Blog and Podcast

Podcast conversations and straight-forward advice for
ambitious leaders driving transformation with focus, strategy, and innovation.
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Solving the Right Problem with Change Management with Juan Betancourt

Solving the right problem with change management is a perennial problem for IT leaders. Juan Betancourt is a tech entrepreneur who is willing to keep looking in the mirror, ask the hard questions, and continuously improve until he gets it right. Our conversation focuses on how he led his team through massive business shifts because that’s what it takes to keep up in his industry.

Leading a team through change that is forced from external pressures (looking at you ‘rona) is different from leading a team through change because of internal pressures and business vision. Listen to this episode as Juan describes his leadership and company pivots when demand for their services went to zero.

Leaders Aren’t Fortune Tellers, But They Are Risk Takers with Pamela Diaz

Leadership is about taking risks, not seeing into a crystal ball. Pamela Diaz is a leader that asks her team to trust her enough to take risks with her. And she returns that trust with empathy. Here at The Change Architects, we work with a lot of teams that demand all their questions be answered from their manager before they move forward with plans — which stalls progress and problem solving. And it’s simply impossible. Fortunately there’s another way and Pam knows what’s up.

This was a fun conversation. Listen in to this episode where I reference Indiana Jones and Turduckens. Pinky swear they’re both related to change management.

Resistance to Change Isn’t What You Think It Is with Jessica Carroll

Resistance to change doesn’t always show up in your team like you think it does. Jessica Carroll is an executive who has driven multiple digital transformations as a CIO and Chief Customer Experience Officer. The same lessons that apply to “going to the cloud” also apply to digital transformation and how to use AI in 2023. In this episode we discuss how it’s easy for the leader to think their teammates are resisting, but they really might just need more information; think about the problem from a different perspective; or need to wrap their head around the project in a way that’s different from you.

Listen in to this episode where Jessica describes how you can move your team from needing more information to action.

Deliver Results that Match Your Executive Compensation with Scott Couchenour

Have you ever felt like you weren’t delivering the results as an executive that matched your compensation? Scott Couchenour is our faculty member who can tell you exactly why and how to get you focused on results, actions, and the mindset needed to do the strategic work necessary at your level. It’s easy to get sucked into too many meetings, too many decisions, and too many tasks. As a senior leader you need to focus on delivering the value that only you can. Usually that means more time on strategic planning and execution, managing investments, aligning staff, and business development — not making a decision for a teammate who is abdicating responsibility to you!

Listen in on Scott’s episode to learn why you need your very own “offensive coordinator” so you’re being proactive, not reactive to whatever hits your inbox each day.

Action Can’t Get in the Way of Empathy with Don Monistere

Action and empathy move at different speeds in companies. Don Monistere is a longtime IT leader who has driven a lot of change. He’s led the acquisition and merging of several companies and freely admits that plans on paper sometimes sound great and play out in the real world in a terrible way. He cares deeply about his people and he has a strong bias for action. For those of us who have a bias for action (me included) it’s easy for us to run over people, push them out of the way, or dismiss their concerns because it slows us or the result down. Bottom line is that we end up with less people following us because they don’t want to keep up, can’t keep up, or think we’ve lost our minds.

Listen in as Don describes how he now prioritizes listening and empathy over action and how that leads to more buy in.

How to Come Back from Burnout with Jimmy Burroughes

How do you come back from burnout as a leader? Jimmy Burroughes was an overachiever who tried to prove himself for too long and burned out. In epic fashion. As someone who knows he’s here to make a difference in this world, he wanted to do too much, be too much, and was burning the candle at both ends. One day in 2017 it all caught up with him and the life that he had unraveled.

Luckily for him and for us, he came back from being lost, feeling hopeless, and being unable to get out bed. He now uses his experiences to work with teams and leaders so they never get to where he was. My hunch is that you’ve been where Jimmy has been…or are on the brink of it…or have a colleague who is burnt out now. Listen in for real guidance to re-engage in life with joy.

IT Needs to Say No Sometimes with Heather Darring

How to say “No” in IT is tricky. Heather Darring shares with us what’s even trickier: saying Yes too frequently, projects going out of scope, and then reading an IT audit that says, “You suck.” Okay, okay it didn’t actually say that she and her 1 colleague sucked, but it described missed expectations and she took it personally. Years later she’s able to share how that experience turned into an opportunity to reset expectations across the entire business, to grow, to learn, and ultimately expand her department and become the CIO.

