ASCEND Leadership Monthly: Leading Change

Change is inevitable, but navigating it well isn’t. Managing change often centers around frameworks, plans, and rollout strategies. The full ASCEND program explores those tools and how they shape leadership style, team dynamics, and organizational culture. But leading change isn’t just about delivering a plan – it’s also about guiding people through the emotions that come with it. Even well-designed changes can trigger resistance, stress, and ambiguity that quietly undermine progress.

In this session, we zoom in on the human side of change: how you show up, how others respond, and what it takes to lead with presence in times of transition. We’ll explore what it means to lead with empathy, steadiness, and clarity – supporting your team not just through uncertainty, but through the full experience of change. This is where leadership becomes personal, not instead of strategy, but alongside it.

Learning Objectives:
• Differentiate between managing change and leading change, and identify your role as a stabilizing force
• Recognize common emotional and psychological responses to change and how they impact teams
• Identify personal change tendencies and apply self-leadership strategies to stay grounded and resilient