I hope you enjoyed the 3-episode ?Talk About Talk series focused on on SELF-TALK! In case you haven’t had a chance to listen to all of them, here they are:

Thanks again to Tosca Reno for sharing her expertise!

This week we learn from my favourite MBA professor about how to communicate CHANGE…

OK – let’s do this!!!

?PODCAST EPISODE #28:
C OMMUNICATING CHANGE
with professor & author
Ellen Auster

“Change management.” If you’re a strategy consultant or a senior executive, this might be what you do at work everyday. It could be merging firms or departments, or developing and implementing a new corporate vision and strategy. But the truth is, we are all changing all the time.

Change is good. But it can be tough, can’t it? Leading change (at work or personally – with your partner or your family) requires effective communication skills. There are so many ways to mess up! That’s why I asked my favourite MBA professor Ellen Auster to help guide us through the most common mistakes and success principles of COMMUNICATING CHANGE.

Ellen Auster is Professor of Strategic Management at York University’s Schulich School of Business, the Founding Executive Director of York Change Leadership and co-founder of a consultancy called – Stragility Change Management. She was my absolute favourite MBA professor. You’ll see why when you hear the podcast. And I know many other students shared my opinion of her – she won many teaching awards. Ellen started as my teacher. Then I did a practicum with her. Then she became a mentor, and then a reference for me later in my academic career. And now she is a friend that I very much look up to, both professionally and personally.

Ellen has also published a few books. Most recently, she co-authored a book called “STRAGILITY: Excelling at Strategic Changes.”

In this podcast, Ellen lists for us the 5 MISTAKES that people commonly make when leading change:

Steamrolling Forward – without really understanding our context
Telling & Selling– Most us do not like to be bluntly told what to do, right?
Lock ‘n’ Load – on the first feasible strategy rather than really exploring ideal alternatives
Ignoring the Politics – rather than embrace the taboo – inner politician.
Burning Ourselves Out – or change fatigue ….rather than building change fitness through prioritizing, pacing, streamlining, engaging others and letting them lead, and building in time for reflection and recovery

Do any of these sound familiar? I have to admit that I sometimes do ALL of these things – especially with my kids! After this conversation with Ellen, I’m trying to … change that!

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? CHANGE IN MUSIC

Have you ever noticed there are many songs out there with lyrics about CHANGE? How about these three…

“Changes” by Ziggy Marley

“The Times They Are a Changin’” by Tracy Chapman

“Change” by Taylor Swift

More “Change” songs here, including a list of over 50 sings with lyrics about change.

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? CHANGING QUOTES

I hope you enjoy this week’s podcast on C ommunicating Change!

Remember that while status quo is often easier in the short term, ultimately, “Change is good!” …

Please email me and tell me what you think of the podcast, OK? Or you can post on social media.

Now, I need to get going on the “Q&A episode,” amongst other things. Thank you for all of the questions you sent!

As always, I encourage you to forward this email or send this link to your friends and colleagues who may also be interested in learning about how to become more confident communicators.

THANK YOU! ? Enjoy the podcast!Have a great week.TALK soon,