Jennifer Selby Long

And so someone who is particularly good at recognizing the needs of the people who wield the most power is going to be better at figuring out how to get those people on board with the change, right? And so it becomes, so again, it's so funny that politics triggers our saboteurs, make us want to defend ourselves, right? They are all about survival.

And so someone who is particularly good at recognizing the needs of the people who wield the most power is going to be better at figuring out how to get those people on board with the change, right? And so it becomes, so again, it's so funny that politics triggers our saboteurs, make us want to defend ourselves, right? They are all about survival.

But in fact, we circle right back to empathy because being able to understand and empathize the competing needs of the many stakeholders involved in a change is the path forward. It is the path forward. You cannot move through the creative process that you need to have to construct that change in such a way that it meets multiple needs.

But in fact, we circle right back to empathy because being able to understand and empathize the competing needs of the many stakeholders involved in a change is the path forward. It is the path forward. You cannot move through the creative process that you need to have to construct that change in such a way that it meets multiple needs.

You will not, without empathy, be able to bring together leaders who need to come together and who don't especially want to. So that, again, is the foundation. Above and beyond that, multiple steps. And maybe that's the subject for another podcast. But you will want to defend yourself against politics. But...

You will not, without empathy, be able to bring together leaders who need to come together and who don't especially want to. So that, again, is the foundation. Above and beyond that, multiple steps. And maybe that's the subject for another podcast. But you will want to defend yourself against politics. But...

Opening yourself up to really putting yourself in the shoes of all of these people who seem to have power that perhaps you think they don't deserve is the foundation to understanding what's going on and to being able to navigate or, as I like to think of it, surf your way through those political waves and those choppy waters.

Opening yourself up to really putting yourself in the shoes of all of these people who seem to have power that perhaps you think they don't deserve is the foundation to understanding what's going on and to being able to navigate or, as I like to think of it, surf your way through those political waves and those choppy waters.

I always say my practice and the focus of this coaching practice was not something that I determined. It found me. And by that, I became an accidental change manager in the early 90s when I was just Jennifer from the IT training department. And I would get contacted because someone would want some technical training. And the very first project that I did at this company

I always say my practice and the focus of this coaching practice was not something that I determined. It found me. And by that, I became an accidental change manager in the early 90s when I was just Jennifer from the IT training department. And I would get contacted because someone would want some technical training. And the very first project that I did at this company

I was so excited because they said they're not adopting storing their work on the servers and they need some training. So I showed up ready with my pencil sharpened and I was waiting to hear the process. And the manager driving that project listed the first three steps, which I wrote down, and then he stopped. because that was the whole process. Vincent was three steps long.

I was so excited because they said they're not adopting storing their work on the servers and they need some training. So I showed up ready with my pencil sharpened and I was waiting to hear the process. And the manager driving that project listed the first three steps, which I wrote down, and then he stopped. because that was the whole process. Vincent was three steps long.

Anyone with an engineering degree can execute a three-step process. And training really only helps you with learning how to do things that you can't do. And so with that, my colleague and I began digging into why on earth are they not executing this simple three-step process? And that was really the first change management type of project that found me.

Anyone with an engineering degree can execute a three-step process. And training really only helps you with learning how to do things that you can't do. And so with that, my colleague and I began digging into why on earth are they not executing this simple three-step process? And that was really the first change management type of project that found me.

Now, over the years, as I shifted back into my primary interest, which is really around people and organizations and the development of those, I kept finding that the change-related challenges kept finding me. And they were exhausting and I didn't want to do them because I didn't like conflict and change always involves some conflict.

Now, over the years, as I shifted back into my primary interest, which is really around people and organizations and the development of those, I kept finding that the change-related challenges kept finding me. And they were exhausting and I didn't want to do them because I didn't like conflict and change always involves some conflict.

And I wanted to get on a trajectory of doing something very stable and steady. And yet the things that came my way were all challenging changes where people were mad at each other, where people were. feeling blue, where millions of dollars were sitting on the sidelines because large systems had not been implemented properly and were not really being adopted. And so it just kept coming at me.

And I wanted to get on a trajectory of doing something very stable and steady. And yet the things that came my way were all challenging changes where people were mad at each other, where people were. feeling blue, where millions of dollars were sitting on the sidelines because large systems had not been implemented properly and were not really being adopted. And so it just kept coming at me.

And somewhere along the line, I came to recognize I've now been coaching leaders on change for so long that it's actually my specialty. And so the whole firm aligned around that. And that is really where we have our attention now. We always say our motto is we help leaders win at change.

And somewhere along the line, I came to recognize I've now been coaching leaders on change for so long that it's actually my specialty. And so the whole firm aligned around that. And that is really where we have our attention now. We always say our motto is we help leaders win at change.