We Can Change… this newsletter

A special request before our summer hiatus

Last week I wrote about the emotional whirlwind that accompanied a recent bit of tough (but constructive) feedback.

This week more feedback is flooding in, but this time it’s bringing joy. Just joy.

#1 - Everything is Fine

First, I had the pleasure of joining my dear friend Jenn Romolini and Kim France on their podcast Everything is Fine. We talked about change (obvs), fear, the dangers of staying in one’s comfort zone and why, if we really want to change, we need to stop “should”ing all over ourselves. When we touched on ambition—a frequent topic of conversation in my friendship with Jenn—I made an argument that longtime readers will be quite familiar with: we go farther when we’re fueled by intention.

The conversation was a joy in itself, but then the feedback came in from EIF listeners:

“This episode was so engaging and insightful. One of my favs to date and will def re-listen.”

“A phenomenal conversation about ambition vs. intention—just wow!”

“Such a good episode! I’ll definitely be giving this one a second or third listen.”

And then a bunch of them subscribed to We Can Change. Welcome Everything is Fine listeners! I’m so glad you’re here. (And I could use your help… please see below.)

#2 - Leadership Team Alignment

Then, I facilitated an alignment session for an executive team, and it offered an even more powerful form of feedback—real-time impact. Over the course of a couple hours, I could see walls coming down, minds opening up and trust building among a group of talented individual leaders who are committed to working as a healthy, high-functioning team.

It was a beautiful thing. And a good reminder that, while change is complex and non-linear, it doesn’t have to be slow.

#3 - Agents of Radiant Change

Finally, the biggest news of all: We wrapped the pilot of Agents of Radiant Change this week! This six-week intensive course brought together an intimate cohort of organizational change agents—execs leading mergers, chief people officers designing operations and organization development leaders shaping culture norms—to consider alternatives to the top-down, command-and-control change management strategies that a) all too often pit leaders against their own people and b) don’t work.

I’ll report back when I have detailed feedback from the ARC cohort #1 participants, but here were some of their parting words yesterday:

“Kristen, you put together something that is honest, needed, and inspirational. The transformation that occurred through this course was nothing short of magical. ✨ Thank YOU for bringing ARC to life!”

“Such a beautiful and authentic experience. The content, the cohort, the leader, the playbook - were what I needed for this moment of my leadership journey. Here’s to leading creating change makers in every organization. Thank you simply doesn’t express my gratitude.”

“Kristen, your work is so incredible and rich and relevant! I am so honored to be a part of the first ARC! I cannot wait to see the evolution of ARC and all of our stories! Thank you and thank you to the rest of this group!!”

But What I Really Want Is…

Now, if you can believe it, I’m seeking more feedback. Specifically: yours.

We Can Change is about to go on summer (July/August) hiatus and, as longtime subscribers know, it’ll probably look a bit different on the other side. I think there have been at least 5 or 6 versions of this newsletter over the years… What can I say? I’m an iterator! 😂

While I have a few ideas about the next shape it will take—and I know this break will bring further clarity—I want to make sure any changes I make will serve you and your needs. Plus, I’m pretty sure your ideas will be better than mine. I considered doing a survey, but that feels so official, anonymous, sterile. Substack has a poll function, but it’s limited to multiple choice. What I’d really love is to have a conversation with you, ideally in a way that allows you to be in conversation with one another too.

So let’s try this: I ask you my two favorite feedback questions and you (please oh please) share your responses in the comments.

• What’s working well? things you like, things I will keep doing or do more of

• What shall I do differently next time? things you don’t like—which I can improve or remove—or things you’d like to see here (e.g. audio/video posts, shorter posts, case studies, etc… I’m thinking about all of these!)

Or don’t follow that format. Particularly for you lovely EIF listeners, let’s keep it simple: Why did/do you subscribe? What are you looking for in your relationship to change? What do you need?

Thank you kindly, friends. Wishing you a peaceful week.