Training Teams For Change Initiatives

Most change initiatives don't fail because of the change that's happening, they fail because of how the change is communicated. I've watched brilliant restructurings collapse and transformative acquisitions unravel… Not because the plan was flawed, but because leaders were more focused on explaining the "what" and "why" than on how they were addressing the fears and concerns of the people on their team. People don't resist change because they don't understand it. They resist because they haven't been given a compelling story about their role in it. This is where the Venture Scape framework becomes invaluable. The framework maps your team's journey through five distinct stages of change: The Dream - When you envision something better and need to spark belief The Leap - When you commit to action and need to build confidence The Fight - When you face resistance and need to inspire bravery The Climb - When progress feels slow and you need to fuel endurance The Arrival - When you achieve success and need to honor the journey The key is knowing exactly where your team is in this journey and tailoring your communication accordingly. If you're announcing a merger during the Leap stage, don't deliver a message about endurance. Your team needs a moment of commitment–stories and symbols that anchor them in the decision and clarify the values that remain unchanged. You can’t know where your team is on this spectrum without talking to them. Don’t just guess. Have real conversations. Listen to their specific concerns. Then craft messages that speak directly to those fears while calling on their courage. Your job isn't just to announce change, but to walk beside your team and help your team understand what role they play in the story at each stage. #LeadershipCommunication #Illuminate

I keep returning to Damon Centola’s research on how #change spreads. Not because it’s clever. Because it’s true. Centola found that change doesn’t move like information. You can’t push it through announcements or clever messaging. It spreads through behavior, #trust, and networks. He calls it complex contagion, and it tracks with what I see inside organizations every day. People don’t change because someone at the top says so. They change when they see people they trust doing something new. Then they see it again. Then maybe one more time. That’s when it starts to feel real. That’s when it moves. Here’s what Centola’s research shows actually makes change stick: - Multiple exposures. Once isn’t enough. People need to encounter the new behavior several times from different people. - Trusted messengers. It’s not about role or rank. It’s about credibility in the day-to-day. - Strong ties. Close, high-trust relationships are where change actually moves. - Visible behavior. People need to see it being done, not just hear about it. - Reinforcement over time. Real change takes repetition. One wave won’t do it. This flips most #ChangeManagement upside down. It’s not about the rollout or coms plan. It’s about reinforcing new behaviors inside the real social structure of the organization. So, if you are a part of change, ask your team and self: 1. Who are the people others watch? 2. Where are the trusted connections? 3. Is the behavior visible and repeated? 4. Are you designing for reinforcement or just awareness? Change isn’t a #communication problem. It’s a network pattern. That’s the shift. That’s the work. And that’s what I help teams build.

Struggling teams don't need another framework. They need a leader. I've taken over bad teams filled with good people. I learned to embrace three themes for a successful reset: ✅ Change requires honoring the past and building the future ✅ Trust is rebuilt through actions, not just words ✅ Culture lives in daily micro-decisions Here are the 8 lessons that make it work: 1/ Honor the Past ↳ Don't play the blame game ↳ Value those who stayed through hard times 2/ Name What Stops Here ↳ Be specific about what changes ↳ Get them to help rewrite the new rules 3/ Own Your Role ↳ Acknowledge where you fell short ↳ Build trust through self-accountability 4/ Reset the Target ↳ Paint a clear 6-month vision ↳ Define what excellence looks like 5/ Define Winning Behaviors ↳ Skip empty corporate speak ↳ Make expectations crystal clear 6/ Create New Rituals ↳ Build sacred team habits ↳ Engineer connection, especially remote 7/ Embrace Iterations ↳ Progress isn't linear ↳ Celebrate small wins, learn from setbacks 8/ Rebuild Trust Daily ↳ Start from trust at zero ↳ Do what you say you'll do 9/ Catch Them Winning ↳ Be specific about what you see ↳ What gets recognized gets repeated Want more detail?  Flip through the full playbook below. Remember:  Your team likely knows the path forward. They're just waiting for you to walk it first. If this was helpful: 📌 Please follow Dave Kline for more ♻️ Share to help other leaders turn things around.

