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Beyond Blind Blaming
How to Stop Resisting Change and Start Thriving in It | Cassandra Worthy
00:38:07
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There's an assumption that a resilient person is someone who falls down, gets back up, keeps going, you get pushed, you get going, keep going. That is a recipe for change fatigue.
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Cassandra Worthy, she's the author of Change Enthusiasm. She's also the founder and CEO of Change Enthusiasm Global which helps empower organizations to harness the power of change emotions.
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I spent 15 years working in more traditional roles of corporates. But during those 15 years the career was riddled with a lot of change, a lot of shift, but most of which was acquisition. So I went through two multi billion dollar acquisitions. And in going through that type of change, it's like I experienced this swell of emotion. But then it was this unspoken grit your teeth and berry. I knew there was a better in a different way. So I started to cultivate this mindset that I've now coined Change Enthusiasm for myself. I always tell people, no matter the significance of the change, no matter where the change is coming at you from, you have power in how you choose to navigate. I fully believe that if you want to sustain a, you have to understand.
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Welcome to Beyond Blind Blaming. This is the place where we explore how easily hidden truths can hold us back, trapping us in cycles of frustration and blame, often without realizing what's truly stopping us. I'm your host Kevin St. Clergy and today I'm joined by Cassandra Worthy. She's the author of Change how to Harness the Power of Emotion for Leadership and Success. She's also the founder and CEO of Change Enthusiasm Global which helps empower organizations to harness the power of change emotions. Their unique approach transforms change stalling emotions into fuel for growth, building resilience and a mindset ready to embrace today's reality of constant change and transformation. Cassandra, welcome to the show.
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Thank you so much Kevin for having me. This is great.
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B
Well, let's start a little bit about with a little bit about you, your background and what led you to what you do now, which from what I've read in your book is helping people not only embrace change but use it in a positive way.
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A
For sure. How you want me to dive into this? Just want a little bit of the background, how I got into it, about your background.
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B
What got you here? I didn't want to read your whole bio. I wanted you to have a little piece in that. So tell us your story.
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I'll give you a little bit of flavor. I'll give you the very truncated, shortened version. So I'm a chemical engineer by trade. I spent 15 years working in more traditional roles of corporate, loving it as an engineer. We're taught how to solve problems, which I really, really enjoy. I have an insatiable curiosity. I have always had that ever since I was a child. You can ask my parents. But during those 15 years, the career was riddled with a lot of change, a lot of shift, most of which was acquisition. So I went through two multibillion dollar acquisitions. One where I was in a company that acquired a multibillion dollar entity, and then I helped integrate that. And then many years later, as an executive, I was in a business that got acquired by another entity. So I've seen both sides of the coin. And I experienced that change that happens in our work and our professional lives. That's like. It walks through the door, and we didn't ask for it, and we're like, why is it here? We didn't want this, and. And it's like, pops us across the face. We're laying on the ground, we're bleeding, and we're like, my goodness, why me? And in going through that type of change, it's like I experience this swell of emotion and a complexity of emotion, right? Because we're emotional beings first. But in going through it, executives would say, at the beginning, it's gonna be difficult. It's gonna be tough. But then it was this unspoken grit your teeth and bearing. Don't talk about your emotions. Don't talk about your frustration, your fears, any of that. You need to paint on a happy face and get going, because we have work to do. And I knew that was broken. I knew there was a better and a different way. So I started to cultivate this mindset that I've now coined change enthusiasm for myself, so that I could reach greater heights when going through such change, so that I can inspire and empower my organization and create space for the very real emotions that change inspired. And so from that passion and also following intuition telling me there's something different, Cassandra, you're supposed to be doing, than leading innovation in corporate. I found myself on a stage keynoting, talking about this thing, change enthusiasm, that it served me so well and continues to serve me so well, and the business has just grown from there. My keynoting has now led me into founding Change Enthusiasm Global. And now we work with clients across nearly every industry vertical, bringing this mindset and the skillset and our research and these tools to create the space for emotion to exist and also to empower individuals to harness that emotion and as signals, as guideposts, and then as a means to transform that into fuel to grow. Right? Because in change and growth and transformation. It's not always easy. But just because it's difficult doesn't mean that you can't accelerate yourself through it. And that's what we're laser focused on.
