Our role as the facilitators of change is more important than ever!

I co-chaired the CBODN Annual Conference on May 1^st (Organization Development and Change: Helping Organizations Navigate Tough Economic Times) and it's clear to me that we are living in unique times. Indeed, these are tough times and times that require an extraordinary effort. But these times also present us with a unique opportunity, an opportunity to change the conversation.

Ed Schein gave a thought provoking keynote about "What else is going on?" And Gallup (Richard Blizzard and Charles McClendon) gave a compelling presentation, showing the correlation between managerial focus on employee strengths and the employee engagement. Taking that a step further, we could see the quantifiable results of this engagement and how Actively Engaged employees (as opposed to Not Engaged and Not Actively Engaged employees) can make the difference to come out of these tough economic times.

What makes our role as the facilitators of change more important than ever is the nobility of the OD and Change Management profession? It is our role to help individuals and organizations reflect and act in a way that changes the conversation.