Change Management Blog Posts - Stefanie Krievins & Co.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Change Management