Listen in to this episode with Heather, the CIO of an international nonprofit, as she shares what happens when IT doesn’t say No to their business colleagues (and should) and how they’re mortals like us not magicians! ha!

Courageous Leadership with Deseri Garcia

Courageous leadership is a choice. Deseri Garcia is a coach and faculty member here at The Change Architects. Because she’s been in the trenches as a leader, she knows what it takes to have hard conversations, lead with clarity and vision, and adapt to those around you while maintaining authenticity. Deseri’s experience is now in teambuildng and coaching. Specifically she creates teambuilding experiences that build connection, problem solving skills, and shared results.

Listen in to this episode to hear about Deseri’s coaching success, approach, and how she gets as much as she gives as a coach, trainer, and facilitator. Also, you’ll hear how we met and why everyone should have a happy dance!

Challenge the Status Quo; Business as Usual is Dangerous with Wally Brant

“Challenge the status quo!” The executives I work with shout this from rooftops with their teams. “Business as usual” means a slow decline toward irrelevancy.

The reality is that a business that isn’t growing in some way is in decline and shrinking the value it’s bringing to the world. And “growth” doesn’t always mean revenue, profit, and headcount. Growth in rate of change; growth in technical capabilities; growth in integration; growth in project management skills. These are all forms of valid growth too. “Growth” also means that some things do stay the same to create stability. Listen in to Wally’s lessons as a longtime CEO to reward challenging the status quo now.

Rich Leaders Have Rich Relationships with Jack Gibson

A little-discussed asset class known by rich leaders is to have rich relationships. Jack Gibson is a leader who values trust over money; friendship over revenue. Just a few short years ago, he was feeling hot, hot, hot about real estate investing with a business partner. He referred his friends to this person. Everything was great while everyone was making money together.

Until it wasn’t and they were all losing money. Big time. Jack put on his cape and saved the day. While he’s learned since then that “saving others” isn’t his job, he’ll never regret saving a relationship at the expense of virtually everything else. Listen in to our conversation where lifelong friends have stayed trusted partners because he knows the value of the best investment out there: relationship capital.

Insights into Uncomfortable Race Conversations at Work with Danielle Meadows-Stinnett

Have you ever wanted insights into uncomfortable race conversations at work but didn’t know who to ask? Our guest, Danielle Meadows-Stinnett, is generous enough to share a hot mess she found herself in as the CEO of her marketing company. She describes what it felt like when a client said to her teammate, “Do you even speak English?”

For those of us in more privileged positions in our American culture, we need to learn what it’s like sitting in the chair across from us as a person of color, a non-native English speaker, someone without a college degree whose colleagues all have college degrees, etc. etc. Unfortunately we’ve created too many ways to outrank each other. This conversation is a great reminder that we all show up to work looking to make a difference as a fellow human. Not a fellow human with all the labels we put on each other and ourselves.

How Small Tweaks Create Big Change with Nikki Evans

Big change is created by small tweaks. One of our faculty members, Nikki Evans, reminds us that change happens in small steps. Our brains are wired for overwhelm when we try to prioritize, do, plan, think through too many steps. Coaching reminds us to use our human superpowers of focus, critical thinking, and taking one step at a time.

Nikki shares her coaching perspective, why you might want to work with her, and what to expect. After listening I hope you’ll find her as amazing as I do and see why she’s a natural fit here at Stefanie Krievins & Co.

Bring More Critical Thinking to Your Leadership Team with Steve Pearlman

Critical thinking in leadership teams is not the norm. Too many meetings are focused on who’s winning, who has the best idea, who’s talking the loudest, etc. Steve Pearlman, a critical thinking expert, makes the analogy to poker. We hold our cards close and jockey to win. But then tell everyone else to show their cards so the team can win.

I learned so much about how critical thinking is a bit more complex than I knew and yet there are some key tricks we can all use to be more present, aware, and unbiased in our thought processes.

Old Habits Can’t Create New Results with Tedra White

Change feels hard when we try to use old habits to drive new results. No one knows that better than our very own faculty member, Tedra White. On this episode of the Hot Mess Hotline, we talk through big career transitions; how bad employees create amazing results and how to turn them into great employees that create amazing results; what gets us stuck during transformation; and the power of coaching through all of this.