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B
We'll get to the book in a few. But since you have started your own business, what do you think is the hardest part of growing a business? Or let's go back up a little bit. What was the biggest challenge you had when you first started as an entrepreneur? Let's start with that one.
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So when I first started in full transparency, I thought I would just have just the stellar speaking career. Like, I would just be like that solopreneur. It would just be my speaking business. Maybe I'd bring on an agent, but I'd just be out there doing these keynotes all around the world. But I think that the intuition and the universe had something different for me. And I kept hearing the pull from my clients. Cassandra would want to go deeper, we wanna go more. And that's when I then put a lot of energy and effort into scaling the business, into certifying these incredible facilitators to go off and actually train on the content without me even being in the room. And I guess one of the things that I'm learning is the power of people, right? I'd always known that because I'd led organizations in corporate. But to create this thing from a seed of an idea that I've brought into the world, and then to put people on it who believe in it, who care about it, and who want to see it spread around the world, and to put their talent and their energy behind it, the way that it grows has just been insane. And so I will never take people for granted, ever. The talent that they bring, the passion that they bring, and all of the expertise that they carry, because it's just like every person that we bring on, it's a step change in how the business grows and how it expands. And now it's becoming this thing that it's like exceeding my dreams of what I thought it could be, which has been great. So I think in many ways that has been the best part of it. But then that has a second or another side to it because it's also challenging the larger the team grows. Cause there's different personalities, there's different dynamics that happen now. You gotta put in rules and policies and think about nurturing culture. So that's adding its own fair share of challenges. But it's ones that we embrace, like good ones.
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I mean, I hear you. We Just want everything to be a big Smurf village and be perfect and everybody gets along and everybody's got their role and it's no problem and it's just not reality. So it's good to hear you say that. Even when you do teach enthusiasm, which I know you do, and I can see it in the way that you act, for sure. So now I'll get to that next problem. As far as growing a business in 2024, do you think change is one of those most difficult things? Because I got to tell you, I see it. I've been coaching in our profession for 25 years, so I've been working with medical professionals, practice owners mainly, and change is something that they all struggle with, but we don't know how to address it, which is one of the reasons I wanted you here, because I think we just try to ignore it. Sometimes it gets swept under the rug, or as you said when we first started, just deal with it.
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I feel it. And I mean, I'm so grateful that we as a business and ourselves get to practice the things that we teach, because we are in kind of hypergrowth right now. And so we're experiencing obviously our fair share of growing pains. And it's something that just has to get embraced, but also embraced with open mind and open heart. And I think the power in it is creating that space for emotional energy to flow and then being armed with a mental framework like the way we think about it, our mindset, and then the tools that we use to navigate our way through it. And the reality of the situation and the world in which we live is that change is never, ever going to go away. And I think it's just going to get more and more rapid. And if you don't change, your practice is gonna get changed for you outside of you even having any control in it. Especially in the healthcare. Right. The healthcare ecosystem is one in which we do a lot of work in. And I think that it's probably the ecosystem that's changing the most rapidly. And if we look back a decade from now, we probably won't even recognize what our healthcare system has become because it's changing so quickly. And so it's one that you have to embrace and do it with heart open and mind open, knowing that it's not always gonna be easy, but creating that space for emotional energy to flow and hopefully arming yourself and your team and those that work in the practice with means to recognize when the emotions are there, when the anger's there, frustration, fear, anxiety. Ooh, guidepost signal. If I'm feeling this, it means this is opportunity, right? It's opportunity for us as a practice, the way that we serve. It's an opportunity for me as a business owner to stay more in tune with my people, give them what they need. Or maybe for me as a leader to pour back into myself. And what will I choose? I always tell people, no matter the significance of the change, no matter where the change is coming at you from, you always have agency because you have your choice. You have power in how you choose to navigate, to embrace or resist change. You always have that choice.
