Blanchard LeaderChat Staying Engaged in Seasons of Change
Mar 2, 2026
Jennifer Brown, author and organizational consultant known for The Shape of Change, explores how uncertainty and identity shifts sap engagement. She talks about low energy clues, why leaders do not need all the answers, and how clarity and connection restore motivation. Practical tactics include owning impacts, listening with empathy, and reframing constraints as creative space.
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Lead To Live Inside Change
- Living inside change requires a new leadership capacity to thrive in constant ambiguity rather than resisting or avoiding it.
- Jennifer Brown argues leaders must partner with change, recalibrate mindset, and develop endurance before systems “hard drive crashes.”
Identity Doubt Breaks Trust And Creativity
- Uncertainty about identity and belonging collapses trust, creativity, and executive functioning at work.
- Brown links diminished trust to fewer physical interactions, mixed messaging, and fear-driven isolation that locks people out of collaboration.
Audit Energy And Offload Depleting Tasks
- Diagnose low energy by tracking when tasks recharge you versus deplete you and then prioritize work that aligns with your genius.
- Brown advises using AI to offload draining tasks and regularly question what to let go to stay nimble.