In this episode of Leadership & Learning with Dr. JBT, Dr. Jamie Brownlee-Turgeon reflects on an early leadership experience that reshaped how she understands change.
What began as a seemingly simple workflow adjustment—changing how a team managed a shared email inbox—quickly unraveled into confusion, frustration, and resistance. The logic of the change was sound, but the outcome was not.
Why?
Because change doesn't fail at implementation.
It fails when leaders underestimate readiness.
Drawing on the Anatomy of Change model, this episode explores the human side of change leadership and why even small shifts can provoke big emotional responses. Listeners are guided through five foundational conditions that must be present for change to succeed—not as a checklist, but as lived experiences that shape how people respond to uncertainty.
Why all change, big or small, creates emotional disruption
How confusion, anxiety, frustration, and false starts signal missing readiness
The five conditions people need to move through change successfully:
A clear sense of direction
Confidence in their ability to succeed
Understanding the personal benefits of the change
Adequate support and resources
A clear, shared path forward
Why readiness is relational, not procedural
How leaders can prepare people for change rather than pushing change onto them
Successful change is not something leaders announce.
It's something they prepare people for—intentionally, patiently, and humanely.
This episode is a follow-up to conversations on leading change and offers a critical reminder: the pace of change is set not by strategy, but by people.
Before launching your next change initiative, ask yourself:
Am I assuming readiness because I feel ready or have I truly prepared my people for what's coming?