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B
Well, you talked about growing. We'll get to the book shortly. But what is your technique for finding and attracting the best people to your organization? What have you found to work really well?
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Oh, this has been another one that's been kind of an aha and a surprise to me. I have found that by staying laser focused on my purpose, on the mission of this business and putting all my energy and my passion behind it and sharing the success stories and what happens when you embrace it and what happens when I step up and practice it, be putting that in the forefront and keeping that top of mind. We're attracting incredible talent. And there are people who are knocking on our door, shooting the emails, signing up on the website, saying, hey, I keep following what y' all are doing. I'm seeing what you're doing and I just want to be a part of it. It's a really magical thing that happens when you can put the purpose and the mission first as opposed to, I want to build a billion dollar company, I want to be a unicorn founder. I want, you know, get it off of yourself and put it into the mission. Like, what is the purpose? What is it that you're doing? And put your energy there. That's what attracts the talent. And I've been in awe of what's happened in doing that. It's like the best of the best. See it and they feel that vibe. They feel it and they want to be a part of it. And that's really how we've grown our team. It's like this grassroots kind of thing. And the caliber of talent that we're seeing, it's just. It blows me away. Honestly, it blows me away.
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B
Well, how big have you gotten? How many folks you got working for you or with you? Excuse me? Because it sounds like you partner with people.
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So right now in the organization, we're at, Gosh, what a 25. And that's a mix of both full time as well as contract Support.
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I love it. You're getting up there. So now we'll get into the book. Cause I really enjoyed reading. In fact, I've got it set aside. I read it on a Kindle, but I want the real book so I've got it on order. It didn't make it. I read your book on the so I thought it was amazing. So congrats on that. I really enjoyed reading it. The first one where I'm going to start is you mentioned that Change Enthusiasm is a growth mindset. And I'm a big fan of Carol Dweck and her research. I believe she's the one who came up with it. I got the names right. Talk to us about what that means.
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A
And so I call Change Enthusiasm a growth mindset and maybe take it even further. It's a flux mindset. Nod to a fellow thought leader, April Renney, who created the idea of a flux mindset. But it's the ability to recognize opportunity that change presents, no matter how challenging, no matter how daunting. It's a three step mental framework and I tell folks that it is simple, but it is not easy. The first step to signal are these difficult emotions that I've already talked about. The frustration, the fear, the anxiety. Oh my goodness. What's around the corner? Oh my goodness. We're going through this acquisition. What does it mean? Who am I going to report to? What is my work going to look like? Good gracious. We're integrating AI everywhere. Okay, what does that mean? It's taken a lot of what I do. So what does that mean my role will become? Right? All of that angst, the emotion that that inspires. The first step is allowing that emotion to exist, right? Not ignoring, not suppressing it, not trying to keep painting on a happy face. Right? It's allowing it to exist and it's recognizing an A you. Right? What are the physiological cues that I get when I am frustrated? Right. I know my heart rate increases, my toes start tapping. Sometimes I want to punch a wall when anger hits. So it's a recognition when that emotional energy is present. And then it is a bit of metacognition in practice. What is this emotion trying to tell me? This emotion is here for a reason. I'm going to trust that it's because I'm being welcomed into a moment of opportunity. And as soon as you can embed that trust, that belief that the emotions are there for a reason, that they're not a nuisance, but rather they are a divine gift that we have as a human species. Is when you get into step two, which is the opportunity. If I am trusting, I am here to grow, there's something here for me to learn. What is that thing? And this is where your agency starts coming in. What are my options? What can I do in this moment? How can I learn a bit more about AI and how it's impacting my industry? How can I stay ahead of that curve? How can I use this as an opportunity to better connect with my patients, with those that I serve, with people working in my practice to come to know them better? What is that opportunity for me that I have control over? And then the third step is the choice. What will you choose out of the options that you list from moment to moment, day to day, as you're exploring opportunities, what do you choose? Right. And the beauty about this mindset is that it is very nonlinear and it is a practice. So even though you're making choices and you're exploring opportunities, it doesn't negate the fact that those difficult emotions are still going to exist. And at any given point in time, you make a pivot, you make a choice, you might still feel some frustration. Great. It's another signal, another opportunity. How will you iterate? How will you fine tune? What else can you explore? Make another choice and then you're coming back. I call it the inevitable. Right? And it's this continuous growth loop, practicing these steps, 1, 2 and 3 over and over. Because as much as we might want to let go of difficult emotion, they always will be inspired, notably when going through change. And I fully trust it's there for a reason. It's to bring our attention, our awareness into something that we care about, something that we value. Somewhere where we have opportunity to learn, to grow, to evolve, or to connect.
