Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Join Adam Larson for an energizing and thoughtful conversation with Cassandra Worthy, founder of Change Enthusiasm Global and author of the book “Change Enthusiasm.” In this episode, Cassandra gets real about how most change management strategies overlook one key ingredient: our emotions.
Drawing from her personal experience and signature framework, Cassandra Worthy shares how professionals can embrace all their feelings—even the tough ones—during times of major transformation. You’ll hear how to spot emotional signals, turn overwhelm into opportunity, and make meaningful choices aligned with your values, all while staying true to yourself at work.
Whether you’re steering your team through uncertain times or looking for practical ways to grow as a leader, Cassandra Worthy delivers relatable stories and concrete tactics every business professional can use. If you’re ready to rethink how you handle change and make your emotions work for you, you’ll love this episode.
Creators and Guests
What is Count Me In®?
IMA® (Institute of Management Accountants) brings you the latest perspectives and learnings on all things affecting the accounting and finance world, as told by the experts working in the field and the thought leaders shaping the profession. Listen in to gain valuable insight and be included in the future of accounting and finance!
Hey everyone, it's Adam Larson here and welcome back to Count Me In. Today, I'm excited to bring you a conversation with Cassandra Worthy, the founder of Change Enthusiasm Global and the pioneer behind the Change Enthusiasm mindset. If you've ever found yourself grappling with changes at work, maybe a tough acquisition, a new boss, or just the whirlwind of new priorities piling up, you're not alone. Cassandra knows exactly how that feels and she's made it her mission to share a better way forward. In this episode, Cassandra and I get real about why suppressing our emotions during change doesn't work and how, instead, we can use those emotions as powerful signals for growth.
Adam Larson:She breaks down her three step framework for processing and leveraging even the toughest feelings, so you can build resilience, make better choices, and lead with authenticity. So whether you're a team leader or an individual contributor, get ready for some practical advice, a lot of inspiration, and a fresh perspective on what it means to thrive today. So let's jump right into my conversation with Cassandra Worthy. Cassandra, I'm so excited to have you on the podcast. It was so great to meet you at IMA twenty six and see you on stage there.
Adam Larson:And I thought you brought some amazing energy, and I'm so happy that you agreed to come on the podcast as well.
Cassandra Worthy:Of course. I'm happy to be here. Thank you for having me, Adam. Yes.
Adam Larson:So you've built this whole framework around something that people spend a lot of energy avoiding, which is change itself. And the approach kind of needs to be completely different. Maybe let's start with walking back to that moment when you realize, hey, this whole change management thing kind of this approach needs to be changed. The change management approach needs to be changed. That's a whole mouthful to say, isn't it?
Cassandra Worthy:It is a lot. So much change everywhere. So it's a great question. And honestly, it was probably when I was experiencing one of the biggest transformations and changes in my professional life that I ever had. And spoke about this, you know, at IMA and I was so grateful to do so, but it was when I was going through that first acquisition.
Adam Larson:Yeah.
Cassandra Worthy:And I realized that even though a lot of traditional change management practices still talk about how they center on the humanity of change, they're humanizing change, Emotion never has gotten its rightful seat at the table. And so what I felt in that acquisition is, you know, they're beginning kickoffs. This is about to happen. This is what we're about to go through. And it's like in that very early space, you were granted permission to talk about how you feel, to talk about how this is impacting you, to talk about emotions.
Cassandra Worthy:And then after those early town halls, after the early kickoffs, we don't wanna hear that anymore. You only need to bring in excitement and and joy and ready to pull up your bootstrings and just get to work. Leave your emotions at the door. And that's the sense, even though it was never overtly said, that's the sense that I got. And it's like we're human beings and first off, emotional beings.
Cassandra Worthy:And just because there was this unwritten or unspoken expectation that I'm only supposed to bring in positivity and joy, that's not what I was feeling. Right? I was feeling frustrated. I was feeling overwhelmed. I was feeling anxious about what is all this gonna mean.
