Managing Change Is a Skill; Here's How to Teach It (opinion)

"As directors of career centers, our job is to spot the skills tomorrow's leaders will need and to design ways to help them build those skills now. At the top of that list is the ability to navigate change and to help others do the same. It's not a "nice-to-have" skill anymore; it's part of how one leads, collaborates and makes their own work sustainable."

"We've been discussing how to help trainees and professional colleagues negotiate change for a long time. Naledi developed the Straight A's for Change Management framework through National Science Foundation-funded work focused on training biomedical professionals in people management and managing-up skills. Dinuka has used this approach in his own leadership practice and integrated its lessons into his work supporting trainees and professionals. Together, we wanted to share what this looks like in real life."

Change now defines professional life across sectors, forcing budgets, opportunities, teams, and expectations to shift rapidly and requiring constant adaptation from students, postdocs, and professionals who rarely receive training in adaptation. Career-center practice prioritizes spotting future leadership skills and designing ways to build them now, with the ability to navigate change positioned as essential to leading, collaborating, and sustaining work. The Straight A's for Change Management framework provides a process-oriented approach built on four steps—acknowledge and accept, assess, address, and appreciate achievement—to build agency: the capacity to act skillfully amid uncontrollable external events. Step one emphasizes acknowledging reality and accepting its meaning, yet many individuals stop short of acceptance.

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