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It's interesting because I want you to know that I have already turned my book over to my editor and we're coming out with it. But I do use the term. Look, I have three simple steps, and simple does not mean easy. I thought I stole it from a woman named Lisa McLeod who wrote a book called Selling with Noble Purpose, which is an awesome read.
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A
I know.
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Yeah, yeah, I thought I stole it from her. I mean, ethically. Swipe and redeploy.
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There it is. You leveraged that thought leadership.
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Yeah, I really thought about this, so. But yeah, I have a three step process for getting to the root cause of what people think is really going on. Because I think too many times, the book's called Blind Blaming. It's where you're. You're blaming what you think is the problem? That's not the problem at all. There's something else going on. And I think your topic falls right into the blind blaming. I call it the blame loop, where people don't really know what's going on and then they blame something else. Like it's not about how they. They never prepare their team for change and they just don't see it. And then they do another acquisition. I would think that some private equity groups would be hiring you, but sometimes they don't see that change is the problem. They just kind of lump them together and sell them again.
- [15:47]
A
We are doing the work to truly introduce human centric practice and tools into the world. I think for decades, the leading change management consultancies and practices, The Bains, the McKinseys, the BCGs, have flaunted human centric practice and solutions, while feelings have not had their rightful place at the table. And we're looking to right that wrong. Right. We are creating these tools, these methodologies, these proven frameworks that create the space for the difficult emotions that change inspires to exist, that create space for the backslide that happens when you think things are going well and then all of a sudden something else hits and my God, I feel like I'm back on square one. That invites the space for the inevitable to happen, which means at some point you're going to get frustrated. At some point fear is going to happen, at some point anxiety is going to happen. Then what do you do? And giving language right for the emotions of change. And you know, I'm so grateful to be leading that work around the world.
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B
That's funny when you. Or it's a lot of fun when you find out what your true calling is. And it sounds like you found yours, which I love.
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It's the best, man.
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B
The signal emotions you talked about, I want to go back to those a little bit. You've named a few, but is there four or five that you can talk about today that we should be aware of or the list? I want listeners to read your book, don't get me wrong, but I really enjoyed that just Term. And by the way, I love your unique terminology. You came up with the book. It was awesome.
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A
Thank you so much.
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B
The signal emotions is something that hit home for me because we were actually working with my girlfriend's son on some triggers that he has that triggers his anger. And we got him some counseling, but he was very. Look, I don't want to get into the emotion stuff. And after his first session, he was just completely different. But he had mentioned he didn't call him signal emotion, but he said, listen, when I go through this emotion now, I know I'm aware of it, so I know how I'm supposed to act. So talk to us a little bit about that. Yeah, it was really cool.
- [17:38]
A
I love the question, Kevin. And let me preface the response with this. All emotions serve as signals, right? Every emotion that you experience could be a signal. Every emotion could be a guidepost. And so I don't want you to classify just these five that I'm about to share as the only emotions that you can call a signal, because any emotion you experience, I think, can be signaling you into something. But specifically for this framework, based on the work that we've done and the research that we've conducted, there are five that really show up, I think, to invite us into our biggest moments of opportunity when we're going through growth, change, transformation, transition, their fear. It's frustration, it is anger, it's grief or the sense of loss and anxiety. In our research, we found that here in the US the number one most commonly experienced emotion when going through change is anxiety for the workforce. And typically that anxiety lands in the top three. We've done our research in nine countries around the world, three different regions. We'll be doing more and more of that research in the years to come, but really trying to understand what are those common emotions that we feel when we're going through change. And anxiety is a big one. And I think grief is one that exists and it's not spoken about as often, I think, as it should be. Because when you're going through even an advancement, right, you're moving into a different role. There can be a grief or sense of loss for the way things used to be. For you always having the right answers, you working in your lane, you know what you're responsible for, who you're working with, who your stakeholders are. So you could experience a sense of loss from not having, like, that status quo anymore. Notably, grief can happen when going through an acquisition. Grief can happen as you're, like, expanding or growing your practice, because things are just constantly evolving. And there might be a day where you sit down and think, man, I miss the way things were in the simpler times. You know what I mean?