Tedra shares her coaching perspective, why you might want to work with her, and what to expect. After listening I hope you’ll find her as awesome as I do and see why she’s a natural fit here at Stefanie Krievins & Co.

The Critical Difference Between Managing Complexity and Micromanaging with Bill Murphy

There is a critical difference between managing complexity and micromanaging that all leaders need to know about. Our Hot Mess Hotline guest, Bill Murphy, breaks down how to know when you’ve reached a ceiling of complexity that requires you to step back into the details of the work. This is different from micromanaging, however. And if you’re seeing the same mistakes over and over, yet your team is supposed to have a process in place, you need to lead in a new way. Hear about Bill’s inflection point as a CEO while in a hospital bed and how he became fearless.

What’s the Difference Between Orientation and Onboarding?

What’s the Difference Between Orientation and Onboarding? And why does it matter? With turnover and retention being very painful and expensive problems (especially right now!), leaders need every tool at their disposal to help the right people stay. Onboarding is an incredibly powerful tool and we have the stats to back it up!!

Plus it’s not really about the expense, it’s about welcoming people into your culture, showing them a good time, giving them the tools and information to be successful, connecting them to their colleagues, and demonstrating that you want them to be successful in their role.

Hot Messes Make You a Stronger Leader with Jerry Jones

Stronger leaders are made through multiple hot messes. Jerry Jones, former president of Cannon IV, shares his decisionmaking, sleepless nights, and strategy pivots during some tumultuous times. In this Hot Mess Hotline episode, he shares how 50% of their revenue evaporated in 90 days because of a supplier’s switch in sales strategy.

This episode is powerful for those leaders who feel fatigued by change or have teams who are complaining about too much change. “Why can’t things just go back to normal?” When change is forced upon your team because of external factors, there is no going back to normal. There’s a new reality which forces new ways of working and new needed results.

When You Lose Your Job and It’s Your Whole Identity with Steve Spiro

What do you do when you lose your job and it’s your whole identity? Steve Spiro has been there and has some words of advice! Almost every successful leader I know has been fired from a job and/or had a crisis of conscious. They often go hand-in-hand because we over invest our happiness in the role we play at work, the title, the salary, the perks.

During this episode of the Hot Mess Hotline, Steve shares with us the power of mentorship, foresight, and what to rely on instead of your job for your identity. I also share what I went through when I lost my identity.

Case Study: Consulting Company CEO

Tom Ambler is the president and CEO of a growing IT consulting and software company. After working with many executive coaching companies in the past, Tom and his team were excited to find an all-in-one coaching service that offered both team and individual coaching as well as workshops to get hands-on practice with the concepts they were learning.

Case Study: IT Director

Mark Chyba, IT director and mid-level leader, was met with unexpected organic growth within his company and quickly realized that the way they were operating was inefficient. They were not utilizing teamwork and it was hindering their success as a team.

Case Study: CEO Mastermind Facilitator

Calvin Ellison Jr., mastermind facilitator, consultant, and executive coach, relies on Stefanie Krievins & Co. when he needs to refer clients who are looking for personalized and transformative executive coaching.

Case Study: Growing Small Business’ Leadership Team

Armando and Rachel of Creative Works partnered with Stefanie Krievins & Co. to turn their amazing leadership team into a more cohesive unit that operated with long-term planning instead of always being in crisis mode.

Case Study: Accounting Director

Andre is a director at a large accounting firm. During our coaching, he was on track to becoming partner and knew that he needed to become a better leader to be successful with the responsibilities he had been given. Since coaching, and in part because of coaching, he is now a partner!

Don’t Do What You’re Good At with Gary Hobbs

You’ve probably spent your entire life believing that you should do what you’re good at. Surely, if you’re a natural at something, then it’s your life’s calling, right? But what if you’ve been wrong all along? Gary Hobbs, electrical engineer turned entrepreneur, believes it’s the challenges you face, doing what you love, and doing what you’re GREAT at will drive your success.

In this episode of the Hot Mess Hotline, you will hear how important it is to weigh the risks of doing what you’re good at when you’re feeling unfulfilled. Can you find freedom by facing challenges and being fulfilled by chasing your passion? Gary took a leap that changed the course of his career.

