Leading Change with Laura Gramling

“We're finding that people have figured out how to do a lot of work, task oriented, even collaboration online. But when it comes to deep thinking, and thinking about strategy, it's best done in person, and there's just no substitute for that,” shares Laura Gramling, President of Enspark Consulting. Today, Laura uses her 20 years of experience working in organizational change to talk about how to design and lead large-scale change while dealing with the new post-pandemic work culture.

During the pandemic, many organizations had to pivot to remote environments that were not as conducive for deeper, strategic meetings or facilitating team bonding. Now that meetings are beginning to happen in person again, Laura is finding that employees of all levels want to be heard and involved in assisting organizational change. In order to create lasting change, the leaders of any organization have to be fully bought in and aligned with the concepts. They also need to be willing to release a little bit of control in order to focus on the essentials for collective success.

The way we work has shifted since the pandemic. And now, there are new challenges to face like hybrid environments, employee expectations, and a stronger focus on company culture and values. To create large-scale organizational change, leaders need to be able to reframe and think in more innovative ways.

• “We're finding that people figured out how to use Zoom to do a lot of work, task oriented, even collaboration online. But when it comes to that sort of deep thinking, and thinking about strategy, it's best done in person, there's just no substitute for that.” (3:48-4:06 | Laura)
• “Leaders need to be willing to put aside what it should look like in order to focus on what matters. What are the assets? What are the essential pieces that are going to support our success collectively?” (8:02-8:21 | Laura)
• “These are companies that are there to make profit, to have a product or a service. And yet, this idea of inclusion, respect, and fundamental fairness for human beings, is also now part of the language that they share.” (16:11-16:30 | Laura)
• “Another pillar for me is this ability to think in polarities. I need to innovate, be entrepreneurial, and yet I have to meet quarterly returns or regulatory standards. So it's not an either or. You’ve got to do both.” (18:21-18:37 | Laura)
• “We don't get anywhere if you don't have the top leaders bought in and not just bought in, but enthusiastic about, ‘This is going to help the company. This is the future’.” (21:37-21:48 | Laura)