Aren Murray
Change can be daunting for many of us. Feeling fear, uncertainty and even doubt is natural when faced with the unknown. But change can be positive — and it is the path forward for growth, overcoming obstacles and new opportunities. At INTIX 2023 in Seattle, participants in an INTIX UPLevel Leadership Program workshop led by Aren Murray, Operations Manager for Tixly, learned how to map out the skills needed to take their ideas from dreams to reality. Murray also showed attendees how to plan a path that would help them encourage others while leading transformational change in their ticketing and live events organizations. We spoke with Murray to learn how to become an Agent of Change, its importance, and why we need these types of leaders today more than ever.
“If you start to talk about change and how to be an Agent of Change, but don't understand at first that it is a scary thing but that it creates something beautiful, then you are stuck in [wanting] to be an agent of change, but you're still afraid of change, so you're not getting anywhere,” Murray says. “[Change] is something that is renewing, refreshing and creates a better tomorrow because if you are not changing, you’re stagnating.”
For those who haven’t yet encountered the term, an Agent of Change actively promotes and facilitates transformation. They have vision, leadership, an action-oriented mindset, the ability to collaborate and inspire others, and empathy. They also have big ideas and can unite others to work toward common goals.
“It is someone who sees an issue and does not sit there in the issue,” Murray says. “Someone who does not celebrate the negativity of what they see is wrong or needs to be improved. Instead, they take the issue, analyze the issue and move forward to create a new tomorrow, create something different and encouraging others to come with them on that path because you really cannot do it alone. So, the Agent of Change is someone who doesn't stay in a situation that is not positive or not creating growth.”
So how can you move toward being an Agent of Change? Here are 12 tips to help you on your journey.
- Ask lots of gentle questions. “As you see things that need to grow and change, you start asking questions,” Murray says. “They are not mean questions. [Ask questions] like, ‘What would it look like if we didn’t have upset customers every time we had an on sale?’, or ‘What would it look like if we were able to allow refunds?’”
Framing your questions in a positive light, asking what can be done or testing the possibility of trying something new can help lead others from a negative to a positive mindset. “Get into an activity of asking those questions and talking about it with others when you see them reveling in where they're at, which sounds so weird that people would revel in the negative, but it is actually really big human behavior to do that,” Murray says. “Also question what we believe is going to happen if we do something that is not our standard operating procedure [or] not the way things have always been. [This can help others] realize that maybe it is not that big of an issue to make change.”
- Be reliable and follow through on your commitments. To become an Agent of Change, you need to set yourself up as someone who is trustworthy and listens to others. It is also essential to keep your word. “If you are not creating a belief in others that you will follow through for them, they are not going to care that you want to be an Agent of Change,” Murray says. “They are going to say, ‘Yeah, you have ideas, but you never complete them’, or ‘You are only out there to make me look bad.’” This can happen, says Murray, when you haven’t created a sense of trust.
- Do a SWOT analysis. This strategic planning tool reveals strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. To do it well, you must honestly and comprehensively identify the internal factors that you or your organization excel at (strengths) and those that require improvement (weaknesses). At the same time, you must consider the external factors that present favorable conditions (opportunities) or pose challenges (threats). Done well, a SWOT analysis can help you gain new insights, make informed decisions and plan for the future.
“The other day, I was doing a presentation on SWOT, and someone said, ‘Isn't it great if you have more things in strengths and weaknesses and nothing in opportunities and threats?’ In my opinion, that means you probably haven't analyzed this situation and you're not admitting to the weaknesses and the threats,” Murray says, adding that this likely means you are not actually looking at potential issues and could be setting yourself up to fail.
Murray says, “SWOT is an important tool that helps you look at the big picture. Also, if you haven't done something similar to a SWOT analysis, when you go to management, your co-workers or outside sources with an idea, they are going to [potentially raise] the things that you would put in the SWOT analysis … and if you haven't already thought about it, you're not going to be standing in a position of knowledge.”
- Set SMART goals. These are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely goals. Here is an example that Murray shared in her INTIX 2023 presentation: “I will take my four-member family to Disneyland in 2023 using my savings from selling my car and the vacation time I will save by not taking the girls’ trip this summer.”
This example is measurable because you can see how many members would go on the trip plus how much money and vacation time is needed.
It is achievable because the resources, money and vacation time, are defined. Disneyland is also expected to be open.