My AI lesson of the week: The tech isn't the hard part…it's the people! During my prior work at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), we talked a lot about how any technology, whether a new drug or a new vaccine or a new information tool, would face challenges with how to integrate into the complex human systems that alway at play in healthcare. As I get deeper and deeper into AI, I am not surprised to see that those same challenges exist with this cadre of technology as well. It’s not the tech that limits us; the real complexity lies in driving adoption across diverse teams, workflows, and mindsets. And it’s not just implementation alone that will get to real ROI from AI—it’s the changes that will occur to our workflows that will generate the value. That’s why we are thinking differently about how to approach change management. We’re approaching the workflow integration with the same discipline and structure as any core system build. Our framework is designed to reduce friction, build momentum, and align people with outcomes from day one. Here’s the 5-point plan for how we're making that happen with health systems today: 🔹 AI Champion Program: We designate and train department-level champions who lead adoption efforts within their teams. These individuals become trusted internal experts, reducing dependency on central support and accelerating change. 🔹 An AI Academy: We produce concise, role-specific, training modules to deliver just-in-time knowledge to help all users get the most out of the gen AI tools that their systems are provisioning. 5-10 min modules ensures relevance and reduces training fatigue.  🔹 Staged Rollout: We don’t go live everywhere at once. Instead, we're beginning with an initial few locations/teams, refine based on feedback, and expand with proof points in hand. This staged approach minimizes risk and maximizes learning. 🔹 Feedback Loops: Change is not a one-way push. Host regular forums to capture insights from frontline users, close gaps, and refine processes continuously. Listening and modifying is part of the deployment strategy. 🔹 Visible Metrics: Transparent team or dept-based dashboards track progress and highlight wins. When staff can see measurable improvement—and their role in driving it—engagement improves dramatically. This isn’t workflow mapping. This is operational transformation—designed for scale, grounded in human behavior, and built to last. Technology will continue to evolve. But real leverage comes from aligning your people behind the change. We think that’s where competitive advantage is created—and sustained. #ExecutiveLeadership #ChangeManagement #DigitalTransformation #StrategyExecution #HealthTech #OperationalExcellence #ScalableChange

In a world where stability feels comforting, your capacity to navigate uncertainty determines what's truly possible. According to McKinsey & Company's 2025 Adaptability Index, organizations with high change readiness outperform competitors by 52% in market share growth and demonstrate 47% faster recovery from market disruptions. Here are three ways to transform change resistance into strategic advantage: 👉 Create "future-back thinking" rituals. Regularly practicing visualization of desired future states before mapping backward reduces change anxiety by 64%. Design structured processes that normalize positive future imagination as a core organizational competency. 👉 Implement "change partnership" protocols. Pair stability-oriented team members with naturally adaptive colleagues to create balanced change navigation teams. These partnerships demonstrate 3.4x greater implementation success than traditional top-down change management. 👉 Practice "possibility mapping". Replace threat-response with opportunity identification when disruption emerges. Build adaptive capacity by immediately documenting three potential advantages for every perceived challenge in the change landscape. This works and neuroscience confirms it: constructive change engagement activates your brain's reward pathways rather than threat responses, enhancing creativity, reducing cortisol, and enabling higher-order problem-solving. Your organization's resilience isn't built on rigid planning—it emerges from a culture where change becomes the most reliable competitive advantage. Coaching can help; let's chat. Follow Joshua Miller #executivecoaching #change #mindset

Some of the most powerful breakthroughs start with a surprise. An unexpected event happens. Someone recognizes its potential. And then, someone chooses to act on it. A recent article from Harvard Business Review highlights the story of LASIK eye surgery. It wasn’t developed through a carefully planned roadmap, but instead emerged when doctors discovered that a femtosecond laser caused far less damage than a scalpel. Or take the example of the rolling suitcase, created not through a boardroom brainstorm, but because someone got tired of carrying heavy equipment on a wheeled skid. When we become open to the unexpected, we open the door to innovation. But this doesn’t happen by accident; it happens when we create the conditions for curiosity to thrive. When employees are engaged and feel safe and encouraged to explore, question, and even challenge the status quo, their intrinsic motivation and commitment soar. They become more invested not just in their tasks, but in the organization's success. Leaders play a pivotal role. By inviting your teams to share their surprising observations, encouraging experimentation, and making it okay to try things that might not work, you're not just fostering innovation; you're actively cultivating an engaged workforce. When employees see their ideas welcomed, even the "failures" as learning opportunities, they feel valued and empowered. This sense of psychological safety is a cornerstone of deep engagement. And don’t underestimate the power of bringing different minds together. Cross-disciplinary collaboration is where fresh thinking happens and where people connect the dots others don’t see. When we foster a culture of engagement, serendipity isn’t just possible — it’s inevitable. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eX5QZk5T #EmployeeEngagement #Innovation #WorkplaceCulture #PeopleFirst #FutureOfWork