Powerful Leaders Define Success for Themselves First with Karen Mangia

There’s a balance in leadership success between being nimble and controlling the right kind of controllables. Karen Mangia is that leader who has found personal and professional success because she decided to prioritize — and control — what that looks like on a daily basis for her.
You’ll hear in this interview how Karen was letting other people’s definitions of contribution, meaning, and boundaries drive her. And it wrecked her body, mind, and spirit. Lucky for us she found her way out and even used the pandemic as her reset time. She has changed her relationship with her career and invites you to do the same.

How to Build a High Performing Team with Sean Murray and Doug Beal

High-performing teams are built when individuals go through challenges together. Sean Murray and Doug Beal bring us the real-life story of a gold metal Olympic team from the 80s who could barely work together in the beginning.

In today’s Hot Mess Hotline episode you’ll learn that you actually don’t need the smartest, most talented, highly skilled players for your business team to be high performing.

Rules to Live By for Good Leaders and Bad Leaders with Chris Clews

Chris Clews, speaker and author, bring us rules to live by for good and bad leaders straight from the 80s! Again! He has such a valuable perspective to share (and we have laugh so much when we’re together), I just had to have him back.

This time we’re talking about Road House and other 80s favorites. Plus if you’re thinking about pivoting your career or there’s a creative idea you keep thinking and dreaming about, Chris has some great advice on how to take action on it.

Your Team’s Long Term Growth Plan Needs You in the Details with Tony Newcome

Tony Newcome, CTO at ActiveCampaign, creates long-term growth plans with his team and has everyone working in the details, including himself. It’s been instrumental to ActiveCampaign’s success and certainly his track record as an award-winning technology leader. In this episode listen for Tony’s leadership perspective and how he keeps cultures going in hyper growth mode while also staying focused. He believes the best in people and it shows through in everything he does and every conversation he has.

Project Management Problems Always Have People Solutions with Charlie Garcia

Charlie Garcia, president of C. Garcia and Associates, has learned that every project management problem really needs a people-focused solution. He grew up in the construction industry and learned early on to take responsibility for what’s broken AND what’s going right. In this episode, you’ll hear Charlie describe a problem completely caused by other people but making him look bad. Like losing millions of dollars bad.

Leaders Don’t Judge with Joe Topinka

Joe Topinka, founder of CIO Mentor, shares his experiences learning that leaders don’t judge and how to really lead by example through a tough moment in his career. A new CEO came in and he was removed from the executive leadership team. An average leader will let their ego take over. An exceptional leader will take another route. Another great episode of the Hot Mess Hotline right here.

How to Lead Through a Crisis with Whynde Kuehn

Whynde Kuehne, founder and managing director of S2E Transformation Inc., teaches us how to lead through a crisis from her firsthand experience. She was having a normal, fabulous day when she receives a call from the big boss saying her boss was out immediately and she’s now in charge of a 100-person team. In a matter of days she came up with a way forward for the entire team. Listen in for her advice on leading through a hot mess.

Leadership Lessons from the 80s with Chris Clews

Chris Clews, speaker and author, brings us the top leadership lessons from the 80s in this Hot Mess Hotline episode. Combining his marketing leadership experience and love of Gen X culture, he’s written a books series, “What 80s Pop Culture Teaches Us About Today’s Workplace.” He travels the country sharing what we can all learn from our childhood favorites: movies that play on Saturday afternoon reruns and music originally released on vinyl.

The Ultimate Humble Leadership Style: When Your Leader Eats Last You’ll Never Know About It with David Fischer

David Fischer, chief revenue officer at Gregory & Appel Insurance, has always sought out challenges. As a marine, he learned the ultimate humble leadership style: leaders eat last. Throughout his career and he has worked hard to earn trust and deliver results. Hard work is rewarded with increasingly complex challenges, however. He learned that through a hot mess he encountered 2 weeks in to a new gig that required him to ask for help in a completely new way.

What to Do When Hard Work Doesn’t Pay Off with Blair Milo

Blair Milo, founding director at the Center for Talent and Opportunity, knows how to step up to a challenge. But she also knows that you can’t accomplish the impossible by yourself. In this episode, listen to Blair’s experience as a mayor and how she led a long-tenured team through transformative change. Innovation has a downside and she learned that here.