Trusting that it makes sense to sell the car and skip the girls’ trip, it is realistic.
It is also timely because the timeline is defined.
“A dream is just a dream until you put it down in specifics,” Murray says. “It is not ever going to become an actuality. You can dream all day long about being a millionaire, but if you do not set out a very specific goal and plan to become that millionaire or become an inventor of note, you are not going to make it there. You are not going to trip over a good solution.”
- Do not work in a silo. If you work in a silo, you have not created trust. You have yet to create the team that is needed to achieve a goal.
“One of the things that is really important … is that your team should not just be a bunch of people who love you and want you to succeed. You need a team of people that will actually tell you exactly how you are not going to succeed, because once you are able to overcome the real issues, they are going to be your biggest supporters,” Murray says. “If you work in a silo, you might as well be working by yourself, period, with no clients and no co-workers, because you are not going to go anywhere on your own.”
Murray adds, “You are going to have problems when you are an Agent of Change when you are creating new things and changing things. But if you have a team, they are going to be able to help you out. They are going to be able to lift you up when you hit a roadblock, a bad day or a time when you don't believe in yourself.”
- Appreciate the naysayers. People do not like to communicate with people who do not support them, so it is vital to communicate clearly and concisely what you are trying to change and why. “That goes back to having your SMART goals and your SWOT analysis,” Murray says.
- Find leadership that will support you. These resources may not always be the leaders who work with you directly. “[Sometimes you need] other people who are going to lift up your ideas and help you communicate with your own leadership,” Murray says.
- Communicate in a way that people will understand. Be concise. Be clear. Make it personal. Help others relate to what you are trying to say by telling them a story instead of just telling them what you want to do.
- Recognize that there will always be obstacles. Obstacles will strengthen your goals in the long run. If you accept them, know you will always encounter them and plan for them, you will ultimately be stronger. “[What this is] going to do is enhance your ultimate goals. That is where the beauty is. That is where the strength comes from,” Murray says. “Nothing gets strong through a smooth path, so you have to be welcoming to it.”
- Look at failure as a success. You cannot become an expert without failing, and success lies in getting up to try again. “The concept of the difference between an expert and a newbie is [that] the experts failed so many more times, then got up, dusted themselves off, learned from it and moved forward,” Murray says.
- Embrace GRACE. “It is important for trust. It is important for team building. It is important for yourself,” Murray says. “We do not have grace with ourselves in the way we should … As an agent of change, if you are not allowing for grace, with grace being ‘granting a redeeming attitude of compassion to everyone,’ … you are not allowing that redemption. You are not allowing the change. Because you will get stuck if you're not creating trust and not realizing that failure needs to be redeemed in a new step toward success.”
- Develop trust. “People don't care what you have to say until you show you care about them,” Murray says. “We have all experienced somebody coming in and telling us exactly what we should do, how we should behave, and what they think, including customers. But if they behave, speak or act in a manner that does not show that they trust or care about you, you're not going to want to do anything.” This is the same when working with a team or trying to propose something to leadership.
“If it is all about you, people are not going to care,” Murray says. “If it is all about them, they are going to care more. [If] they know that you are looking for something better for everyone, they are going to care more.”
In closing, we asked Murray what she most wants to share about being an Agent of Change. Her message is that we can all do it — every single one of us.
“Our industry needs to have Agents of Change because we need to be leaders. Our industry has completely changed. It used to be that we were just handing out tickets, but now we are the owners of so much knowledge, so many skills and so much work. People do not know it. Management doesn't know it. Our clients do not know it. Our industry as a whole, I think, doesn't really grasp it, and as Agents of Change, we will gain more respect. We will make more beauty and answer to the needs of our clients, the needs of our staff, the needs of our own self. We need to be [Agents of Change], plain and simple.”
She says, “It is about letting go of fear. This fear is going to be the thing that stops change. We’re still coming back from COVID … and fear is why people behave poorly. Fear is why people are angry. Fear is why people are frustrated. Fear is the thing that is getting in the way of changing and growing. Doing that analysis of why that fear exists and then going ahead and standing up to it, realizing that change is just an opportunity.”
And a wonderful opportunity too — so we can all create the world we envision instead of only dreaming about it.
Editor’s Note: The handouts from Murray’s INTIX 2023 presentation are available for download from the INTIX website.
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