul.

I don’t know… maybe not. 

Just to be clear I am not justifying what happened that day, I am not declaring it a good thing -- just pointing out, that we don’t often see the end result in the moment, because the future is unclear and we don’t allow ourselves to comprehend anything but where we are right now in the moment. 

Bringing it back to today, it is hard to see how 2020 will be a positive -- but what if you learn a new skill that is more applicable to the new workforce? What if you meet people you otherwise wouldn’t have reached out to? You learn social media advertising, or photoshop, or salesforce, or data analytics, or eSports.