CQ + EQ: A Potent Combination for Leaders (and what it means for you)
Assuming you’re familiar with CQ, let’s take a step back and look at EQ. When introducing the concept to clients for the first time, I often get a response such as, “we base our decisions on logic and facts – we don’t bring our emotions to work.” Or, as one of my more colorful clients, […]
Join Me in Congratulating the First 500 CCMP Graduates! – September 2016
Here’s a hearty CONGRATS to the first 500 Certified Change Management Professional (CCMP) graduates! Your accomplishment is hugely important for our field of Change Management, its practitioners worldwide, and the organizations we serve. Thank you for leading the way and doing all the hard work to achieve the CCMP credential. Why is the CCMP relevant? As […]
Women’s Voices at Work
From Marissa Mayer’s high profile people-management decisions in her role as Yahoo’s CEO to Sheryl Sandberg’s provocative assertions in her book Lean In, there continues to be a lot of debate about leadership and the sexes – and whether men and women lead differently. Although there’s some hype and “drama” surrounding this topic, it’s a […]
What Can Change Leaders Learn from Salespeople?
When you think of “sales” and “salespeople,” what words leap to mind? While some have positive perceptions, many would respond with choices such as, “sly, slick, and smarmy”! Regardless of your formal role or job title, we’re all in the business of sales and we’re all salespeople – whether we like it or not. This […]
“Painful” Change Can Be a Springboard for Professional Development – But Only If You Are Open To It
Here’s an old story to contemplate: A boy from a wealthy family receives a pony for his birthday. The townspeople say, “what a lucky boy.” The Buddhist monk says, “we’ll see.” The boy suffers a crippling injury while riding the horse. The townspeople say, “what an unlucky boy.” The Buddhist monk says, “we’ll see.” An […]
Change Lessons from “The Innovation Pipeline” at AT&T
I want to share a real-life example of an organization leading change intelligently to help you on your leadership journey. Through their process, “The Innovation Pipeline” (TIP), AT&T has been able to overcome abysmal 70% change failure rate and achieve continuous innovation. Although it sounds too good to be true, let’s take a closer look […]
Is Organizational ADHD Derailing Your Change Project?
Sound familiar? “Here we go again – another program of the year!” “Another reorg – who’s my boss today? And I’m expected to pick up the slack – again?!” “Our company slogan should be, ‘All swirl – no strategy’!” As an “organizational doctor,” when I hear clients vent such frustrations, I know they are symptoms […]
When It Comes to Change, Seeing Is Believing!
I was recently reminded of the truth of the old adage, “a picture is worth a thousand words” and why it’s so relevant for us as change leaders. By nature, I’m a rather left-brained, analytical person – and with my doctoral-degree academic training, early in my career I was the queen of dry, fact-based, death-by-PowerPoint […]
Be a Change Leader – Not “Just” a Change Manager!
Unfortunately, most change-based training programs focus exclusively on “Change Management” and exceedingly few on “Change Leadership.” Change Management is the methods and tools of change: and these are critical to get the job done. Yet, being savvy in deploying a Change Management Toolkit is best viewed as a baseline competency – what we need to […]
Leadership Unplugged: Finding Solutions and Inspiration for Change Initiatives
A few years ago I put myself through a 360-degree feedback process in which I requested developmental input from peers, clients, staff, friends and family. The strongest “needs improvement” area that emerged was “Work-Life Balance.” Written-in comments indicated that people were not concerned that I neglected family or friends – but rather that I did […]