Cassandra Worthy:And there was never really like space to use that emotion, to process that emotion, to express those more difficult emotions. And so I think I recognize that it needed to shift and that it was a bit broken then, and I had to devise a way to get myself through it. How am I going to change my perspective? How am I going to change my lens to allow all of my emotions to exist and what I should do with them in order to make the most of this of this massive experience so that I can learn and so that I can grow. But I think it was then when I was like, well, this isn't gonna work because I can't leave emotions at the door because I'm I'm an emotional being.
Cassandra Worthy:So I I gotta figure something out. Yeah.
Adam Larson:What wait. You mean we're allowed to use our emotions when we're professional business people?
Cassandra Worthy:I didn't I didn't
Adam Larson:know that was possible.
Cassandra Worthy:Right. Yes. It actually is possible, and it's powerful too.
Adam Larson:It's funny. As you were talking about that, it made me think of, like, all the change management articles and the articles you had to read. Like, I I did an MBA and, like, you're always there, Oceania, it's a Harvard Business Review of reading change management. There's that one guy who wrote all these change management articles, and I don't think they ever once mentioned people's emotions in any of that text at all. None.
Cassandra Worthy:Yeah. Either you don't see it at all or there's a paragraph. Placed over very quickly. They acknowledge, yes, it's gonna be difficult. Yes, you'll feel fear, you'll feel anxiety, but then let's talk about all the cognitive ways, the technical tools that you need to dive in to manage through this, to get from point A to point B to point C and make make your way through the journey.
Cassandra Worthy:And it's not putting human human activity, emotional beings first. It's not central to that.
Adam Larson:Well, and I think that's how business was pretty much set up where, you know, you leave your emotions aside, you're always controlled, you're always you're always have to have a game face on and you come into every meeting with seriousness and there and anytime someone has any type of emotion, they're acting out. And if and if it's a woman, then there's a whole another realm of things that people have said in the past or can and continue to say. Yeah. I I think lot of it's connected to that. Yeah.
Adam Larson:Even more.
Cassandra Worthy:That's 10 times worse, those assumptions that I Yes.
Adam Larson:It can go we could have a whole podcast just on those terms alone.
Cassandra Worthy:Shared on that. But
Adam Larson:it's it's interesting because, know, use the term change enthusiasm, which I'm sure when some people see, oh, she has her own term, it's trademarked, I don't know, I'm gonna roll my eyes. And what's our people's first reaction when you start telling them about change enthusiasm? Are they do they get it right away or does it take a little time for them to kind of understand what you're talking about?
Cassandra Worthy:Well, I'll tell you this. So change enthusiasm is the framework itself, the mental framework that I invented, that I started practicing on my own when I didn't even have language for it. And when I tell people that I wrote the book on change enthusiasm, that I founded a company called Change Enthusiasm Global. And these are the concepts that I bring given my natural energy, given the way that I typically will step into a room when you experience this, me on a stage. I'm a very enthusiastic person.
Adam Larson:You are.
Cassandra Worthy:And so I do have individuals that hear when I talk about I'm bringing change enthusiasm, we're like, Oh God, it's just all just positivity. You want me to just paint on a happy face, just push through it, find all the good and the change and rah, rah, rah. But that's so not it. It's so not it. What change enthusiasm does as a framework, as a mindset, is it invites emotion into the conversation.
Cassandra Worthy:It's finally given emotion its rightful place at the table. It starts in what we call the signal. That's the first step. And those signal emotions are those difficult emotions that we all feel when going through a lot of change. The fear, the frustration, the anger, the overwhelm, the grief, that sense of loss.
Cassandra Worthy:That's the first step of this whole process. And you invite those into your work, into your reality, recognizing them as data, as information, as wisdom. This thing is trying to tell me something. Why do I feel so much fear? Why am I feeling so anxious about this?
Cassandra Worthy:What this emotion trying to tell me? What is it pointing me towards? And then you move into the second step, which is the opportunity because I really believe that our emotions are wisdom. And they typically point us, especially those really difficult ones, towards things that we care about, that we value, that might be broken, that are highly inefficient, connections that are no longer serving us. And so oftentimes they're trying to point us towards something where we have opportunity to grow, to learn and to evolve.
Cassandra Worthy:Now, emotion is just noise. And so you have to get good in the practice to recognize what is truly a signal and what's just a lot of noise. I'm just having an off day, but it typically points us towards really big opportunities to grow and evolve. And then the third step is your choice. What will you choose in that moment?