5 Steps to Take After Being Fired with Emil Ekiyor

Emil Ekiyor, CEO of Innopower, learned some tough lessons after being fired and before finding his purpose. In this episode, Emil describes his journey from doing the work he had trained and worked so hard for, being exposed to The Trap, and finding ways to creatively use all the strengths he had.

Why Mental Clarity is More Important Than a Business Plan with Jason Weddle

Jason Weddle, CEO of Hamilton, has been successful precisely because he’s willing to answer the hard questions and have the tough conversations. Even with himself. In this episode, he shares the confusion that existed in the 6 inches between his ears and describes why mental clarity is more important than the business plan at certain times.

How to Overcome Mistakes at Work with Jeff Ton

Jeff Ton has turned his successful CIO career into coaching and consulting for contemporary IT leaders. His credibility is built on the many fires he’s put out and the teams he’s led through many transformations: Y2K, cloud computing, digital transformation. In this episode, he shares how he got the opportunity to practice empathy and not just a CYA move.

Resilience Examples from IT and Consulting Leaders

IT was the must-have resource for 2020. Workplace tech advanced 10 years in 10 months. But coming out of the pandemic and re-rising of the voices for social injustice, IT leaders will need to adapt in new ways in order to serve their businesses in relevant ways. This includes being able to attract, retain, and develop future leaders who have minority identities and are looking for workplaces where they see others like them too. Listen in to this Hot Mess Hotline episode.

A Real World Emotional Intelligence Test You Only Gain Through Experience with Leslie Murphy

Leslie Murphy, CEO of the Raybourn Group International, who has used lifelong learning in the most personal way possible: to learn the most about herself. Both for the parts of her personality that help her get shit done and the parts of her that others may not appreciate. She shares several life lessons for getting ahead, staying ahead, and doing it WITH others.

Transparency is the Only Option for Leadership If You Want Trust with Wayne Patrick

Wayne Patrick is a serial tech entrepreneur who shares the hard lessons learned from 2008’s Great Recession when his world fell apart on a Monday. Sound familiar? Use his processes for transparency and problem solving to support your team and business during this economic recovery.

What Successful Leaders Do in Challenging Times with Mike Sipple Jr.

CEO Mike Sipple shares how every mid-level leader is an inspiration, including you! It might not feel that way sometimes.

Good leaders have visions that they guide their teams toward. Great leaders create plans to make that vision a reality. Inspirational leaders know that great learning still happens when the plan doesn’t go according to plan.

Critical Decision Making Skills Every Manager Needs with Aimee Kandrac

In this episode of the Hot Mess Hotline, CEO Aimee Kandrac re-lives every SAAS leader’s worst nightmare: a complete website outage and data loss; and the critical decision making skills every manager needs.

Great Adversity is a Great Business Opportunity

In this episode of the Hot Mess Hotline, CEO Kevin Berkopes talks about identifying when adversity is a business opportunity. Kevin’s company uses an innovative teaching model to make tutoring available for all children. He shares what it takes to challenge the status quo and take the heat that comes with it.

A CEO Answers the Question: How Do You Build Staff Resilience?

In this episode of the Hot Mess Hotline, Angela White tells us the story of how she led herself and her team through navigating work after the sudden death of a key team member on her team. At that moment, Angela had lost her friend and coworker, Kris, and was faced with a sudden change in her business.

Take Control of Your Career by Taking Control of What You’re Learning

In this episode, you’ll hear about Darren’s fast-tracked journey to becoming the President and CEO of the SESCO Group where he transformed a humble company and into a nationwide presence with high integrity.

He has learned that passion only goes so far and at times it can be detrimental. He has learned the pitfalls of leadership and share them here so you can avoid them too.

The Business Strategy Questions the Pandemic is Forcing Leaders to Answer

You’re not alone if 2020 caused you to look into the mirror as a leader to really evaluate why your business is successful. Listen in for even better questions to ask to move forward into 2021 and beyond.

Why Fast Business Growth Didn’t Stop in 2020 but was Redefined Instead

While last year is over and gone, there are many powerful lessons that can came from it. Even when we go through tough experiences, we can choose to take some of the good. That is exactly what the...