One team I worked with increased their discovery to demo conversion by 40% in just 30 days with consistent role playing. But… Before I started working with them, they used to HATE it! Here’s what their sales leader said: "Marcus, my team hates it. It feels awkward and forced. Plus, my top performers don't need it." Here's the exact framework I implemented that transformed their performance (and changed their minds): 1️⃣ Make it unexpected Don't announce who's going next in your meetings This keeps EVERYONE engaged and prepared Your reps should be slightly uncomfortable (that's where growth happens) 2️⃣ Include your stars: Make sure to also pick your top performers This shows the team that EVERYONE needs practice It creates psychological safety for less experienced reps It prevents the "I'm-too-good-for-this" mentality 3️⃣ Make it specific: Don't use generic scenarios ("sell me this pen") Focus on REAL objections your team faces daily Target specific stages of your sales process Address actual deals they're working on 4️⃣ Keep it brief: 3-5 minutes per role-play Immediate, actionable feedback Recognize what they did well and then.. One or two specific improvements to focus on 5️⃣ Create a feedback culture: Have peers provide feedback too Focus on what could be improved, not what was "wrong" Document common challenges for future training Celebrate improvement openly This worked so well that even their top performer came to me and said: "I honestly thought I was too good for this, but you caught me off guard in that role-play and I realized I was leaving money on the table." The reality is simple: every professional athlete still practices fundamentals daily. Every world class musician still practices scales. Your sales team needs the same discipline. One sales leader told me: "I was shocked at how quickly our conversations improved. My team went from dreading role-plays to actually requesting them before big meetings." — Hey sales leaders… want to top this off with a 3 step blueprint to running the PERFECT sales meeting? Go here: https://lnkd.in/gtkFi9CK

Frankly… Invite them inside! Almost 3 months ago, the topic was “part the curtain” – to offer your team a glimpse of the innerworkings of the broader organization and specifically leadership activities. By now, the transformation is taking shape and the changes are impacting individuals. There could be new organization structures, new ways of working, new leaders, new products. It would be a great time to have very open dialog with your broader team. More than just a “status update”, open the floor for that two-way dialog about all the changes… listen to your team’s concerns – really listen. Are things working as expected or are there surprises? Is everyone sufficiently informed and more importantly “bought-in” to what is “new”? At this point, it’s the organization’s responses to the changes that matter. Adjustments may be required if the response is misaligned to the mission. Thank the team for their courage in absorbing the change, and their efforts to make it work, but be sensitive to hear where something that was supposed to be easier is now harder… acknowledge it and engage in deeper understanding. You only succeed when they succeed – help them. People, Passion, Performance Frank

Some teams struggle because of poor communication. But most struggle because they don’t trust each other’s work. Ever been there? Waiting on a deliverable. Deadline passes.You check in. "Oh, I didn’t know you needed that today." Frustrating? Yes. A workflow issue? No. This happened at the highest levels of military operations. General Stanley McChrystal was leading Joint Special Operations Command. Multiple teams, different branches, intelligence agencies—all working toward the same goal. At least, that’s how it looked on paper. Then one day, he toured an airbase and opened a storage closet. Inside? Garbage bags full of unprocessed intelligence. Weeks’ worth of mission-critical data. Just sitting there. Why? Because the people collecting intelligence had no system to pass it. And the people who needed it? They had no idea it existed. So McChrystal didn’t add more meetings. He embedded people. →  An intelligence officer with Special Forces. →  A Navy SEAL inside an embassy. → A Marine with Army Rangers. Not to oversee. Not to report back. To work alongside each other long enough to build trust. And suddenly, everything changed. Because now, when a soldier in the field complained about bureaucrats at the embassy, there was someone who could say: "I worked with them. I know what they do. They’re on mission too." That’s how real trust is built. Not through status updates. Not through better workflows. Through shared experience. Because when people understand each other’s work, they stop making assumptions. And that’s when teams stop falling apart and start winning together.

Fear thrives in silence. That’s the guiding idea behind an exercise we ran at our recent Rising Team offsite called “Box of Fears”—a simple yet powerful way for teams to share what’s really on their minds. Everyone anonymously writes down their biggest professional fears and drops them into a box. I sort them into themes overnight, and we discuss them together the next day. Every time we’ve done this exercise, similar lessons emerge: 1️⃣ No one is alone: The concerns we hold quietly—about job security, company direction, or team dynamics—are almost always shared by others. Every single fear in the box is part of a common theme. 2️⃣ Fear loses power when it’s surfaced: Some fears fade once they’re brought into the open. They stem from missing information or assumptions that don’t hold up under discussion. 3️⃣ Fears give us a roadmap for action: Once we identify genuine concerns, we can scenario plan, build safeguards, and take action to address them. This process is simple, yet it’s transformational. Leaders who encourage open discussion and share information transparently can create environments that prevent fears from festering in the background. We only conquer fear when we surface it, and teams who can talk openly about their fears grow stronger by overcoming them together.