John Scherer

Change cannot be ‘managed’. It must be led.

‘Management’ is making sure people are doing what needs to be done as efficiently as possible — every day.
‘Leadership’ is about moving people to embrace an important new way of doing things that wouldn’t happen otherwise.

In this dynamic presentation by a seasoned large-scale change veteran, you will see what kind of leadership attitudes and behaviors are crucial for moving an organization from the past to the possible.

Like:
+ WHY? What is the change in the service of? What will be its impact on me/us — and my/our team.
+ WHY NOT? How to use an Aikido approach, working with resistance to turn it into enthusiastic support.
+ HOW? In a ‘Leadership Checklist for Successful Change’ John lays out the essential elements in a successful change initiative. The secret: focusing on system-wide, high-engagement performance-improvement.

John’s closing true story from his days as a US Navy Combat Officer about an attempt to rescue ‘two-guys-in-the-water’ never fails to move an audience, often to tears of victory — and hope.

Based on John’s latest best-selling book, Five Questions that Change Everything. Imagine your workplace being a ‘classroom’ where everyone is equipped to turn the ‘stuff’ that happens at work into a developmental experience for themselves, enhancing their contribution to their team, the organization, and the larger world. It can be done, and Five Questions shows you how.

The determining factor today in whether or not organizations survive to serve their clientele is their capacity to engage—their world, their ‘market’, their clients/patients, their own staff. This requires a shift in perspective, especially from leaders. John Scherer has been helping business leaders from 22 countries and virtually every workplace sector transform their lives and their organizations for over 25 years. In this session John shows why human systems and their cultures must change, when they must change, how to best lead that change, what to do with resistance, and how to work powerfully with the polarities that stymie most organizations. The result: a clear and fully embraced culture of engagement.

It’s a cliché to say that people are what make the difference in successful companies and those that fall by the wayside. But what does it actually take to ensure that every employee and every work team is operating at 100% of their capability? The answer is surprisingly simple but requires a significant shift in your thinking and the thinking of your people: Your budgets, org charts, and project plans are crucial, yet they have never actually done any work. Nothing happens until you hand those ‘above-the-waterline’ elements to human beings, who then do it—or not. Learning to be effective in this ‘below-the-waterline’ world requires a completely different set of skills and ways of operating. What could happen where you work if the human spirit were truly unleashed and focused on what it most important?

Most leaders and managers have gone about as far as they can go focusing on the ‘Outer Game’ of looking good and avoiding mistakes. To take yourself to the next level of effectiveness, you may need to pay more attention to the ‘Inner Game,’ which has very different rules. Those who master both are virtually unstoppable. Based on 20 years of intensive one-on-one sessions with hundreds of leaders and executives from 18 countries, and recounted in his 1993 ground-breaking book, Work and the Human Spirit.

Going from the AS IS to the TO BE can be harrowing. On the journey, how can you work with resistance and fear in such a way that change is seen as an ally to be trusted, rather than an enemy to be fought? The secret is 1) understanding the natural life cycle of organizations, 2) where you are on it, 3) everyone knowing where ‘West’ is and 4) making sure you stay on course and realizing that it’s not about the wagon. Based on real-world situations.

(with John and Kakuta Hamisi, Maasia Warrior/Elder).John has become close friends and colleagues with Kakuta Hamisi, a gifted Maasai warrior and natural leader of his people in Kenya. The two of them make a powerful team with a lot to offer. The Maasai have found a way to maintain their special way of life for 1,000 years in the face of many physical and social threats to their existence a lesson for many of us. Find out what we have to learn from the Maasai when it comes to things like decision-making, conflict-resolution, teamwork, patience, structure and respect.

There is a merger, acquisition or some kind of major change somewhere in your future. Follow John’s six steps if you want to avoid being one of the 75% which leave a trail of bodies and fail to produce the financial results intended. Based on real-world merger breakthrough projects.

Most large-scale change efforts fail because they do not understand or acknowledge the crucial role the emotional/human world plays in people’s ability to let go of the past and move on. By following four basic principles, you can move your organizational changes forward faster and with less ‘static in the system.’