• PHASE I – IDENTIFICATION: Identifying the key areas within the organization which are most applicable for change initiatives.
• PHASE II – LEADERSHIP ENGAGEMENT: Leadership that is prepared to change themselves before the opportunity to change elsewhere in the organization.
• PHASE III – ASSOCIATE ALIGNMENT: Associates aware of where they “fit” within the change management process and able to implement established goals.
• PHASE IV – MEASUREMENT MANAGEMENT: Identified at the launch of the change management initiative, establishing measurement criteria that will reflect what the future state of success will “look” like.

Organizations that can not adapt to change risk failing because of an inherent drop in productivity, abysmal engagement at leadership and associate levels, and/or employee/customer defection.  By structuring an effective organizational change management process that turns the business into advocates for change, companies can achieve desired results from change initiatives – and increase their stance in today’s competitive business atmosphere.

We went on to identify that a “first step” in creating the appropriate change culture consists of assessing the organization with a readiness assessment.  The Pathos Readiness Assessment measures behaviors present and considers organizational structures which advance/inhibit results in a changing atmosphere.   This assessment provides leaders and their associates with an effective tool for understanding their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to their behaviors at play during change moments.  Leaders can utilize results as a precursor to conversation to strategize appropriate methods for communication.

Lastly, we recognize that leaders need to ensure that every level of the organization learns how to appropriately respond to managing change that takes into account their roles, responsibilities, and control over the process:

• LEADERS need to forecast, plan, and launch change initiatives, ensuring engagement within the organization.  Crucial to the change initiatives success is organizational participation and communication.
• FRONT LINE MANAGERS must facilitate change and orchestrate their associates towards understanding and adopting change.
• ASSOCIATES will need assistance to fend off the natural resistance to change through behavioral assessments, associate development programs, and transparent communication from organizational leadership.  Employees need to understand the reasoning for change, their roles within the change initiative, and ways in which they can contribute (rather than detract) from moments of change.

Equally as important, we identified that employee engagement directly corresponds with effective change management – crucial elements regarding an organization’s productivity and performance.  We found that disengagement arises when employees can relatively easily site that change management initiatives are not handled effectively.  Conversely, when associates could identify effective change management initiatives taking place by organizational leadership, over 60% were engaged.  The numbers bear an even worse chain of events for those who could not effectively manage change, in as much there corresponding organizations were nearly four times as likely to lose talent and encounter difficulties when recruiting replacements (Difficulties such as increased length of time to secure, lack of clarity regarding what the job description should consist of, poor associated social media image perception, etc.)

Furthermore, when we reference the apparent direct link between effective change management and an organization’s performance, we found that many fall short when it comes to managing change, especially true when considering leadership performance.  43% of associates agreed or strongly agreed than their organization was able to effectively handle change.

So with change being such a constant, many organizations underestimate the importance of effectively managing their change initiatives.  In doing so, they undermine the goals or objectives associated therein.  This undermining can have costly results on the organization, ranging from reduced employee engagement, retention, productivity, as well as performance.  These results can have short-term ramifications on bottom-line results, as well as long-term outcomes associated with organization longevity.

As a result, organizations face an imperative decision – to introduce systems for effectively managing change that assist the workforce in actively participating, as well as adapt to the new priorities.  There is a need for adopting a dynamic process that addresses organizational change not as a one-time event, but as an ongoing reality, encompassing many different types of change (Those which are predictable, as well as those which are not!)  The fact remains that effective change management should adequately prepare the organization’s leadership towards focusing on and achieving business goals/objectives.

Based on our research in preparation for our Engagement Mapping and Engagement Play programs, Pathos Leadership Group analyzed the relationship between change management, organizational performance & key metrics, as well as select initiators of effective change management.  Our findings revealed that effective change management initiatives must be lead by senior organizational leaders, and include other crucial key elements such as organizational roles and capabilities awareness, talent management strategies, and organization structure.  Most importantly, leadership must put in place a method for accurately measuring and monitoring the change initiatives, as well as making appropriate modifications.  Out in front of these organizational change initiatives it goes without saying… but bears repeating: Leaders simply must lead!