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B
Yeah, I think we all go through that right now. Boy, I missed what it was like five years ago, 2018.
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A
Where did you go?
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B
Yeah, that's right.
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A
Yeah. But I mean, these emotions are real. And I think whether or not you create space for it, whether or not you work with Us and give your employees a framework and language to talk about them. They're going to exist, but they'll exist, I think to your detriment if you don't open up the aperture and allow them to flow because they'll exist. When folks are chatting with each other one on one, right. And wanting to invite someone in a venting session or a downward spiral, and that's a part of our, of our cycle, the change growth cycle. They're going to vent the negative emotions. Emotions are contagious. They're going to want that to take hold of other people that are in a practice and then before you know it, people are hitting the door, people are leaving. But if you can arm people with the language and the framework. I am frustrated. You're getting a signal. Talk to me about your signal. You're in the first step. How is that feeling in your body? How do you know that that signal, emotion is there? Okay, well why don't we choose to trust that if it's there, what might be the opportunity in front of you? How can you use this energy and transform it into fuel, into what I call growth sustaining emotions? And that helps them to lean in, that gives them space. Oh my goodness. I feel heard and understood. I can actually talk about this emotional weight that's on me. Okay, now let's brainstorm some ideas. If I'm in an opportunity, what's in my control? What can I choose? That's been transformational for so many of our clients, giving their workforces the shared language to talk about emotion. And we have proprietary coaching frameworks that we give to leaders to help them in those one on one sessions. Yeah, it's been amazing.
- [21:05]
B
Are you tired of feeling stuck in your business, career, relationships or your health? Are you frustrated by problems that just won't go away no matter what you try? After coaching and teaching thousands of people for over 25 years, I've discovered something powerful. Every unresolved problem has a hidden solution you just can't see yet. That's why I created the From Stuck to Breakthrough challenge. A free 5 day live experience where I'll show you exactly how to uncover what's really holding you back and finally break free to the results that you want. Whether it's in your business, your health, your wealth, your relationships. I'll help you discover the real root cause of your challenges and give you the blueprint for permanent change. Join me and a community of like minded people ready to break through. Go to blindblaming.com again, that's blindblaming.com to sign up and we'll see you soon. Well, let me get into a couple of the other things. So the opportunity change presents. It sounds like you're encouraging people to stop looking at what could go wrong and start thinking about what could happen if things go well. Did I read that chapter correctly?
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A
Yeah, for sure. That's the opportunity vetting, and it's thinking about what's possible. And when you're working this as an individual, so it's a little bit different than if you're a leader guiding someone through that second step. But as an individual, you want to frame everything by what is in my control. What can I control in this moment? What are my options? We have this tool that we use called the Perspectives wheel, where we invite individuals to ideate, to kind of brainstorm on what those options might be and to let all of them out, whether they be positive or something that might be a detriment. Right. But just put them out there. You could go and slap your boss across the face. Right. You could quit your job. You could go flip a chair over.
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B
Right?
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A
These are options. They're in your control. But as you analyze that, the consequence might not be something that you desire, but at least you're getting the brain moving and thinking about, okay, what's in my control? What could I do? And often when we're in this step, we also invite peers, we invite trusted advisors and loved ones to think about, okay, what are all of my options here? What's the risk for each one of these options? What could be the resulting emotional energy that could get inspired if I took this? And then what support might I need if I were to pursue this option, if I were to make this choice? It's all about ideating on what's possible. That's in my control. What's possible.