Your Team’s Business Resilience Will Make or Break Their Success

Only a year like 2020 could bring this kind of stress and decision fatigue for your team. It’s been a year of hard decision making. And it’s been a time of focus, re-calibration, and immense opportunity.

Too many teams and team members have tried to power through, vs. power up with resilience. Get ready for future years to require a new kind of business resilience.

Grow Your Business Resilience as a Mid-Level Leader

There is no “new normal” or “next normal” coming. If you’re waiting for this, you’ll be waiting at least 2 years. You, your team, and your business won’t last that long.

Instead we need to be doing “what works right now.” You need a mindset, tools, and actions that allow you to stretch, adapt, be creative and open minded, and continue to thrive despite the difficulties around you.

Resilience in Business Needs to be Your Superpower

The near future remains more uncertain than ever and chances are you and your team will be tried in new ways. Remember that last time you drove through dense fog where you barely see past your headlights? You slowed down, you get kept moving, you stayed alert, but gripped the wheel pretty tight.

Resilience is the mindset that will keep you progressing through the fog: to trust your headlights and the road, to keep moving, and to find the path as you travel it.

How this President and Founder used her strategic plan to change everything

If you’ve ever asked yourself, “so why is strategic planning important to a small company?” Sam Julka has your answer.

As the President and Founder of DORIS Research, Sam’s own strategic plan called for specific service areas with a focus on 1-on-1, in-person, in-depth interviews and research to work with clients on their employee culture within the context of their physical space.

How a network of trusted advisors helped this CEO pivot to a new strategic plan

As the song goes, “I get by with a little help from my friends,” and it’s never been as accurate as this year, when our strategic planning has gone out the window. Why is strategic planning...

How 1 Powerful Question Changed an Entire IT Team

In the process of solving your hot mess, sometimes you create 10 new hot messes. But sometimes, you solve them all by employing great team communication strategies, incremental change, and a can-do attitude. Along the way asking: “What CAN we do to make this work?”

How This IT Team Couldn’t Change Their Culture and Communication Until They Changed Where They Sat

Mike Loggins and I discuss how to improve communication within a team on this episode of the Hot Mess Hotline. When it came to team communication strategies, Mike had some ridiculous ambiguity on his hands.

How a Nonprofit CEO Learned to Overcome Change Management Challenges and Experience Opportunity during the Pandemic

Coming into 2020, when you thought of how to overcome change management challenges, you didn’t have the fallout of a global pandemic on your radar. If you’re Jim Morris, CEO of the Greater Indy Habitat for Humanity, you’re also facing the recent merger with another nonprofit. And this is after a nearly 8-year competitive struggle with the board and staff of an organization that you lead.

Complex Conflict This CEO Found Himself In for 8 Years

Typically when I talk with a client about how to manage conflict, it’s within an organization. On this episode of the Hot Mess Hotline, Jim Morris, the CEO of Greater Indy Habitat for Humanity, describes a complex conflict with a similar organization. Jim’s experience isn’t unique to those in the nonprofit sector, as he found himself navigating multiple internal and external groups who had a say in the problem. He spent 8 years in this hot mess of being consistently in conflict with another local organization, where the only differentiator was the counties they served. .

What is Change Management Training?

Change, and change management training, can be challenging. It can be rewarding. And it can be FUN! If you think change is hard, you’re doing it wrong. And you’re probably doing change management training wrong, too.

This post explains what is change management training, and what’s the number one secret that every mid-level leader knows about change. If you think that sounds much better than what’s currently happening with your team when you try to introduce change, this article is for you.

Don’t Cut Your Professional Development Budget

I know it can be tempting, or even seem reasonable, to make cuts in professional development following a tough year. You’ll be tasked with cutting costs, and you may not even be sure how much to budget for professional development! But this line item is not the place to cut in the short term if you want to be successful in the long run.

How to Build Trust in a Virtual Team

As a leader, it’s not up to you to keep everyone happy and motivated all the time. But it IS up to you to lead the way on creating a culture where employees motivate each other, where healthy conflict is encouraged, and where social and emotional connections are built even without physical proximity. Recently I joined Steve Johnson, Culture Disruptor and Account Executive with Motivosity, to discuss how to build trust in a virtual team.