224: How to Lead Through Uncertainty and Change, with Jacqueline Farrington

Jacqueline Farrington: Executive Coach

On this week’s show, Jacqueline Farrington teaches us how to lead through times of uncertainty and change. Jacqueline works with senior and board-level leaders. She specializes in helping executives create high-impact personal brands and communication strategies, with particular focus on cross-generational and cross-cultural communications.

Key Points

70% of all major organizational changes fail

20% of employees will support your change from the start

Book: First Break all the Rules* by Marcus Buckingham

Quotes

People often have the perception that organizational change is about change management and not change leadership. The distinction is that while they both deliver change, change management is about the processes that we use. Change leadership is about the vision, creating a sense of urgency, and speaking to the hearts and minds of your employees.

—Jaqueline Ferrington

Generally, when an organization introduces change, 20% of employees will support the change. But the rest, 80%, are either fence-sitters or active resisters, and often leaders forget about that.

—Jaqueline Ferrington

Often, leaders look at their change champions, and think, “Ah, I don’t really have to pay attention to these people because they really believe in it, they’re driving it.” But if those people begin to feel ignored or that they aren’t being used to support the change, they can become highly disengaged.

—Jaqueline Ferrington

Leaders often approach change from their perspective, not from their followers’ perspective.

—Jaqueline Ferrington

Recommendations

• Book: Your Brain at Work • * by David Rock

• Book: The Progress Principle • * by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer

• Book: Overcoming Immunity to Change • * by Robert Kegan

Discover More

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.