What would you be able to see if you could look to the future with just as much clarity as you could see into the past?  Would you be able to more clearly when it came to your product or service offering?  Imagine what you’d be able to do regarding your people?  Lastly, what improvements could you inject into your daily routine to save you some time… Time that you could be using to perhaps leave work for the day and spend an evening out with yourself?

Now these three questions are far from exhaustive when it comes to your leadership vision… But they do give you perspective on what you have to gain by sharpening your focus for the future!  Perhaps the best way in which we know in which you can develop your foresight vision is through an assessment.  As a result of this determination, we’re going to provide you with the opportunity to receive two comprehensive behavioral assessments with our complements (FREE!)*

Here’s what you’ll get:

• Virtual access to complete two (2) behavioral assessments
• A comprehensive Participant Assessment Report detailing 24 behavioral traits, ranked on your answers to the assessment on a scale from 1 to 10 (Approximately 50 pages of detail including developmental approaches)
• Two (2) other report formats (Executive and Manager)
• A virtual Assessment Debrief Session with a PATHOS Senior Guru
• A PATHOS Action Plan for you to create a Performance Developmental Plan

Here’s what you’ll have to give us:

• Your information (Name, Email, and Phone Number)
• 30 minutes to complete the virtual behavioral assessment
• 30 minutes for us to conduct a virtual Assessment Debrief Session

This is a $1,600 value, that we’re so confident will allow you to see with 20/20 clarity into your future, we’re going to provide it to you AGAIN with our complements (FREE!)*

Sign-up in the enrollment form below to get started:

Need more proof or reasons?  We’ll give you 8.5 million of them!  The behavioral assessment we’ll provide you with is scientifically based, 35 years young, and has been utlilized by Major League Baseball where the average annual contract pays their players $8.5 million!  If you were going to pay one of your “players” $8.5 million, wouldn’t you want to use the same behavioral assessment?  Sign-up at the enrollment form above today!

Modeled after the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School, more popularly known as Top Gun, this results-focused, metrics-oriented program is customized for your organization so that it aligns with its mission, vision, and values.  By allowing the “best of the best” to participate in the program, this highly competitive selection process and development program, Top Gun will be the desired development plan resulting in employee recognition, as well as an organization’s overall promote from within succession strategy.

For more information on PATHOS Top Gun Leadership Development… CLICK HERE!

I just spent an inspirational afternoon listening to Stanley McChrystal (The former commander of U.S. and International forces in Afghanistan. A four-star general, he is credited for creating a revolution in warfare that fuses intelligence and operations).  You can view his February 2011 talk at TED here http://www.ted.com/talks/stanley_mcchrystal.html.

In General McChrystal’s speech, he hit upon several key leadership moments, namely:

• Leaders can let you fail, and yet not let you be a failure!
• As a leader, how do you stay credible and legitimate?
• Transparency, ability to listen, reverse-mentorship are the keys to successful leadership.
• The cumulative pressures that are on leaders are like nothing experienced before.
• A leader isn’t good because they’re right, they’re good because they’re willing to learn and to trust.
• Leadership isn’t easy and it isn’t always fair… You can get knocked down and it will hurt… it can leave scars. But if you’re a leader, the people you’ve counted on will help you out. And if you’re a leader, the people who count on you need you on your feet.

However there was one part of his presentation that had me wondering just how serious are you as a leader?  It was the part of his speech where he reviewed the power of relationships.  The relationships that leaders have can be very broad as well as diverse.  However, in General McChrystal’s case he is a US Army Ranger, and as such lives by the “Ranger Creed.” The Ranger Creed is more than a mantra, has more meaning than a poem, and is a way of promising that as a fellow US Army Ranger that you have each others back.

Here is the original US Army Ranger Creed:

• Recognizing that I volunteered as a Ranger, fully knowing the hazards of my chosen profession, I will always endeavor to uphold the prestige, honor, and high esprit de corps of my Ranger Regiment.
• Acknowledging the fact that a Ranger is a more elite soldier who arrives at the cutting edge of battle by land, sea, or air, I accept the fact that as a Ranger my country expects me to move further, faster and fight harder than any other soldier.
• Never shall I fail my comrades. I will always keep myself mentally alert, physically strong and morally straight and I will shoulder more than my share of the task whatever it may be, one-hundred-percent and then some.
• Gallantly will I show the world that I am a specially selected and well-trained soldier. My courtesy to superior officers, neatness of dress and care of equipment shall set the example for others to follow.
• Energetically will I meet the enemies of my country. I shall defeat them on the field of battle for I am better trained and will fight with all my might. Surrender is not a Ranger word. I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy and under no circumstances will I ever embarrass my country.
• Readily will I display the intestinal fortitude required to fight on to the Ranger objective and complete the mission though I be the lone survivor.

