Dear Change Leader, Victor stood at the front of the all-hands and said the words he’d rehearsed: “We’re steady. We’ve weathered worse than this.” As VP of Client Services at a mid-sized consulting firm, he mostly believed it. Revenue was down, two competitors had made cuts, and the news outside the building was loud enough […]
You’re Not Leading the Organization You Think You Are Read More »
Dear Change Leader, Priya came back from a week at the lake and, during her first Monday meeting, experienced an all-too-familiar feeling. Not from anything anyone said. She just looked at her calendar, noticed a tightness returning to her chest, and realized: she felt exactly as depleted as she had the Friday before she left.
The Vacation That Didn’t Work Read More »
Something interesting happens when an effective leader gets promoted into a senior role… They bring exactly what earned them the promotion — deep expertise, high standards, the ability to get things done. And then they discover that the new job isn’t a bigger version of the old job. It’s a fundamentally different kind of job.
Leadership in Action: The Leader Who Believes They Still Need to Do It All Read More »
The Message Landed, Just Not the Way You Intended. The previous newsletter focused on MESSAGE — the fourth Power Move, and the one that most leaders underestimate. The insight I keep coming back to: Communicating change is not the same as announcing it. Announcing delivers information. Communicating creates understanding. And understanding is what determines
Leadership in Action: The Message Landed, Just Not the Way You Intended. 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 »
Dear Change Leader, Elena had been in her department head role for two years when the new organizational restructuring was announced. As her team’s questions mounted and anxiety spread through the hallways, she noticed something she hadn’t expected. It wasn’t the most senior people who were steadying the room. It was Darius — a mid-level
The Changemaker in the Room Read More »
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
A new name — and the idea behind it 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 »
Dear Change Leader, I want to share something I’ve been sitting with. I’ve been talking with colleagues lately — consultants and coaches with deep experience helping leaders navigate exactly the kind of turbulence that’s defining this moment. And almost to a person, they’re describing the same thing: the leaders who most need support aren’t reaching
The silence speaks volumes Read More »
Dear Change Leader, Jennifer kept telling herself that she had been through bigger challenges than this. She’d navigated a merger. She’d led a team through a funding crisis. She’d earned her seat at the table through a decade of hard-won experience. So when her organization restructured, and her role shifted — same level, but a
Who Are You When Everything Around You Changes? 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, Sandra had been in her new role as Vice President for six months when she noticed something she hadn’t expected. She had the title. She had the team. She had the authority to make decisions she’d once had to wait for others to make. And yet, sitting in her office after another
You’re Not Meant to Lead Alone Read More »