In a clear, steady voice Sarah, the COO of a healthcare start-up, described her new CEO: “She continually makes claims and promises to the board not backed up with data. She pings people on the team at all hours, on the weekends, instructing them to do work in direct conflict with our stated priorities. When…
Throughout this blog series we have examined the perception-reality gap between senior executives and middle managers regarding organizational change and that gap’s negative impact on people and business success. Wrapping up the series, let’s explore how impaired feedback loops perpetuate this perception-reality gap by manifesting “naked emperor syndrome”. Naked Emperor Syndrome and Organizational ChangeHans Christian…
Most of us can probably think of a time when we were blamed for something that was not our fault. Being intentionally made a scapegoat is unfair and it can cause real damage. Unintentional scapegoating is something I see frequently in organizations, and it is no less damaging. It’s a practice that can widen the…
In my last post we explored how the perception-reality gap between senior executives and middle managers shows up during organizational change and the negative impact the gap has on people and business success. But what causes this gap in the first place? In my experience, one driver is the interplay between the role demands of…
“We’re good at change. It’s business as usual and not an issue here.” “We invest in resilience training because we know our people can use support in building this muscle.” “We just need to get through these next few phases (restructures, layoffs, etc.) and then the team will adjust.” We started this blog series by…
The Alternate Realities of Organizational Change Two decades ago, change was framed as an innovative and noble undertaking organizations intentionally created for success. Today, perpetual change is accepted as a natural state for all organizations. Unfortunately, familiarity does not always create successful change rollouts, and that can often be attributed to a gap in perception,…
As an executive coach, I am driven to ask the tough questions that help people on their leadership growth journey. For better or worse, that mission is not limited to my clients. My husband Daryll likes to tell the story of a time when we first started dating and he called me to complain about…
When people ask what calls me to this work of being a leadership coach and consultant myanswer is simple: the power of the human spirit. Time and again, I’ve seen the tremendousimpact people create when positively and productively focused, even during impossible, painfulsituations. They’ve taught me that change, whether desired or undesired, can betransformative. This…
Over the past two months my social media feed (like yours, I’m sure) has been full ofcomparisons between leaders handling and mishandling the pandemic. What I see nowreinforces what I’ve observed for years: those who are doing it right consistently connect withthe emotional, human side of this major work life transition in an authentic, constructive…
I was talking with a client in late March (which seems like a lifetime ago) and she used the phrase “old world, new world” to differentiate how her firm is rapidly redefining ways of operating for employees during this pandemic. As I listened, she voiced concerns that are familiar to all of us.