Cassandra Worthy:How will you choose the growth? How will you choose to evolve? How will you choose to boost that level of efficiency? And those are the three steps. And the reason that I call it change enthusiasm.
Cassandra Worthy:Enthusiasm's root is enthios, the Greek derivation. And enthios means divinely inspired. And so I think about change enthusiasm being inspired by the emotion that happens when you're going through really difficult change. And the change enthusiasm happens through the practice of the mindset, through the practice of it. The more that you practice these steps, the more that you can recognize your own emotional self awareness, you can feel that fear.
Cassandra Worthy:Oh, I'm feeling my fear. I got my signals. I know that I have a signal right now, I'm gonna give myself some grace, I need to get on the couch, I need to eat pizza. And I just need to sit with it. I need to think about it.
Cassandra Worthy:But then I'm gonna get up the next day knowing here I am in another moment of opportunity. Something's hurling its way to me, and I have agency to choose how I do that. And the more that you practice this, that sense of enthusiasm will come. The change will come. You'll recognize those emotions are there, but know my goodness, I'm about to grow.
Cassandra Worthy:I'm about to become better because of this change. And then you start feeling more enthusiasm because of it. Yeah. But it takes practice.
Adam Larson:It really does because you can't just tomorrow, if you've never done this practice before, you can't just tomorrow say, Hey, I'm jumping in and looking at my emotions, embracing it, seeing it as a lens. Those steps take time. How do you maybe maybe we could start with how do you get to that first step? Like, because it seems like you do need a certain level of emotional intelligence to be able to even ask yourself all these questions.
Cassandra Worthy:It does, absolutely. It starts in emotional self awareness and it starts to in your listen to your body and be in tune with those physiological cues that tell you when you have that emotion running through you. And truly it's about knowing you, right? And I have come to do this. I've been practicing this mindset for over two decades now and I journal constantly.
Cassandra Worthy:I journal every day. And often when I'm stuck in the first step and I know a lot of signals are blaring, I will sit down and sit with my body and ask myself, what am I feeling? What am I feeling in my body? My heart is racing a little bit. My mouth has gone dry a little bit.
Cassandra Worthy:What is this emotion? And I'll write it out and I'll name it. And how do I know that this emotion is here? Because of those physiological cues. And in writing it out and seeing it in black and white, it allows me to create space between the emotion itself and my conscious being and who I am.
Cassandra Worthy:And I can view the emotion objectively. And I'm no longer like I haven't become the frustration. I haven't become the anger. I am looking at it. This is something I'm experiencing.
Cassandra Worthy:This emotion is flowing through me. It has been inspired within me and why? And that's when I can start asking those questions. What is it trying to tell me? What is this thing trying to teach me?
Cassandra Worthy:What is it showing me? But it absolutely starts with that awareness. And I think so often in corporations, and I know because I grew up in it for fifteen years, we're taught to ignore that, right? You got work to do. You need to leave.
Cassandra Worthy:And I hear people say it, leave your emotions at the door. Leave your emotions at home. Deal with those emotions after you leave. Well, we can't do that. What happens when people say they're gonna leave their emotions at the door is they just stuff them in.
Cassandra Worthy:They stuff them in. And eventually those things will bubble out and they bubble out as disengagement. They bubble out as attrition. They bubble out as anger explosions, right? But never goes away.
Cassandra Worthy:You can't leave it at the door because we're emotional beings first and foremost. And so that emotional self awareness is huge to give yourself the space and the ability and that practice of recognizing what are these emotions that I'm feeling and how do I know that they're there?
Adam Larson:Yeah. It's interesting because I always, as you're saying that, it made me think of, you know, you're in a situation, especially in a job, and you feel those emotions welling up and you're trying to do this work and you're learning. What are ways to help create that space saying, Hey, I need a minute. Hey, can we talk about this tomorrow? Like what are ways that people can do to, especially as they're learning to do that?
Adam Larson:Because you can't always make a decision right there. If you're feeling all those emotions, you need to create that space to have that lens and say, okay, what's happening here? Why am I reacting this way? And sometimes we might blow up at somebody and then have to take it back and say, okay, why did I do that? And then we have to make it right because you can't just leave it there.