—Ranger Handbook SH 21-76

So as a leader, what do you stand for?  How do your people know that you have their backs each and every day?  Do your actions “walk the talk” US Army Ranger Creed-style?  What’s your leadership promise?

The following parable, or myth, is one in a series of twelve, which we’ve identified at Pathos Leadership Group that accounts for executive coaching to fail!  Our results-focused executive coaching is contrary to these parables, leaving executives and their organizations in a position to succeed when it comes to organization development, operational improvement, and financial success!  For more information on our Executive Coaching or Organization Development initiatives contact us at

Executive Coaching Parable 12 – I Don’t Have The Money!

Charlie had just gotten elevated to a leadership position in his organization.  As a participant in the organization’s High Potential program, he was well on his way towards achieving his career aspirations.  While he considered himself to be a “fast tracker,” he knew that he could travel down the track even faster if he was provided some external consulting and coaching.  He did his typical research regarding what he wanted, as well as where he thought his purposes could be best filled through an executive coach.  When he made his presentation for help to the leader he reported to, the leader asked him who was going to pay for such career development advice?  Charlie had assumed that the organization would, but the response from his leader was a rather flipped “Well I don’t have the money!”

The parable above indicates Charlie’s desire to engage in an executive coaching relationship, but the “money issue” is getting in the way.  So what can Charlie do?  This is fairly typical, and at Pathos Leadership Group we hear this all the time.  The solution is relatively simple/straight-forward…

Every time we participate in a professional association event, and we participate in a lot, we get people who we engage with us at the event saying “we need exactly what you do in my organization.” We perform our due diligence and interview each prospective for proper “fit” for initiatives (Keep in mind, not everyone really needs our services, and if we can point them in the right direction quickly at low/no cost we’ll do that… They’d do the same for us, right?)  We learned a long time ago that not every organization is right for us to partner with, and vice versa, we’re probably not right for every organization either.

Considering Charlie and his situation, we were right for each other though… but that money issue?  Charlie has a couple of options to pursue:

1.     Budget Reallocation – Does Charlie have access to funds within his department that he could reallocate towards a coaching initiative?  He may not have had funds earmarked for it when the budgetary cycle commenced, but are there funds available that could be spent on this versus something else (or nothing)?

2.     Self Funded – Is Charlie willing to pay for the initiative out of his own “Career Development” funds?  While it’s great having your organization offset the costs associated with coaching, should the lack of such funds prohibit you from this opportunity for exponential growth?

The bottom line results which a coaching engagement always comes down to is what are the benefits we’ll receive, as well as the results we’ll get either as an individual and/or organization.

The Moral of the Story: While money isn’t everything, it sure has its place in business.  If you’re participating in a business coaching conversation or setting, you should expect that (1) there is a cost involved, and (2) you’ll achieve/receive a multiple of that cost in return.  Consider executive coaching as an investment, with returns paid back initially as

The following parable, or myth, is one in a series of twelve, which we’ve identified at Pathos Leadership Group that accounts for executive coaching to fail!  Our results-focused executive coaching is contrary to these parables, leaving executives and their organizations in a position to succeed when it comes to organization development, operational improvement, and financial success!  For more information on our Executive Coaching or Organization Development initiatives contact us at

Executive Coaching Parable 11 – I Don’t Have Time!

Sharon was a very busy executive… There were days when she’d go from meeting to meeting, and before she broke free from lunch it would be mid-afternoon (if she broke free at all!)  “In our organization we’re trying to do more with less… I guess I am the more part!” she would say.  The CEO of her organization had been working with an executive coach for years, and knew the first-hand benefits he realized in efficiency, accountability/responsibility and results.  As a result, he brought in a group of coaches to work with his executive team… Sharon included.  Sharon was not too thrilled with the idea of working with an executive coach.  Because of her busy schedule, she threw her arms up in the air and exclaimed, “I don’t have the time!”

