Ascending Change

Everyone loves a good strategy but it requires flexible and thoughtful leadership to actually implement it successfully. Not getting honest buy-in from your team is the quickest way to watch a great strategy fail, which can be the catalyst for a leadership change. On this episode of the Survive & Thrive podcast, Glade Holman joins Jennifer Ayers to discuss implementing strategy in the real wor...

You should never underestimate people. But tapping into the power of people during times of change is far easier said than done. Whether you’re building a compelling case for change, creating buy-in from leadership and below, or simply trying to build confidence; managing to drive your people forward takes a deft hand. Tammie Pinkston, the vice president of organizational change management at ISG,...

No matter how big or small the change, the very first step is building the case for change. As we discussed in both Season 1 and Season 2, that means defining the purpose of the change and the reason people should care. In order to do that successfully and efficiently, you’ll need to get everyone on the same page and marching in the same direction with the same end goal in mind. Easier said than d...

Last season, the Survive & Thrive podcast took you through the eight tenets of change management. This season, we have some amazing guests and thought leaders on to discuss how they’ve applied these tenets to help their organizations navigate change in real-world scenarios. We’ll learn more about change management, employee engagement, empathy, resilience, building meaning, and so much more.  Whil...

In Season 2 of the Survive & Thrive podcast, Jennifer Ayers took you through the 8 tenets to drive meaningful, impactful, and sustainable change in an organization. In our Season 2 recap, Jennifer reviews each tenet and recalls what past guests had to say. From defining the core pillars of change management and the importance of each to successfully navigating them in real-world scenarios, this se...

Learning how to motivate people is a foundational tenet of change management. You can’t create an organizational culture or deal with a sudden and unexpected change well if people aren’t properly motivated. While that might seem like an easy task, organizations get it wrong far too often. However, by recognizing and having empathy for what people are going through and rewarding the behaviors you w...

As we learned throughout the coronavirus pandemic, change is constant. So, how do you make changes stick? To do it right, you’ve got to start at the very beginning and create a change-adapted organization that can stay resilient. Kelli Skaff joins Jennifer Ayers on this episode of the Survive & Thrive podcast to talk about how and why organizations should create an internal change management funct...

When implementing a change, how do you know if it’s successful or creating more problems than it’s solving? If you’re smart, you’re using change management metrics to gauge progress, what success looks like, how the change is impacting employees, and finding critical problems before they blow up in your face. On this episode of the Survive & Thrive podcast, Jennifer Ayers is joined by Jigar Shah t...

Any well executed change begins with a great change plan. That’s what we’re discussing on this episode of the Survive & Thrive podcast.  Kristel Kurtz, a strategic advisor at Concinnity, joins Jennifer Ayers on this episode to discuss the importance of change plans in change management.  A great change plan will think about the who, how, and why of a proposed change to have a better understanding...

It can be so easy to view change from a distance and miss how that change impacts each and every person and facet of an organization. Not thoroughly thinking about how change impacts at the individual level can create additional challenges or even derail a project well before it’s finished. Samantha Collins, a Concinnity partner, joins Jennifer Ayers to define change impact and discuss its importa...

No matter how big or small of a change, it can only really happen if you’ve got great business messaging in the first place. From perceived gaps in the plan to a lack of buy-in from leadership and staff, poor communication can create a host of issues that can make change management downright impossible. To discuss the merits of good business messaging and communication, Jennifer Ayers is joined on...

Whether you’re in the initial planning stages or firmly in the middle of enacting change within your organization, knowing your audience is critical to success. If you don’t know who is being impacted and how; you’ll face major hurdles along the way and struggle to get the type of buy-in needed. On this episode of the Survive & Thrive podcast, Jennifer Ayers is joined by Jeff Bone, a partner at Co...