Cassandra Worthy:Totally. Totally. And that's, you know, that still happens to me from time to time. Sometimes these things are so overwhelming that you are reacting before giving your space in time to respond versus react. And so that's natural.
Cassandra Worthy:It's a part of the learning process, a part of the practice. But oftentimes, when you feel that something is welling up within you or something is really being triggered or inspired to, like, physically push back and say, you know what? I need to take a beat. I just need to get myself a little bit re centered. And so let's take just a five minute break and I'm gonna grab some water.
Cassandra Worthy:And then you take the time, you know, and you are free to do that in meetings. You are free to do that on Zoom calls. And I take advantage of asking for that bit of space. Let's just take a break. Let's take a break real quick.
Cassandra Worthy:Only going to snack, you know, two or three minutes and then we'll come back into it. But the trick is being able to be in tune with when that stuff is flaring up so that you're not doing that reaction. And then our certification program that we do every month, we have this thing called the emotions wheel, which is a tool that we use and I have, oh, here it is. And has growth stalling and growth sustaining emotions colored and painted on it. And so during that time, you can pull this thing out and think about, okay, what is this that I'm feeling?
Cassandra Worthy:What am I feeling? Am I feeling anger? Am I feeling despair? Am I feeling And that will help you name what you're going through. But all of our certified practitioners use this tool.
Cassandra Worthy:They sit it on their office desk. A lot of them have them at home. They show it to their kids. Tell me what emotion you're feeling because that self awareness and that literacy is so important.
Adam Larson:It really is. I was just thinking, I was like, man, need that little circle for my children when I'm dealing with issues with them.
Cassandra Worthy:Yes. It works.
Adam Larson:It does. I I think I really like that idea of being able to take space because I think sometimes people when you're especially when you're in a corporate environment, you don't feel like you have the opportunity even though it's perfectly okay to say, I can get back to you on that. Give me some time. It's perfectly okay to say that, but we feel this that we always feel this pressure on us, especially in a corporate environment, especially if it's fast paced and there's so many things happening. You feel like you have to give an answer right now and giving yourself the the permission to say, I'll get back to you or I need to take let's take five is huge.
Adam Larson:I don't think I've ever heard anybody say that in a corporate environment ever, really.
Cassandra Worthy:Yeah. And it's possible. And I have to tell myself when I receive something like late at night over email and you know what makes you heated and you immediately start giving a response and you were typing hard and fast on that laptop. I have to give myself, whoo, I do not have to send this thing at 11:30 at night. I can say, hey, I just received this.
Cassandra Worthy:I just wanted you to let you know I'm acknowledging receipt and I'll get back to you as soon as I can about it. That's all that needs to be said. Nothing needs to be solved at that moment. Give yourself a beat. And my wife is an incredible advocate.
Cassandra Worthy:They're a yoga instructor and helps me and also an attorney. So helps, so helps me keep those midnight emails from flying out.
Adam Larson:I love that. I think there's something I, and I've always done that too, where I've written what I really wanna say, but I don't send and I leave it in drafts for a couple days. And then I go back and, okay, what should I like, how can I tone this down to be a little not as attacking as I really wanted to do?
Cassandra Worthy:At least you're getting it out. Just get it out. You know?
Adam Larson:Yeah. I think I've gotten away from that. I think I need to get back to find it, whether it's typing it out so you don't want to accidentally send it, maybe you need to write it out or open up a Word document and say, this is what I really want to say to this person. And then, and then you can take a moment and read through that. Okay, why am I, why am I having these reactions?
Adam Larson:What's coming? Why are these things coming up? So then you can understand how can you better respond instead of toning it down to just be passive aggressive or something else. Maybe you can actually come up with a better response. So after you've understood why you're having that reaction.
Cassandra Worthy:Absolutely. Yeah. And everyone will be better because of it.
Adam Larson:Yeah.
Cassandra Worthy:You you burn bridges. You won't harm feelings. Yeah. It's a better way.
