Your Executive Team Is Still Buckled In

This piece summarizes my article originally published in Forbes as part of the Forbes Business Council.

Many executive teams I work with have come through a demanding stretch of change: a restructure, new leadership, a reset of strategy. On paper, the hard part is over. Yet the team still feels tired, cautious, and stuck.

In my latest Forbes article, I make the case that what we call change fatigue is often fatigue from bracing. Teams brace when conditions are uncertain, and that is a smart response. The problem is that bracing does not end on its own. It waits for a signal that most leaders never think to give.

What a braced team looks like

From the outside, a braced executive team looks disciplined. The cost shows up in what quietly stops. Leaders stay focused on their own functions, the work between functions goes unowned, and problems reach the leadership table later than they should.

Why the all-clear rarely comes

Senior leaders often know the uncertainty has passed long before their teams do. Some hesitate to declare stability in a world that keeps changing. And most change plans are designed for launch, not for landing.

The full article walks through what an effective all-clear sounds like, why the leader's response in the weeks that follow matters even more than the announcement, and five questions to ask your team to find out whether they are still braced.

Read the full article: Your Executive Team Is Still Buckled In (Forbes)