Dear Change Leader, “I think I’ve been asking the wrong questions,” Sarah confided during our coaching session last week. As VP of Operations for a mid-sized company, Sarah had been struggling with an impossible challenge: her team consistently missed deadlines despite working long hours. For months, she’d focused on one question: “How can we get […]
The Questions That Change Everything Read More »
How overwhelmed leaders can develop strategic priorities and regain executive focus through intentional leadership calibration Dear Change Leader, “I’m being pulled in 1,000 directions, and I feel that I should be responsive to everyone and everything,” a CEO shared with me last week, her voice carrying the weight of six months of relentless disruption.
Recalibrating When Everything Feels Urgent: Moving From Distraction to Focus Read More »
Dear Change Leader, I’m writing this newsletter shortly after the summer solstice, almost at the midpoint of the year, as people traditionally prepare for their summer holidays. Given this transition point, I’d like to explore the benefit of pausing in the midst of what continues to be a hectic year. Imagine that you are
Appreciating The Clearing: Finding Perspective in the Midst of the Journey Read More »
Dear Change Leader, Picture this: A small dinosaur stands at the edge of a cliff, its body covered in what we now know were primitive feathers—originally evolved for warmth and display, not flight. Below stretches an unfamiliar landscape, changed by shifting climates and new predators. The old hunting grounds have dried up. The familiar food
Dear Change Leader, “How are you doing?” I asked a leader recently. “I’m taking it one day at a time, and I’m okay with that,” he replied, a note of celebration in his voice. You see, until we connected in a CEO Roundtable I was hosting, he had been worried that his ability
The Pathfinder Approach: Leading When You Can’t See the Full Trail Read More »
Dear Change Leader, Ready. Fire. Aim. Sound familiar? If you’re wincing right now, you’re not alone. This all-too-common approach to change initiatives might be the most expensive three-word sequence in business. As one veteran change leader noted in Bent Flyvbjerg’s “How Big Things Get Done”: “Change Projects, not only do they often
I’d never witnessed this before. A national election was threatening to tear a country apart. A high risk of violence by supporters of the losing party. Uncertainty about how the work of our organization would be impacted by the new government. I was unsure who I could trust in the workplace to speak about my
This newsletter series has introduced the RCA Levers for Sustaining Change, a framework consisting of five interlocking elements that enable and support the momentum for change in teams and organizations, as well as ‘sustaining’ the resulting benefits. Earlier newsletters have introduced the first four elements: Effective Teams, Capable People, Empowering Culture, andHybrid Mastery (Click each element
The Levers for Sustaining Change: Adaptive Leadership Read More »
The last few years have seen a transformation for organizations worldwide – the explosion of remote and hybrid work. Looking into 2024, it’s clear that hybrid work has become the default mode of engagement for many companies. While some have embraced fully remote work, others have settled into a mix of in-office and remote days.
The Levers for Sustaining Change: Hybrid Mastery Read More »
What one thing might pose the greatest risk to your change initiative? What one thing, if oriented in the desired direction, can serve as a lubricant that supports and enables the other elements of the RCA Levers for Sustaining Change to interact in ways that propel forward momentum? In this newsletter series, we are
The Levers for Sustaining Change: Empowering Culture Read More »