Adam Larson:So going back to the stages of your framework, you know, you have the signal. We've been talking a lot about the signal. Those things come up. But then step two is the opportunity. And so let's, maybe we can walk through like what happens in the opportunity stage.
Adam Larson:Cause we've just talked about, we've talked a lot about the signal and what we do with those signals and how we get to that signal and recognize the signals. But what's that opportunity section look like? Can you explain that a little bit more?
Cassandra Worthy:Of course, opportunity is where the work happens. This is where you're asking yourself what within the realm of my control, what I can control, what options do I have to maximize this opportunity that's been presented in front of me? And this is really where you're ideating, right? You're not taking any action. You're just thinking about what is this emotion pointing me towards And within what I can control, what are my options?
Cassandra Worthy:What can I do? I could send this email right now. I could wait and not send it. I could connect with a mentor. I could get on my mentor's calendar.
Cassandra Worthy:I could draft something up tomorrow morning. Like this is when you're really thinking about what are the options that I have. And again, it's not taking the action, but well, the action being ideating and thinking through what could I do? What could I do that will move me forward and that will help me either better a connection or help me learn or help me evolve in my own leadership in this moment? So the opportunity is very important and there's lots of different tools that we leverage in our certification programs, in our curriculum.
Cassandra Worthy:In the book that I wrote, there's all kinds of worksheets and different ways that you can move through that second step because it really is where all the work happens.
Adam Larson:How long does that step normally take or does it just depend on the situation and how long you've been doing it?
Cassandra Worthy:It depends on the situation and how long you've been doing it, yeah. Sometimes, I mean, I've been practicing it for over two decades now. Sometimes I sit at an opportunity for dates, if not weeks. Sometimes I'm at an opportunity for only ten minutes. I see the few options that I have and I have the confidence that the one that I want to move forward with, and then I move and make that choice and move to step three.
Cassandra Worthy:Yeah. But it really depends. And I like that you asked or said as long as you've been practicing it because the stronger your practice is, the quicker that you move through the transitions, right? Moving from step one to step two, moving from step two to step three, recognizing it's inevitable you're going to get put right back in step one, right? It's a cycle.
Cassandra Worthy:It's a practice. You know, your emotions are never going to be done, which I'm grateful for because they're wisdom, right? And they keep us safe and they inform us. So you're always gonna find yourself back in step one and you get to practice the steps again. Yeah.
Adam Larson:And if somebody is like, wait, I can't just go through it once and I'm done. I have to keep doing this over and over again.
Cassandra Worthy:Beauty of it, because the more that you practice it, like I feel that you are strengthening your resiliency, right? New synapses are forming, new connections are being made. You're growing in your capacity as you work the framework, You just get stronger and stronger.
Adam Larson:You know, as I was listening to you on stage in Tampa, you had said something, and I can't remember if it was someone said this to you or you tell this to somebody else, but you they told you get better or get better.
Cassandra Worthy:Yes.
Adam Larson:I I think that's something that people are afraid to say to somebody else, but like, if you don't take care of what you're doing, what you're dealing with, you will become bitter. And there's so many things about what bitterness does to our bodies physically that scientists have studied. And and what does that look like as you're like trying to figure out, like, how do I get better? Because I am bitter right now already. What if you've already gone to the bitter stage and you're listening, you're like, but I wanna get better now, but I don't know how to climb out of this hole.
Cassandra Worthy:Yes. So that's so real. And that was a mentor of mine during that first acquisition so And many years it was the seed. It was the foundation of of what I've what I've grown today. So I'm so grateful to her.
Cassandra Worthy:But she basically sat me in my seat of choice. You have the power to choose whether you get bitter or whether you get better. And you have so much in your realm of control on how you experience your work, how you experience your days. You can stay in bitterness. You can stay in a downward spiral.
Cassandra Worthy:You can stay griping and not liking many people and wanting to fire people that you have no control to fire. You can stay there or you can strive to find ways to use this as an opportunity to better yourself. To better yourself as a leader, to better yourself as an individual, to better yourself as a colleague, as a partner, as a manager. And so what she did in putting me in that seat of choice is she gave me back my agency because I had lost it and I had put it on her and other people in executive leadership. I don't have any control over this.
