I love that our new home means I can walk to the beach every day, and have a swim just about every day.

Who wouldn’t love it, right?

My daughter, that’s who. It’s not that she doesn’t love our new home, but she is completely indifferent to the setting that makes me swoon. That’s not to say that she hasn’t loved that we’ve moved. She has, in spades, but for completely different reasons to me.

She loves that she has her own little zone, with a bedroom and a study, so she can have her own space, privacy and independence, while at the same time being at home with me.

We both went through the same experience of change, but we’ve adapted to it differently, and have taken different things out of it.

As in life, so in leadership.

Every change brings about both challenges and opportunities. It’s easy to focus on the challenges because change is uncomfortable, but as leaders, we really need to highlight the opportunities. And this is where it can get tricky.

If I tried to persuade my daughter that the proximity to the beach would be the best, most life changing thing for her, when she has little interest in it, I’d risk losing her openness to the change.

Opportunities created by change that might be a bonus for you, might leave people in your team unimpressed.

So you need to know your team, understand what motivates them, and open their eyes to the opportunities in the changes, big or small, that they are facing at work.

Easier said than done, I know. Often, the key to this knowing is listening…asking questions and really listening. (This listening guide I put together especially for leaders might offer some new-to-you tools. And it’s free). Let me know if it’s helpful.