The core task of leadership is managing change—seeing new realities and driving adaptation. To reinvent the organization, leaders must rethink traditional tools and master a more complex level of change. When change becomes “everything, everywhere, all at once,” it’s not surprising that employees feel worn out. The average employee now experiences ten planned change programs a year, a fivefold increase from a decade ago.1 At the same time, engagement and health measures have fallen, support for change programs has dropped, and employee disconnect with leaders has grown (Exhibit 1). But the pace of change is not going to slow down; in fact, it is likely to accelerate. Driven by geopolitical, societal, technological, and financial shifts, the changes hitting most companies today are far reaching, often creating ripple effects that bring even more change.
