The most important thing to remember about change in 2023 As a Charlotte-based change management keynote speaker, I understand that 2023 could present itself as the most challenging period of change in the last several decades. Whenever I speak on change management to my Charlotte, North Carolina audiences, I stress the power of connections and work friendships. What does happiness have to with change? As I was recently delivering...
What do employees fear the most in this new “hybrid world?” As a change management speaker and change management consultant, I am witness to the deepest fears of those in my audiences. It’s not what you may think. In my role as a change management keynote speaker, I would caution organizations who believe the biggest fear is based on “catching Covid” or having to commute to the office twice...
We all know that learning is cyclable. As a change management speaker, I have observed that most people understand that the best way to teach people is to be willing to learn, however, a lot of people have difficulty putting that into practice. As a result, the cycle of learning is often broken. When an organization is going through a change, it is as important to share perspectives as...
Anger to Change is not a Good Look As a change management speaker and change management consultant, I realize there are no end to theories about how individuals in a company react to change. Jennifer Herrity writing for Indeed.com (September 15, 2021) listed many of these models, all championed by psychologists, management consultants, business schools and the like. However, in speaking to groups on change management, in real time...
Your Change Management Motivational Speaker Mike Hourigan says the following. “The McKinsey consulting group reports data that 70% of all change management efforts fail. A 30% success rate is troubling, particularly when considering the associated costs in the form of loss of competitive position, confidence of the workforce in leadership, and quality improvements and anticipated costs reductions.” It is called change fatigue, it’s a real thing, and no one...
As a change management workplace speaker, I am often surprised by how easily organizations miss the obvious and run to the exotic. For example, while presenting at a recent seminar, I asked the group: what do you think is the hottest trend in change management? I received several great responses including the so called “digital-first” trend; the hottest of hottest buzzwords. Then there was the expected, “end to the...
Change for the Sake of Change is a Bad Look As a change management speaker who speaks to groups across America about negotiating and responding to workplace transformation, I am well-aware of the tumultuous times owing to inflation, mergers, acquisitions and business failures. Change in the Workplace is everywhere, but is it always a good thing? The Boomerang In my last post, I talked about the so-called “Great Walkout”...
The Workplace Balance Has Changed, Is Your Organization Prepared? It has argued that COVID-19 “changed everything.” As a national change management speaker, my counter argument is that COVID changed nothing but accelerated everything. In my keynote talks on change management, I point out that as the Omicron variant began to subside, the workplace would be re-balanced and employees would become not more powerful, but more heard and prone to...
Warm Towels and Change As a Change Management Speaker, I recently speaking on fearing change and emotions of change, I went over the stress that COVID has caused us and its relationship to change. According to the CDC “The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major effect on our lives. All of our lives. Most of us are facing challenges that can be stressful, overwhelming, and cause strong emotions.” The...
When Did We All Learn to Panic? As a change motivational speaker and change management speaker, I must obviously be aware of the present business climate, with research into trends and projections into the future. However, in speaking on negotiating change both in-person and virtually, I try to be a student of history. Much of the panic over change might be ascribed to social media or 24/7 cable news, but...
My twenty-year mission as a change management speaker has led me to the conclusion that most people don’t want to embrace change management, they want to erase it. In my in-person and virtual training sessions, I note that managing change is never easy. However, organizational change is made more difficult when employees intuitively know they must accept the changes in their organization, and then refuse to expose themselves to...
As a change management motivational speaker, I have witnessed the rise and the wide-spread interest in a change management speaker. In fact, “Change Management” has become a modern-day buzzword. But can an executive leader truly manage change? I think not. I know that may sound controversial, but I have plenty of experts who agree with me. A classic article that first appeared in the prestigious Harvard Business Review in the...
As a change management speaker, expert and trainer, I know that this spring could signal some of the most major changes in organizations in decades. Post-COVID 19 changes will come fast, and if you are not careful, the competition will get out of the gate before you have a chance to respond. Plan Now for Post-COVID 19 Change Recently, I read an excellent piece on change management in the...
As a virtual and in-person change management speaker, I am often asked if the pandemic of 2020 “changed anything” or will the world go back to business as usual? It is a complex change management question. My opinion is that nothing will ever be the same. V-Shaped Recoveries & Other Myths In my virtual talks on change management to many groups, I find it fascinating the number of people...