- [23:25]
B
Sound like that. I've been a big fan of stoicism. That was my big takeaway from the stoic books I've read, is just focus on what you can control, not what you can't. I included my to be list this year because I think it's something that, as I get to the end, because I sold my companies a couple years ago and now I'm kind of. They just told me this year, hey, we're good to go, you guys. You can go do what you want to do, which caused me to write the book. So.
- [23:46]
A
Oh, congratulations. I love it. And I will say, because oftentimes people get. When you talk about growth, mindset, you talk about positivity, you talk about just Embracing the change. It can be overwhelming. And people think about, I'm not there, right? I can't start moving because I have so many signaling motions. Sometimes the opportunity is to grant yourself grace. Sometimes the opportunity is take some time for rest and respite and reflection. And that might be a choice that you make, Right? And that's completely okay. I just want to advise folks that there's lots of room and space for grace, for rest, for reflection. And I say that it is an imperative, especially as you think about strengthening your resilience muscle. The reflection is where the resiliency grows, which is very important.
- [24:32]
B
I was about to say. You're stealing my thunder. No, I was gonna say that. It sounds like it's like a muscle. It's not when people get overwhelmed, it's just because they're not used to dealing with it. I've got a new assistant. She's fairly young, and it was interesting because I started off with asking her what her goals were. I gave her a few smallest paid assignments to do it. And when we met this morning, she said, listen, just coming up with that first goal, it was really difficult. And I was like, why do you think that is? She goes, I just think it's just because I'm not used to thinking that way. It was really. I was like, I like you. Really. You're going to work out just fine here. This is so good. But it sounds like the same situation happens with people, and you're just encouraging them to recognize that, hey, it's okay if you get overwhelmed. Just stop, take a break, come back to it. But practice.
- [25:14]
A
And then as a leader, I'll always know and reinforce that you're there as support, but that you also celebrate their rest and their reflection. I talk about this a lot, how resiliency is really in the zeitgeist, especially at the rate that the world is evolving. And so many are celebrating those resilient people in their organization. But I think too many are getting it wrong. There's an assumption that a resilient person is someone who falls down, gets back up, keeps going. You fall down, you keep back up, get back up, keep going. You get pushed, you get going, keep going. That is a recipe for change. Fatigue, not resilience. I call resilience a muscle. I was a D1 athlete at Georgia Tech. I threw shot putting, discus. I lifted a lot of weights. And when it comes to our physical muscle strength, one day I'm breaking those muscles down. I'm working out biceps and triceps. I'm breaking them down. The next day I'm resting that muscle group and I'm going down to my quads. And then the following day I come back to my biceps and my triceps. There is a breakdown, there's a strain, there's time for rest, and then it's a restrain. I think in change, sometimes we forget the rest day, we forget the reflection. Resiliency is about falling down and then getting up to explore. What have I learned? What did I learn when I just tripped right there? What have I learned in these past six weeks of going full out? During this transition, during this transformation, what are some things I've learned? How will I apply it? How have I grown? Because it's those reflections that will then serve you. The next time you fall down, you're going to be eager to get back up because, ooh, I know I learned something all that time ago. I'm about to learn something now because that was a big fall, or I'm really, really stressed out at this point. And so you have to make time for the reflection, for the recovery, so that the resilience muscle can grow and then you can keep going.
- [26:56]
B
I enjoyed reading about how you think lasting change is rooted in belief, because there's a big section on belief systems and how it creates filters for how you see the world. I know beliefs shape our decisions and how we view the world. Even though we went about it a little differently. I call it a behavioral bedrock that you build on top, just keeps building on top of one another. You had drawn a little pyramid that you have in the book with belief or habitual thought at the peak, inspired thought and some other things. Talk to us a little bit about that and how that plays into this whole process.
