Change Is the Constant. What Comes Next Is What We’re Figuring Out Together.
Dear Change Leader,
When Marcus took over as Director of Operations, he thought the hardest part would be learning the role.
He was wrong. The hardest part was learning that the role kept changing — sometimes weekly. A restructuring here. A funding shift there. A leadership transition above him. Just when he had a footing, the ground moved again.
After one particularly disorienting quarter, he said something that I’ve been thinking about ever since: “I keep waiting for things to settle down. But I’m starting to wonder if they ever will.”
He’s not alone in that feeling. And I think it’s time to name it clearly:
Change is the constant. Not a phase. Not a disruption to endure until things return to normal. Change is — simply and permanently — the condition in which you are leading.
Why I Renamed This Newsletter
You may have noticed something different about this issue. The newsletter you’ve been reading is now called Change&.
The ampersand is intentional. It holds open the question of what follows change — because that answer looks different for every leader and every organization. Change& growth. Change& resilience. Change& survival. Change& renewal. Change& something we haven’t named yet.
I made the shift because “Change and Growth” — the previous name — assumed a direction. Growth is a wonderful destination. But not every organization I work with is growing. Some are contracting. Some are rebuilding. Some are simply trying to hold together long enough to find a new footing.
All of them are navigating change. And all of them deserve a framework and a conversation that meets them where they are.
That’s what Change& is about.
What This Means for You
Nothing about the newsletter’s spirit is changing. You’ll still get:
- A real-world scenario drawn from the kinds of situations I encounter with leaders like you
- A grounding framework to make sense of what you’re navigating
- Practical steps you can try this week
- An honest conversation — not a lecture
What is changing is the frame. Instead of asking “How do I lead growth?” I want us to ask a more open question: “Given what change is bringing, what comes next — and how do I lead toward it?”
That question has no single answer. But it’s the right question.
Back to Marcus
Marcus eventually stopped waiting for stability. Instead, he started asking a different question at the beginning of each week: “What is this moment asking of me as a leader?”
It sounds simple. But it changed everything — because it put him in relationship with the change rather than in resistance to it.
This week: Try Marcus’s question. At the start of your next workday, ask: “What is this moment asking of me as a leader?” Notice what it shifts.
That’s the orientation that Change& is built around. Change is the constant. What follows it is what we’re figuring out — together.
Until next time,
Join Me in May — The First Change& Session
One of the ideas at the heart of Change& is that we figure this out together. So I’d like to put that into practice.
On Friday, May 29 at noon Eastern, I’m hosting the first Change& Session — a live, facilitated conversation for leaders who are navigating change and want to think it through with others who get it.
This isn’t a webinar. There’s no slide deck. It’s a genuine conversation — the kind that’s hard to find inside your own organization — with a small group of leaders from different sectors, facilitated by me.
If you’ve been reading this newsletter and thinking “I’d like to go deeper on this” — this is that opportunity.
I hope to see you there.
EFFECTIVE CHANGE RESULTS FROM INTENTIONAL LEADERSHIP
We’re a leadership and organization development consultancy. My team and I work with leaders like you to prepare for and lead successful change processes.
Here’s why our clients call us:
- Leadership Coaching: I support leaders as they navigate transitions into new roles or expanded responsibilities.
- Group Programs: Bringing groups of leaders together, I facilitate learning experiences and months-long programs that equip people to be effective change leaders.
- Effective Teams and Organizations: I work with leaders and their teams with tailored processes that increase their effectiveness, building layers of aligned teams that transform organizations.