Cassandra Worthy:Y'all are the ones that do. Y'all are the ones that need to fire my manager. Y'all are the ones that need to fire all these people I can't stand. Y'all need to promote me. This will make things better.
Cassandra Worthy:That will improve my experience. I can't do it. Y'all have to do it. But it's so powerful to recognize that you never lose your agency when moving through change. And so many of us today in modern day change feel like we're drinking out of a fire hose, right?
Cassandra Worthy:Just when we think we have our 17 priorities all sorted, we get 10 more that hit our plate. Just when we think that we are swimming well, things are going great, we get announced that the company's getting acquired, that we're going through a merger, or that I'm about to get a new manager, or that I'm about to lose half of my staff. This stuff is just happening all the time. And it's a matter of recognizing that you all always have agency and you have that choice on whether you use it as an opportunity or whether you see all of it as a threat and you get scared or you stay scared and you stay bitter. But it's really about that knowing that you have the agency to choose which direction you move.
Adam Larson:Yeah, you do have that choice because when you're in the midst of change, a lot of that, especially if you're not at the top leadership, you don't have a lot of control of what's happening, but you do have control over how you react to it and how you respond to it. And I think that's what, I think that's what we lose sight of because we're so worried about everything else that's happening, forgetting the things we can control, which is our reactions, our emotions, how we're, how we're responding to other people during the midst of a crazy time because it's stressful. You're not saying it's not stressful. It's how do you deal with that stress?
Cassandra Worthy:Exactly. How do you use it? How do you use it? Was talking about, I always talk about using these signals because I think they're there to serve us. They really are.
Cassandra Worthy:I think that their emotions are a guidance system within us. And I truly believe that their wisdom, incredible wisdom that's infinite, that will never go away. I call emotion an infinite resource, and it's always available and it will be even more available as we get into this next decade when I think humanity is going to see the greatest accelerated pace of change that we've ever witnessed. And it's up to us. How do we use all the emotion that's going to be inspired in every single one of us?
Adam Larson:And I think there's something that we kind of gloss over a lot, especially when we're losing something is grieving the loss of that. Because a lot of times people just assume grief only comes when you lose somebody important to you, a loved one, you lose that loved one. That's when it's more pronounced. But the loss of a job, the loss of a boss that you enjoyed, the loss of a company, all of those things require us to grieve those moments. And I think that's something that we, we as a society have kind of lost sight of because it's only when somebody is grieving a loved one, we give them space for that.
Adam Larson:But when somebody is grieving the loss of a job or the loss of like a person that was important to them, not necessarily losing them out, but they're just not at their job anymore. That that requires a little bit of grief and a little bit of reflection. And there's power in facing that grief head on. But I think we don't recognize that we are grieving that moment.
Cassandra Worthy:It's so true. And that's why grief in our research shows up as one of those top five signaling motions. And when you think about when you're going through change, there is something that is lost, some level of comfort in a way of doing something and a platform you were used to. That's gone, and then something new is replacing it. That makes the element of change.
Cassandra Worthy:And so there is grief involved with that. You know, we're doing some work. We've been working with a major industry for well over a year now. And they're going through one of the biggest acquisitions in the CPG industry's history. And we've been working with one of the teams that's a part of the acquired company.
Cassandra Worthy:And we spent almost a day with them. And we did a diagnostic before and after just to understand and gauge foundationally where were they from a resistance standpoint, a resilience standpoint, clarity of vision for leadership. And we spent time with them allowing them to grieve, prompting them to express what that grief feels like within their bodies. What do they think it's telling them? And all of them got very vulnerable and very open.
Cassandra Worthy:And this is the way that we lead our curriculum, creating very safe spaces for that to happen. And after that session, not only did their resistance reduce by 10 points, which was massive, but the clarity that they felt in leadership's vision increased by 15 points. Now, the magic behind this is they were given no new information, no new clarity about where they're gonna be going, if they're gonna have a job, who they're gonna be reporting to, who's gonna be let go and who's not. But because they had the space to process that grief, to clear the cloud of all of that and listen and know that they weren't alone, they felt clearer on what the leadership's vision was and where the company was going, which was massive. It's massive.