- [27:27]
A
I fully believe that if you want to sustain a change, if you want to move from one state to another, you have to understand what are the beliefs that are going to hold that new state in place. And I think this is where organizations oftentimes miss when going through change. And I also think this is why cultural changes can be so slow, because you are looking to rewire hearts and minds and changing belief structure. But when you can get clear on what are our existing belief systems, what are our existing beliefs that all of our employees hold? And then what are the new beliefs or the slightly modified beliefs that we need to move them to? And what is it that belief look like in action? Right. What are the behaviors that manifest because you carry that belief? It's when you can get clear on the belief that you can actually start moving Employees forward, you have to redefine the beliefs as well as what are those behaviors that will manifest when they embody them. And a change in belief, like I said, that's rewiring brains, that's rewiring the chemistry. Right. The mind. It's often hacking habit loops that employees might have had for years and years. So we have to get really honest about what do I want my people to believe, and then how can I role model the behavior that will inspire that belief to get adopted across the organization? And yeah, I think that's the most important of it all. And in change, enthusiasm itself is a belief system. It's a belief that our emotions are an infinite gift. It's a belief that emotion carries a place in business and that emotions exist to serve, to invite us into our greatest opportunities to grow and that we have the power. We have the power to choose how we use them, how to transform them into fuel. That in and of itself is a belief system that when you can embrace it, you can walk through any change, you can accelerate your growth when moving through your even most devastating changes in any aspect of your life, whether that be a divorce, a breakup, maybe welcoming a new child into the family, getting a puppy, which my wife and I have experienced in the past year or two, which. Lot of single emotions.
- [29:35]
B
Yeah, especially when they chew up your carpet or they ruin your favorite pair of shoes. All that stuff that didn't happen before. We just introduced a new dog into my life. The girlfriend's been around eight months. We're getting along great. She moved in. She brought Cowboy into Lucy and I's life. And Cowboy is not Lucy. Lucy's my Doberman. She looks like an attack dog, but she's a princess. But Cowboy is completely different. He just goes to the bathroom wherever he wants. I've had to retrain him. It's starting over. Talk about change. It's like, ah, Lucy's looking at me like, dad. It was so much easier before Cowboy got here anyway. I think people feel that way at work, too. When new companies come together and there's a new boss that comes in or didn't manage them like the old boss did, and he's a little harder.
- [30:20]
A
I so subscribe to the idea that in change, we so experience so often experience the loss before we experience the gain. But it doesn't mean they both don't hold true. So when you get a new manager, at first you're experiencing the loss of the way things were, the prior manager that you had, and all this disruption. But in that New manager. There's gain possible with the skillset they're bringing, perhaps even their personality. Maybe you're even going to gel a little bit better with that individual. There is certainly gain in the game of change.
- [30:51]
B
Well, you describe three different roles in your book. The creator, the leader, and the executor of change. Any thoughts on those you want to share or can you describe them to our audience?
- [30:59]
A
The reason that I went into detail in the book there is because it's important to know what hat you're wearing for any specific change or dynamic that you're moving through and so that you can understand your relationship with change. Right. Is it my responsibility to execute this vision that I've been given or maybe a vision that I even created myself? And that's the role that I'm playing. I'm executing, like moving this change forward. Am I the one that's envisioning, am I creating this thing? As an entrepreneur, I know this well. Ideas just bubble up and I want to create a change in my company. I tell my executives that it's my role to inject risk into the business. That's what I do. And they'll tell you I do it well. Are you leading right? Or do you need to empower your executors? Do you need to empower people in your organization, making sure that you're available for them? And that still includes taking care of you. And so often with leadership, I tell them, nobody wants to work for ragged, worn out, just exhausted manager. I think that the best thing that you can give to your workforce is a better, healthier, more emotional and self aware you. So that takes time for you to pour into self, self care, self development, self nourishment so that you can show up your best and brightest to your people.
- [32:14]
B
I love it. Well, any other comments about lessons in the book that we didn't cover? I think I got through most of it. I want people to read the book. It's incredible.
