Timely Book, Helps Leaders Discover How Teams Fall Into Predictable Change Patterns and Reactions and Outlines How They Can Guide Their Teams Through Any Change – Even Disruptive Change

FranklinCovey (NYSE: FC), the most trusted leadership company in the world, and Mango Publishing today announced the release of a new book, CHANGE: How to Turn Uncertainty Into Opportunity, which is already a #1 Amazon Bestseller in the Decision Making and Problem-Solving category. The book is authored by FranklinCovey Change Experts, Curtis Bateman, Marché Pleshette, Andy Cindrich, and Christi Phillips, Ph.D. with a foreword by FranklinCovey CEO, Paul Walker.

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New book is number one Amazon bestseller (Photo: Business Wire)

In the timely book, the authors invite leaders across all industries and organizations to examine their own relationship with change and discover how their teams fall into a set of predictable change patterns and reactions. The book outlines how leaders can safely chart a way forward, to guide teams through any change – even disruptive change.

The book begins with a simple but profound business parable, Who Rocked the Boat?, which focuses on responding to change, using a river journey parable as a point-of-reference. It’s based on timeless principles, timely results, and turning change into individual and collective opportunity. It explores change through the lens of leadership and brings to life these profound principles and practices which can change the trajectory of one’s career, levels of contribution, legacy, or even of an entire organization.

Curtis Bateman, co-author and FranklinCovey Vice President of International Direct Offices, said, “We all travel along various rivers in life. But at any moment we can find ourselves navigating the waters uncertainty. It could be a global pandemic, economic uncertainty, organizational restructuring, a new business strategy, a shift in employment, a new boss or new role on a team, or responding to a setback on a project or goal. As change is a constant, understanding patterns, our reactions to it, and the importance of making the right choices can be the difference between resisting change and missing the chance to capitalize on an important opportunity.”

The new book provides readers with a proven framework and concrete examples for navigating change, as well as:

• Step-by-step instructions on how to engage teams throughout the change process.
• The Five Common Reactions to Change and how to adopt and manage them.
• How the Change Model makes change actionable and predictable.
• How to minimize the disruption of change.
• Where most change initiatives fail and how to adapt.

Marché Pleshette, co-author and FranklinCovey Senior Consultant, said, “Change is inevitable. When unexpected or unwanted change disrupts well-established routines, it’s natural to wonder, ‘Who rocked the boat?”’ Unfortunately, that’s the wrong question to ask! Rather, the right question is ‘How do I engage people in change and turn change into opportunity?’ Whatever the size or scope of the change, every leader can be the captain of their change journey and help navigate their people through the waves of uncertainty.”

Reactions to change are fluid, influenced not only by the change itself, but by the culture, team dynamics, community norms, institutional standards, and other considerations. They may be automatic, but learning to adopt and manage these reactions is vital to thriving during change and is a vital leadership competency. Behavior descriptions of The Five Common Reactions to Change include:

1. Move - Impulse is to charge quickly into action toward the new objective.
2. Minimize - Focuses on what’s expected and tries to change as little as possible.
3. Wait - Does nothing immediately. Hesitates for a variety of reasons, waits to see what others do first, and delays until there’s more information or options, or holds back, while prioritizing other things first.
4. Resist - Dislikes the change, tries to prevent it, or convinces others to fight it, privately or publicly.
5. Quit/Quits – Quit - Stays but gives up and refuses to engage with the change. Quits - Chooses to leave because of the change to pursue something different.

While every change is unique, knowing and understanding these reactions to change is vital for success, just as is following the FranklinCovey Change Model, which functions as a compass and guides leaders through four distinct zones. Leaders will know where they are, what comes next, and how to pilot their team through the rough waters of change. They’ll learn and build the skills which will enable them and their teams to navigate through it all, even when it’s most difficult.

Andy Cindrich, co-author and FranklinCovey Senior Consultant, said, “The FranklinCovey Change Model provides the framework and structure necessary to orient, ground, and gain clarity about change. Leaders can use the model to chart the way forward, make key decisions, adopt new behaviors, and build ideal conditions for innovation. And with change coming so fast and in increasingly disruptive ways, understanding the model and applying it can be the difference between success and failure for leaders and their teams.”

The FranklinCovey Change Model – Four Zones

Zone of Status Quo: preparing your team for change. It’s what we experience before a change happens. We’re in a routine, and it’s business as usual. Even if our routine is busy and stressful, it’s still familiar. It can be difficult leaving the established behind. Those who are most successful at change prepare for it. They’re not content to try and avoid it or simply wait for it to happen. When change appears, whether self-initiated or not, they can better navigate the impending disruption.