Cassandra Worthy:There is such magic behind allowing your employees to process these signaling motions. Notably, a big one, I think, is grief, especially in these major transformations that are happening across so many consolidations, these startups that are moving so quickly. It's very, very important to allow that processing to happen.
Adam Larson:Yeah. That's super important. I think back for a number of transformations that I've been through. I wish the leaders had come through and say, Hey, we're going help you process your grief of losing this moment here. Like if we had done that, I wonder if it would have been a lot.
Adam Larson:I mean, obviously it would have been stressful because there's more work and all the things that are involved in it, but I wonder if it would have helped us get through it together as a community, as opposed to just trying to figure it out on your own.
Cassandra Worthy:Yes, absolutely. And that's, you know, when I hear the testimonials from this team, from all the many teams that we work with around the world of how impactful the work has been for them and how it's created a sense of peace within them and how they're taking the lessons and employing it at home, how they're bringing it to their spouses, how they're bringing it to their children. And I just think back to myself when I was in that acquisition all those years ago and the challenge that I felt, and this is the work, this is what I thought would hope would have been given to me. And so to hear that the work that we built is impacting lives in such meaningful ways, Just, I can't even put into words how much it means to me. Because that's the reason that I've created what I've created and why I continue living this mission each and every day.
Adam Larson:Wow. I'm just, I'm inspired just listening to that because I, I feel like, I feel like every, we all should be listening to this and listening to our, how we're feeling as we're listening to us talk about this. Because if you're listening to this right now, listener, and you're getting moved and emotional and you're either getting mad or you're like, ask yourself the question, what's my next step? How can I, why am I having this emotion? Take a step back, do some journaling.
Adam Larson:Because I feel like, I feel like this, this conversation will bring up some frustrations with people, whether they're in a team and they're like, Hey, I want to do this, but my team doesn't do this. Or you're a leader and saying, I want to do this for my team. Maybe we can start there. If somebody's listening to this and they're a leader and they're like, Okay, I'm going to start practicing this for myself, but how do I give, how do I create that space in my team environment so that they can feel that they have the space for these emotions and also still be professional and everything else that, you know, whatever the culture is of the organization?
Cassandra Worthy:Yeah. Well, the first thing that I'll say is get them in the Change Growth Accelerator.
Adam Larson:There you go.
Cassandra Worthy:Get on the certification program because I'm telling you there's power in having a shared language. We've had so many leaders that have we've either come in and worked in their companies directly, or they've just sent their leaders off to our to our certification program and they come back and they have a shared language and they're able to step into what historically was uncomfortable conversations, talking about how people are feeling, talking about difficult emotions. And now they say, I'm in step one, I got my signals. I'm feeling signals. The signals that I got is I'm feeling some anxiety, I'm feeling some fear.
Cassandra Worthy:I want to move across the bridge of trust and get into the opportunity, but for today, I'm in step one. And right now I just kind of need you to listen to hear kind of as I'm processing these signals. And having that language and having the shared framework and knowing what the importance of it is and what the ultimate goal is, choosing better, evolving, you seeing changes and opportunity, that's rocket fuel. That's rocket fuel. And I have had so many leaders either go through our program, sit in one of my keynotes, or we've done consulting work with them, that they start role modeling the framework.
Cassandra Worthy:They start naming their emotions. They start talking about their own signals. They start using and sharing their own vulnerability, and then the emotions of their employees then wanna flow as well. And they're seeing a role model of that and that it's okay. And it's giving them the permission.
Cassandra Worthy:But the power is in the language. The power is in the language and using the tactics and the tools and the framework in a shared way and making the space, to be able to do it. We've seen great, great power.
Adam Larson:It's it's funny as you've been as you were talking, I always in my mind, I I always have to fight the voice of the skeptic. The one who's like, okay, yeah, that's great. The boss will come in and have the change enthusiasm. They'll have all the language. It'll be a nice, it'll be the, it'll be the, the, the, buzzword of the week.
Adam Larson:And then next, and then two months later, we won't hear anything else about it. What would you say to that person? Because that's the voice I always have to fight because that's how I was at one point in my career and I always have to fight that voice. And so I'm asking you, what would you say to that voice? Because I'm sure there's somebody listening who's like, rolling their eyes as they're listening to us talk about this.
