Dear Change Leader, Charles had done everything right. He’d led his team through a disruptive reorganization with clarity and discipline. He communicated at every stage. The plan was visible, documented, and shared. When his leadership team asked how things were going, he pointed to it with quiet satisfaction. But something was shifting. Staff had […]
When the Plan Becomes the Problem Read More »
Dear Change Leader, The meeting had been going well — until it wasn’t. Elena, the VP of Client Success, had just finished presenting her team’s quarterly numbers when David, the COO, cut in: “I don’t understand why we keep resources allocated to that program. The data doesn’t support it.” The temperature in the room shifted
Stop Defending Your Position. Start Sharing Your Thinking. Read More »
The Message That Moves People: How to Communicate Change So It Lands There’s a moment most leaders recognize. You’ve done the hard work. You understand the forces shaping your situation. You know who’s with you and who isn’t. You’ve mapped a direction and are ready to start moving forward. And then you have to
Leadership in Action: Communicating Change Read More »
Small Actions, Big Shifts: How Psychological Safety Spreads Culture change has a reputation for being enormous, expensive, and slow. We picture multi-year transformation initiatives, organization-wide training programs, and consultants with PowerPoint decks the size of small novels. But here’s what decades of working with leaders across more than twenty-five countries has taught me about psychological
Small Actions, Big Shifts: How Psychological Safety Spreads Read More »
Unstuck: How to Start Moving When the Destination Isn’t Clear There’s a particular kind of organizational paralysis I’m observing these days. Facing a context that keeps shifting, wondering whether the resources required to reach your goals will be available, and growing doubts about whether the established vision is still within reach. The need to respond
Leadership in Action: Planning the Direction of Change Read More »
Three months ago, it was the start of a new year. Your team returned from the holiday break, refreshed and ready to commit to a set of priorities for 2026. You had clarity, you had intent, and, perhaps, even genuine momentum. January, like it often does, felt like a fresh start. And now it’s April
Leadership In Action: Is Your Team Still Running on January’s Map? Read More »
Dear Change Leader, “We just need to give it more time,” David told me. He was six months into a major restructuring at his regional healthcare network — new reporting lines, redesigned workflows, a leadership team that had been reshuffled twice. On paper, the plan was solid. But the signals were troubling: key staff were
Are You Being Persistent — or Simply Stubborn? Read More »
Preparing for Change: Knowing Who’s With You and Who’s Not When you’re leading change, it’s natural to focus on the work itself—the strategy, the plan, the timeline. But there’s another layer that often determines whether change succeeds or stalls: the people. Every change effort has stakeholders—people who will be affected, people who hold influence,
Leadership In Action: Stakeholders in Change Read More »
One Map, Many Eyes: Learning To See What Surrounds You When the environment around you keeps shifting, it’s tempting to stay heads-down and react to whatever comes next. But that approach has a cost. You end up making decisions based on partial information and assumptions you haven’t examined. Your team may be operating from
Leadership In Action: Context of Change Maps Read More »
Most teams start January with renewed energy and all the best intentions to make positive changes for the year ahead. By February, the momentum inevitably stalls. By March, people have reverted to their usual ways of working. Successful teams invest time upfront to align on what work matters most for them to achieve their shared
Building Team Alignment for the New Year Read More »
Finding Clarity in the Year-End Clearing December brings a peculiar challenge. As a leader, you’re expected to plan for the coming year—to set goals, establish priorities, and project confidence about a future you can’t fully see. But reacting and adapting to the current year’s constant disruptions has left you feeling exhausted, and the
Leadership In Action: Perspective Building Read More »
When Everything Is a Priority, Nothing Is You have too much on your plate. You’re wearing yourself out by trying to attend to everything you believe you have to do. What’s worse, you are not leaving yourself any ‘strategic slack’ to either deal with unexpected developments nor prepare for the future. I’ll be frank––you
Leadership In Action: Priority Anchors Read More »