Zone of Disruption: clarifying the what, why, and impact of the change. It’s easy to find ourselves in chaos and ambiguity when things you were used to disappear, and what you were used to doing stops working. We can be stuck in this zone unless we clarify the impact of the change. Leaders can fight change insecurity by better communicating and providing information, helping teams to feel more comfortable with and commit to change with greater confidence.

Zone of Adoption: inspiring your team to persist through the change. It’s where most change efforts die, as many may get frustrated or are tempted to give up. Persistence is the key, as well as testing new tactics, learning from failures and setbacks, shifting the approach, and altering thinking. This struggle, as inefficient and painful as it may be, lays the groundwork for future innovation.

Zone of Innovation: inviting your team to explore new possibilities because of the change. New actions feel natural. Having paid the price for innovation, we now leverage the investment for ourselves and our team. We explore new ways of thinking and doing, challenging assumptions, and broadening curiosity. Not all change needs or benefits from the Zone of Innovation, but one of the great benefits of change is taking stock of what could happen now that we’ve experienced new things, overcome significant challenges, and gained a new perspective on what we do.

Christi Phillips, co-author and FranklinCovey Director of Learning, Development and Inclusion, said, “Leaders develop a strategy that looks good on paper. They’re passionate and excited about it and may even communicate it effectively to the rest of the organization or to their team. But then they’re confronted with the responses and emotions of the actual human beings who will implement that strategy. They’re trying to adjust and balance what they used to do with what they now need to do. They will make or break the strategy, based on how they navigate through the change. And that’s where the work of a real leader begins.”

Implementing FranklinCovey’s course Change: How to Turn Uncertainty Into Opportunity in Organizations: This course teaches individuals, leaders, and organizations to successfully navigate the pattern of workplace change, leading to improved and accelerated results. Consisting of three modules, it can be applied as a stand-alone framework or work alongside any existing change management process. It’s available through the FranklinCovey All Access Pass® in multiple learning modalities.

About the Authors: (NOTE: Schedule an author to deliver an engaging keynote to your team or organization.)

Curtis Bateman is FranklinCovey’s vice president of international direct offices. With over twenty-five years of experience in the training industry, Curtis is an internationally recognized presenter, content developer, change consultant, business leader, and coach. His passion for enabling organizations “at change” resulted in the co-creation of transformative, industry-leading solutions, including Change Element, Leaders@Change, Managing Millennials, Millennials @Work, and the Change Practitioner. He holds an MBA from the University of Utah.

Marché Pleshette is a FranklinCovey Senior Consultant, a skilled leadership coach, and has been a consultant for fifteen years. She has been the subject matter expert for The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People® and serves on FranklinCovey’s consultant coaching team, ensuring the quality of their world-class consultants. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mass communications and is a certified coach through the Hudson Institute of Coaching in Santa Barbara.

Andy Cindrich is a FranklinCovey senior consultant, keynote speaker, and executive coach whose personal mission statement is to help teams and individuals win. Andy played a key role in developing FranklinCovey’s The 4 Disciplines of Execution solution, which has helped clients all over the world achieve breakthrough results. He has a master’s in educational leadership, a bachelor’s degree in teaching both psychology and history, and a minor in coaching.

Christi Phillips is FranklinCovey’s director of Learning, Development, and Inclusion. She has served as a developmental consultant, program developer, and talent coach. She has a Ph.D. in human resource development from Texas A&M University, a master’s in business management and bachelor’s degrees in political science and French.

About FranklinCovey

FranklinCovey (NYSE: FC) is one of the largest and most trusted leadership companies in the world, with directly owned and licensee partner offices providing professional services in over 160 countries and territories. The Company transforms organizations by partnering with clients to build leaders, teams, and cultures that get breakthrough results through collective action, which leads to a more engaging work experience for their people. Available through the FranklinCovey All Access Pass, FranklinCovey’s best-in-class content, solutions, experts, technology, and metrics seamlessly integrate to ensure lasting behavior change at scale. Solutions are available in multiple delivery modalities in more than 20 languages.

This approach to leadership and organizational change has been tested and refined by working with tens of thousands of teams and organizations over the past 30 years. Clients have included organizations in the Fortune 100, Fortune 500 and thousands of small and mid-sized businesses, numerous government entities, and educational institutions. To learn more, visit www.franklincovey.com and enjoy exclusive content across FranklinCovey’s social media channels at: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

About Mango Publishing

Mango Publishing™ is an independent book publisher on a mission to democratize and modernize the book publishing industry. The publisher is data-driven, reader-led, highly international and very engaged in reaching new reader audiences. Mango publishes high-quality nonfiction books from fresh and distinct voices that spark new ideas with readers around the world. Mango has been named one of the fastest growing publishers in the world for 2018, 2019 and 2020 by Publishers Weekly, was a finalist for Publisher of the Year at Digital Book World 2019 and won Exporter of the Year in 2022 from the US Small Business Administration for the state of Florida.

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