Welcome to The Iconic Edge. My goal is to help you find, elevate, and monetise your iconic identity, so you can succeed in the AI age.
Apologies, I'm a bit late getting this week's edition out.
It was my mum's 80th birthday on Sunday and I hosted a garden party for her. But I underestimated how much time it would take to clear up, and how exhausted I would be!
It was worth it, as it was a great day and Mum was the star of the show.
As I watched her making her speech about her life in front of family and friends, I got stuck on a thought I couldn't shake.
When my mum was born, there was no internet. No mobile phones. No email. Her first TV was black and white. She used a typewriter at her first job. She posted actual letters to stay in touch with people. A video call would have sounded like science fiction.
In one lifetime, she went from typewriters to ChatGPT.
My mum handled change well for most of her life. New technology? She figured it out. New systems, new processes? Fine. When I got her an iPad for her 70th, she was delighted. She adapted, because the changes came at a pace she could absorb.
Now, though? She finds it harder. The smartphone updates that move all the buttons. The apps that replace the thing she just learned. The necessity of an app just to park her car.
The rate of change overtook her rate of adapting.
This is the bit that matters for you
The change my mum saw across 80 years? We're going to experience that scale of shift in the next 10. Maybe less.
Which means the ability to handle constant change is no longer just a nice personality trait. It's a necessity.
It's also a skill you can build. But if you don't build it deliberately, the pace will eventually overtake you too, the same way it's overtaking my mum with her smartphone.
And I mean something more practical than the motivational poster version of resilience (bouncing back, staying positive, grit). I mean your capacity to stay in motion when the ground keeps moving in the working world.
And it will keep moving, fast. That is a fact.
What "good at change" actually looks like
Most of us think we're either good at change or we're not. But when I look at the women I know who handle constant upheaval well, they do specific things to flex and strengthen their resilience muscles.
Here's how you can start:
Know what stays the same about you. This is the anchor. When everything around you is shifting, you need something that doesn't. Your values, your point of view, the specific thing you're known for. If you haven't defined that clearly, every change feels like it's happening to you. When you know who you are and what you stand for, change becomes something you move through, not something that moves you.
Stay in learning mode on purpose. Don't wait until you're forced to learn something new. Instead, choose to be a beginner regularly. A new tool, a new skill, a new way of working. It doesn't have to be big. But the practice of being uncomfortable and figuring it out is where you build the habit.
Have a circle that pulls you forward. Surround yourself with people who are also adapting and experimenting. If everyone around you is complaining about how fast things are moving, you'll start to believe it's a problem. If the people around you are curious about it, you'll stay curious too.
Make small bets, often. Don't wait for the perfect moment to make a change. Try things in small ways, test, see what works, and adjust. A LinkedIn post. A conversation with someone in your industry about collaboration. A side project. Low stakes, high learning.
The bottom line
Change is coming in how we live and work faster than you think. And it will be continuous. The ability not to just endure it, but to handle it with style and strength is an essential skill to thrive in this new age.
That's the real edge.
Being the person who doesn't freeze when the ground shifts yet again. But is more than ready for it and excited for whatever the next change will bring.
All my best,
Nichola
P.S. If you're finding The Iconic Edge valuable, please forward this to another ambitious woman who needs to hear it. We rise together.