Hi there,

Restructurings. Layoffs. Return-to-office mandates. Smaller teams with bigger workloads. If you lead people right now, you’re probably being asked to keep everyone motivated while running low yourself.

This week: Leading Resilient Teams Through Constant Change, Part 1

with Cynthia Conigliaro, MSW, MBA, CHWC, founder of Work Well Webinars​

Cynthia has spent more than 20 years helping organizations across the country with emotional, physical, and organizational wellness. She’s trained in organizational psychology, social work, and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, and she brings all three to one question: how do you lead people through change without losing them, or yourself?

In Part 1 you’ll hear:

• A reset you can do between meetings. You don’t need a meditation practice. A few breaths, and a moment to picture how you want the next conversation to go, are enough to stop carrying one meeting into the next.
• The quiet signs someone is close to a breaking point. The person who stopped showing up to meetings. The one who used to speak up and now scrolls. Losing interest in a favorite project is often an early warning that someone is thinking about leaving.
• What resilience really means, and why recognizing your own “resilient story” can be so powerful.
• When a leader says “I’m not a therapist.” Cynthia’s approach: start with concrete evidence of how the team is actually doing, not a conversation about feelings.
• Leading a change you don’t agree with. Start with your own self-care, then be honest. It’s okay to tell your team you don’t have all the answers.
• When people are simply “over” change. Acknowledge it, explain the why, and ask what would make it work for them. In one return-to-office story, a simple schedule adjustment changed everything.

Part 2 drops next Thursday, when Cynthia role-plays a real conversation leading a team through change.

This week’s practice: The Change Check-In

Before your next team meeting, or your next one-on-one with someone who seems checked out, try this:

1. Take three breaths first. Give yourself a real transition from your last task so you show up present, not rushed.
2. Open with a 1 to 10 check-in. Ask everyone where they’re at today. Make it optional; some people won’t want to share, and that’s okay.
3. Name what you notice. “You don’t seem as engaged lately. Is there anything going on you’d like to share?”
4. Explain the why. People resist change more when they don’t understand the reasons behind it.
5. Ask one question: “What could make this work better for you?” Then listen. You may be surprised by how small the fix is.

Hit reply and tell us: What’s one change at work you’re “over” right now, and what would make it easier? We read every reply, and your answer might shape a future episode.