- [32:21]
A
I really, really, really want them to read it too. And I think one of the things that has been so rewarding for me is the staying power of the message of the tools. I made this almost like a workbook and I did it intentionally because I wanted to take this whole mindset about emotions and opportunity out of the conceptual and into the practical. And so do the exercises, right? Invite peers into the exercises with you. The more that you can practice, practice this thing, the more it's going to get ingrained in you. And we've got people who have been practicing it for years, I still get testimonials. They're now coaching their kids on how to embody this mindset. And it is applicable across any aspect of life. Anywhere where change is happening, like getting a new puppy and signaling emotions are there. Change enthusiasm is relevant.
- [33:10]
B
It sounds like you've done a great job, especially if you know, Lisa, you've done a great job of building strong, long lasting relationships with your partners, your employees, customers. How do you do it?
- [33:20]
A
Staying true to the purpose and the mission and always looking for ways that I can serve and elevate and inspire. And always listening to that divinity that surges through me, that intuition that I talked about that got me on a stage in the first place, always listening to that divinity. And with that also comes the emotion. Listening to the emotion and my own signals and my own guideposts.
- [33:43]
B
Well, you talked a little bit about attracting the best people and how you've created something that people are knocking on your door. How about when it comes to marketing to find new customers, what are some of the marketing that's worked for you?
- [33:54]
A
Oh, so we just engaged a new marketing agency in 2024 and they've been incredible, absolutely incredible. And I think for us, because we're kind of disrupting the change management space and kind of thinking about global leadership, truly integrating emotional intelligence and change management and pioneering this new space we call change growth. We're putting out a lot of testimonials, putting out a lot of case studies. We're showcasing our research because when it comes to emotion for many of the executives out there that are holding the purse strings, they've grown up in an environment where they're told, don't talk about your emotions, don't share your emotions. That stoicism you talked about, right, don't talk about that in business, I got to where I am from shutting out my emotions. And so there has to be this case made for the roi. So we partner with a lot of consultants to build out our ROI case studies, all these testimonials, this juicy research, because not only is it the concepts of it and people saying how well it's working, but we also need to have that quantifiable data. And so that's how we're going about the marketing. You know, go to the website, Change Enthusiasm Global. You're going to feel the vibrance, you're going to feel the energy.
- [35:02]
B
I know. I love your website. It's awesome.
- [35:04]
A
Thank you. But you're also going to see the proof, right? You're going to see the roi. You're going to see the proof and what we're delivering and that it works. It truly works. If you want to have a much more agile organization, not just for one set initiative, but for any level of change and for years and years to come, this is the work. This is our Change Growth accelerator. This is the experience that you need.
- [35:26]
B
To bring your workforce through and change enthusiasm. Global.com is that the best way for them to get a hold of you?
- [35:32]
A
That's it. Yep. Check out what we're up to.
- [35:34]
B
Last question. You've clearly spent some time investing in yourself. You have a wealth of knowledge. What have you done over the years to develop is it books, is it mastermind groups, is it peer networks? What do you like to do to grow yourself?
- [35:47]
A
A little bit of all I will say I love podcasts which is why I so enjoy also guesting on them and you do yours so well.
- [35:56]
B
Well, thank you.
- [35:57]
A
So I really enjoy yours as well. But I get a lot of knowledge from podcasts. There are so many thought leaders out in the world. They don't know it, but they've been my mentors and I've looked up to so many people that I haven't met. The strange part of being the way that my keynote speaking has grown over the years and meeting the people that have been my distant mentors and now are actually my up close mentors is a little bit wild. That's been great. And also peer to peer, the power of community. I'm in a founder community which is just incredible. Founders doing over 3 million in ARR each year and speaker community. Always trying to stay on the top of my game as I think about my speaking business as well. And yeah, surrounding yourself with just brilliant, talented, passionate people enjoying life and enjoying what they do and I just get so much inspiration from that.
- [36:44]
B
I love your energy, I love your knowledge. I can't wait to get more people to read your book. Thank you for being here. I'm going to end it. I have no other questions. Get the book, get in touch. But thank you for being you.
- [36:55]
A
It's been an honor. Thank you. And thank you so much to the listeners. I appreciate you all.