In order to start enacting change, you have to build the case for change. No matter if it’s a positive or negative change, a small or large company, or anything in between; doing a little initial homework can put the right wheels in motion. In the first episode of Season 2, Jennifer Ayers is joined by Lisa Insley, a partner at Concinnity, to discuss how leaders can build the case for change and st...

Welcome to Season Two!  This season, my partners and I will walk you through eight tenets to drive meaningful, impactful, and sustainable change in an organization.  Starting next week, we’ll explore each of these tenets at a high level over 8 weeks, and then, we’ll take a deeper dive into each one to really understand why it’s important and how to put some of these principals into practice.  We’l...

After more than a year of the coronavirus pandemic, what have we learned? That’s the very question host Jennifer Ayers aims to answer as she looks back at the first season of the Survive & Thrive podcast. In the Survive & Thrive Season 1 finale, Jennifer takes a look back at the 19 guests and 19 stories she helped to tell in order to find the common themes and lessons learned. There was an amazing...

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was felt worldwide. But by looking at and learning from what happened and how people responded to it, we can get a far better idea of where to go from here. However, one thing that became obvious was the need to continue to nurture our sense of humanity and take better care of one another. On this episode of the Survive & Thrive podcast, Jennifer Ayers sits down...

No one is immune to stress and the effects it can have on the body and mind. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a major stressor for a lot of people, leading to a sharp increase in employee burnout as the lines between work and home have blurred. As both individuals and companies are beginning to pay closer attention to wellness, it’s imperative we discuss the importance of wellness --...

The COVID-19 pandemic was a time of change for everyone. But for Devin Basinger, it was an even bigger one as he decided to leave the company he founded and join another startup right as the pandemic was starting.   On this episode of the Survive & Thrive podcast, Jennifer Ayers is joined by Devin Basinger to talk about his experiences founding and eventually leaving his company Deep Bench, joinin...

During the COVID-19 pandemic, people began to reflect more on their lives, their relationships, how they spend their time, and finding purpose in their work. While everyone dealt with a massive amount of change throughout the pandemic, having to quickly pivot in their personal and professional lives, there could be even more change on the horizon as people begin looking for new opportunities to do...

While the COVID-19 pandemic was hard on just about everyone, it also helped provide some introspection. With so much upheaval over the last year in processes and even organizational hierarchy; many companies have been making strides to become more inclusive. However, not enough has been done to boost women’s voices, especially minority women, when thinking about diversity hiring practices. On this...

Whether we like it or not, change happens in life. Unfortunately, no one could have predicted the amount of change we’d all have to go through with the COVID-19 pandemic. On this episode of the Survive & Thrive podcast, Ed Skowronski -- the vice president of solution services at Rackspace Technology -- joins Jennifer to discuss embracing change. Act 1: Introduction Introducing Ed and his backgroun...

The coronavirus pandemic reinforced that the one constant in life is change itself. On this episode of the Survive & Thrive podcast, Bas Zwart -- an executive at Johnson and Johnson -- joins Jennifer to discuss developing and implementing change management solutions. Bas’s experience in a variety of HR leadership roles has given him plenty of practice navigating teams through change. From determin...

Smart assistants are everywhere now -- in things like lightbulbs, speakers, headphones, and mobile devices. As people have begun to embrace and experiment with all that voice technology has to offer to their daily lives, the need for custom solutions to create a better human experience has come with it. That’s where this episode’s guests come in.  On this episode of the Survive & Thrive podcast, J...

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, the flexibility of a work-at-home schedule has been a welcome change for many employees as they try to handle both home and work. It’s also been a massive boon for employers, seeing their staff work more hours thanks to the increased flexibility. However, with companies opening back up, customized employment is in high demand and very much needed. Jess Podgajny...

Getting your employees excited about making an impact is one of the best ways of creating a good working environment and company culture. However, not many organizations take advantage of employee engagement techniques -- especially during COVID-19 -- and are suffering as a result. An engaged employee feels like they’re being heard and they’re making a difference, making them happier. Happy employ...