I’ve had the good fortune to work with more than 100 organizations on large-scale change, from global corporations like Royal Dutch Shell to organizations with annual budgets of $10 million. One lesson has become increasingly clear: The success of large-scale change depends heavily on the senior leadership team. The CEO or executive sponsor may own
6 Leadership Responsibilities That Make Large-Scale Change Succeed Read More »
When you’re leading, you’re a tuning fork. When a tuning fork vibrates, everything around it begins responding. During transformation, employees become extraordinarily sensitive to what their leaders are experiencing and they tune right in. They notice what makes you tense. They notice what questions you avoid. They notice whether you sound convinced or whether you’re
Years ago, I was invited by a federal agency, which will go nameless here, to contribute to a presentation being made to the senior team at the Peace Corps. I spoke for about an hour. When I finished, then Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez said he wanted to work with me. That was a big
Sometimes You Have to Be Willing to Lose the Work Read More »
Years ago, I was working with the Promotional Products Association International. It was one of my alltime favorite engagements becaus of the CEO and his senior leadership team – excellent professionals fully engaged. It was a highly fragmented industry (it may still be). There were 10,000 + members selling everything from branded T-shirts to notebooks
What are You Waiting For? Read More »
Where does transformational change really begin? Most leaders would answer. “Strategy.” After spending more than three decades working alongside CEOs leading major transformations, I’ve come to a different conclusion. Strategy matters, but transformation begins where the leader creates the environment that an entire organization needs to move together. So, I would answer, “Alignment.” When strategy
Creating the Environment for Extraordinary Change Read More »
Most CEOs don’t have a strategy problem, they have an operating system problem. When a transformation stalls, the first instinct is often to question the strategy. Maybe it wasn’t communicated well enough. Maybe people resisted the change. Maybe the organization wasn’t ready. After working with CEOs and executive teams across industries for more than there
Your Organization is Producing Exactly the Results it is Designed to Produce Read More »
Want large-scale change to succeed? Stop broadcasting. Start identifying your MVPs. Every change initiative has a small group of hidden change agents. I call them the Most Valuable Players, MVPs, and they’re not always who you expect. They don’t have to be the most senior, or even hold a title. They just have to be
Your Hidden Change Agents Read More »
One of the most difficult transitions in leadership is moving from representing your function to serving the enterprise. Most managers are rewarded for protecting resources, advancing priorities, and advocating for the needs of their teams. Those behaviors are valuable. In fact, they are often essential. The challenge arises when every leader is doing a good
I had a great conversation in Paris with Bertrand Moal about the future of AI-enabled cardiac imaging and the enormous potential to expand access to care worldwide. This is of great interest to me in my work with Inteleos, helping their leaders with strategic large-scale change. Thank you to Inteleos CEO, Dale Cyr, for providing
Advancing the Future of AI-Enabled Cardiac Care Read More »
In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Ehsan Samei, a Distinguished Professor of Radiology at Duke University, to explore the deep shifts occurring at the intersection of technology and patient care. We begin by examining the nature of agency and accountability, with Ehsan positing that true agency requires an entity to not only act
Agency, Accountability, and the Soul of Medicine Read More »
