Changing Change Management: Why The Trusted Advisor Matters More Than Ever
Reminisce with me for a moment. The good old days of OCM being just about communication plans, impact assessments and training decks. I think you would agree, those days are long gone. Today, change management consultants, or, advisors, are being asked to do a whole lot more. We are expected to be strategic partners, sounding boards, and sometimes project therapists (a term I have used on countless occasions with my peers, mentees and clients) for leaders navigating complex transformations.
Why OCM Still Moves the Needle
If you have ever had to drive change without a solid OCM strategy, you know how painful it can be. The data backs it up:
- According to Towers Watson research, organizations with highly effective internal communication, a cornerstone of organizational change management, are 3.5× more likely to outperform their industry peers.
- Prosci found that 88% of organizations with excellent OCM met or exceeded their goals, as compared to just 13% with poor practices.
- Effective OCM leads to less resistance, better cultural alignment, faster adoption, and ultimately, higher ROI.
Simply put, change does not stick without people. And people do not change without trust. I have preached this concept since my early days as an OCM Consultant.
From Consultant to Advisor
So, what is shifting? OCM resources assigned to projects are no longer just executing deliverables, but rather are paramount in shaping strategy. That means:
- Building trust with executives so they see us as partners, not project resources.
- Translating strategy into behavior, not just telling people what’s changing but helping them live it. It may sound hokey, but it is very real.
- Navigating ambiguity with confidence, especially when the roadmap is fuzzy and the stakes are high. In my many years of consulting, I remind my colleagues the importance of being able to deal with the unknown, be flexible, and spend your time listening. There is a reason we call it Voice of the Customer! This coming from a New Yorker, who is not afraid to talk excessively every now and then…like all of us, I’m a work in progress.
What Today’s OCM Professionals Need to Bring to the Table
Here are five things I think every modern change leader should be focused on:
- Stakeholder empathy: not just mapping them but understanding what keeps them doomscrolling their phones late at night.
- Data fluency: using adoption metrics, sentiment analysis, and feedback loops to guide decisions, and when AI is (and is not) appropriate.
- Agility: I was never of the belief that change is linear. But more than ever, we need to demonstrate our flexibility and iterate as needed.
- Cultural intelligence: Read the room! Know how to work with the culture, not against it.
- Leadership enablement — helping leaders show up as authentic champions of change, not just the folks who signed the mission statement and read off prepared FAQs.