The parable above indicates Sharon’s perception that time spent with a coach is wasted time.  Further complicating matters was Sharon’s participation in everything/anything that had to do with her department.  While this “do everything” and “be everywhere” mentality had assisted Sharon in rising through the corporate ranks, she spent little time thinking strategically, and her actions followed suit.

When we met with Sharon, she was not only disinterested in executive coaching, but was running out the door to go to yet another meeting.  When pressed regarding why she was not committed to our allotted meeting time, she explained that “things like this happen all the time” and that “leadership here shows great flexibility in their schedule.” Unfortunately, we weren’t going to be so “flexible” regarding out commitment to leadership in working with this executive.  We requested that perhaps it would be best if we “shadow coached” for the day (in other words, monitoring her actions while staying in the background).

The results from our shadow coaching were very revealing… Sharon was busy!  Perhaps one of the busiest leaders that we’ve encountered in a long time.  However, therein lied the opportunity, one that Sharon knew she was avoiding addressing.  She knew that in order to be even more successful, sooner or later she would have to delegate some of her power/authority to her departmental senior leadership, and then lead/manage their actions.  When we approached Sharon with these findings, she surmised the same initiatives needed to take place.  We set out next appointment together and an action plan to work on establishing a list of meetings/projects that didn’t require her direct involvement in over the next week, which she could delegate.  At our next meeting, Sharon reported that she had initially struggled with the delegation actions, however made sufficient progress late in the week to feel a small level of satisfaction, and to want to continue on with our executive coaching.

The Moral of the Story: Every executive is busy, however if you don’t make time to get better you’ll fall behind!  Executive Coaching can provide you with the opportunity to see the entire work atmosphere from a much higher strategic perspective, and plan your actions more thoroughly so that you don’t waste even more time.

The following parable, or myth, is one in a series of twelve, which we’ve identified at Pathos Leadership Group that accounts for executive coaching to fail!  Our results-focused executive coaching is contrary to these parables, leaving executives and their organizations in a position to succeed when it comes to organization development, operational improvement, and financial success!  For more information on our Executive Coaching or Organization Development initiatives contact us at

Executive Coaching Parable 10 – I Just Want Results!

Alan was a C-Suite executive who recently transitioned to his current organization.  His department, many of whom thought that they should have received the C-Suite, were currently “not firing on all cylinders.” When the Human Resources leader recommended to Alan that he work with an Executive Coach to assist him with his recent transition, and also to coordinate more of a teamwork atmosphere, he was reluctant.  “Don’t get me wrong… I could use the help!  However, I’m not certain that a bunch of ‘soft’ assistance is going to work.  I need something that’s more tangible in nature… I just want results!”

The parable above indicates Alan’s perspective regarding executive coaching and the lack of results associated with its methodologies.  Unfortunately, Alan is not alone!  Nearly 71% of the executives we polled share a common thought that there really is a lack of hard, tangible metrics that can be reviewed to measure a coaching engagement.

When we first started our executive coaching practice, it was as a result of a participant in one of our leadership development workshops stating that they “enjoyed the four-day program, however I know that I’m not going to be able to implement the action plan we developed on my own!” We knew that we had an opportunity to dramatically increase the training and development implementation and sustainment rates (The national averages that we’ve seen are a paltry 27%… The Pathos figures were 72%).  However, before we set out to coach our first leader, we wanted to ensure that we continued in our “results-focused” approach by developing a series of metrics that not only could be measured efficiently, but also would reflect the opportunities to effectively manage the behavioral change.

The results… As an increased value for working with an executive coach after our leadership development workshops, we saw an increase in implementation rates from 72% to 94%.  Furthermore, in follow-up efforts we not only saw implementation results, but after time sustainment taking place.

The Moral of the Story: Always insist that your executive coach share with you their tool(s) for assisting you in measuring your implementation initiatives.  If there isn’t anything to measure, your not going to be able to manage, and you’re definitely not experiencing Pathos Coaching… but you are hopefully having a nice conversation!