Cassandra Worthy:I will lean back on the power of the practice. And that my hope is that that leader isn't bringing in change enthusiasm simply as a buzzword, but that they have embraced the importance of its practice. And it's not a one and done. And you you heard me say this. I say this in every keynote.
Cassandra Worthy:I don't want my keynotes to be a one and done. Want it to be a catalyst. I want it to catalyze growth and momentum. And that's why I invite every single audience member to make a commitment as they're leaving the room. What are you gonna do differently?
Cassandra Worthy:And now that you've heard these insights, what action are you going to take? And so I'd invite that person to welcome their leader into its practice and continue to ask the question and use the language yourself if you know it. It seems like you're feeling some signals this morning. What might those signals be? Have you stepped into your opportunity yet?
Cassandra Worthy:You don't have any options and what sense of agency do you have? So continuing to use the language because it absolutely demands practice. This cannot be a buzzword. This cannot be a word of the day because you'll never reach change enthusiasm. It'll just be change.
Cassandra Worthy:It'll just be constant change. And the enthusiasm will never happen because you won't have developed the practice to be stronger.
Adam Larson:I think that's a great response to that voice. And I hope that whoever else is the other skeptic listening heard that too.
Cassandra Worthy:I love it. I love it.
Adam Larson:So the one that we haven't talked about really in-depth is the choice because I think we as humans, we forget that everything we do is a choice. And sometimes we're like, oh, I had to do it that way. I had to know it was your choice to do it that way. But sometimes we don't feel like we have a choice. Let's talk about what that choice means, because once you've done all this work, you have to make a choice because you can't just do all the work and just stop there.
Cassandra Worthy:Yeah, exactly. Yeah. The choice is where I say the magic happens and where the power lies. And again, you have to, when you're in the opportunity, map out options that are within your control. There are many, many things that we cannot control.
Cassandra Worthy:When I was in that business going through that acquisition, I couldn't control whether or not we got acquired. I couldn't control the manager that I was going to get, I couldn't control the colleagues that I had to partner with, the initiatives that I was put on, none of that I can control. But what I could control was my response to it and how I would leverage what was happening around me to work in my favor and to help me grow and become a better leader. And so you have to remember the fact that you have to map out what you can control when you're making those choices and making sure you're leveraging your agency in something where you have power and have control. And the other thing that I'll say about the choice, and we talk about this a lot in our curriculum, is that strive to make sure your choices are aligned with your core values.
Cassandra Worthy:And I talk about this in my book as well. I asked myself many times when I was in that acquisition, is this a company that is aligned with my own personal values? Is this a company that I wanna keep sharing my talents and my gifts with? And after I prompted and asked myself, I listed out what my values are, what are so important to me, and there remained alignment with that parent company. And I knew that it was a company I wanted to continue to share my talents and gifts with.
Cassandra Worthy:Having that yes, I was then left to explore the opportunity, what can I control to maximize what has been put in front of me? But always do that gut check, right? How can I make sure that the choices that I'm making from day to day remain in alignment with what I value? What's most important to me? And if you find yourself continually struggling to make choices that are aligned in your values or that you're in a space, you're in a job, you're in a work and in an environment and a culture where their values are nowhere close to what you hold most dear, then perhaps the signals you're feeling are the signals for you to make a change in where you are and where you're choosing to shine your light and share your talents and your gifts.
Cassandra Worthy:But I always do that gut check, especially when I'm going through a really, really, really tough time. Let's do that that gut check.
Adam Larson:Man. Well, Cassandra, this has been an amazing conversation. I really appreciate you coming on the podcast. You've been inspired by what Cassandra has been saying, please check out the links in the in the show notes to her book, to her website so you can check out Change Enthusiasm in more depth. Thank you so, so much for coming on the podcast today.
Cassandra Worthy:Thank you so much for having me, and thank you to all the listeners. Y'all rock. Thank you.
Announcer:This has been Count Me In, IMA's podcast providing you with the latest perspectives of thought leaders from the accounting and finance profession. If you like what you heard and you'd like to be counted in for more relevant accounting and finance education, visit IMA's website at www.imanet.org.