Several years ago, I had the luxury of being coached by Val Wright, author of three award-winning books for leaders. One of her development exercises was to have me articulate my unique value, distinct traits, proudest achievements, and finally, ten leadership soundbites. I was doing great until the soundbites. I had...
Your Stakeholders are Aging – Can You Keep Up?
I recently had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Alan Weiss - consulting guru and author of more than 60 books - speak to an audience about thriving in the age of “no normal.” And I’m not joking when I say he copyrighted the phrase “no normal.” At 77 years of...
Reveal the Pain Now or Later?
Toxic positivity. Dr. Jen Frahm kicked out this term during a webinar on change and it resonated immediately. Some people are overwhelmingly positive when they shouldn’t be. I coach leaders to demonstrate high energy (if they are not excited by a new direction, why should anyone else be?), but with an...
Are you passing it on?
Ten years ago, I brought my son to the gym and got him started lifting weights with an empty bar – the lightest weight possible. Now he goes five times a week and can lift a lot more than me (because I don’t want to show off!). Lately, I’ve noticed...
How to Keep Them Coming Back: More Work, More $$
“Jeff, you’ve been working with us for six months. You know us. We would like to continue this relationship.” Isn’t that a great note to receive? It just came in this morning, and now we are discussing the next piece of work. Many of you are internal or external consultants, but even...
A New Approach to Change: Ship it
In the 1700s, Britain claimed Australia as a colony, and to occupy it they sent prisoners to the island - more than 162,000 of them. As you can imagine, it dramatically impacted the indigenous people living there. It still happens today, with southern US states shipping immigrants to the north to...
Commit or Evade? Building a Timeline for Change
On every project I work on, I recommend communicating the transition date as soon as it is known. Clear timelines are important: They bring structure to an uncertain future: “I know on this date these things will happen.” They enable planning: “I can figure out what needs to be completed before that...
Bad Butts: A Case Study for Challenging Change
Many cities have a problem with litter, and cigarette butts present a particularly nasty problem because the materials break down so slowly. No one wants to be looking at your butt for the next ten years, so how do we get people to stop dropping them on the ground? Let’s...
The Missing Link in Change: Owner Readiness
My daughter and I cheerily rolled up to the check-in desk at the airport and proclaimed our destination: Tokyo! Five minutes later our glee turned to gloom as we learned that three COVID vaccinations were required. Alexia had just two.“Does the airport still offer on-site shots?” I asked, hopefully.“I’m sorry,...
Check in before they check out – How to sustain a change
The switch has been flipped. The project you’ve been working on for months is finally nearing the end. Everyone’s on board…until they aren’t. Three months later there is little evidence that the change ever took place. It happens more often than you think.Many of my clients complain about initiatives that...
