Hi, I’m Andy, a Change Leadership Consultant based in Montreal, originally from France, now helping organizations across Canada and beyond to turn transformation into a lasting success.

For over 12 years, I’ve worked with executives, HR leaders, and transformation teams to strengthen their change maturity, the mindset, capability, and culture needed to lead change effectively.

Many organizations struggle with transformation because people, culture, and leadership aren’t ready and lack capability for it. 

That’s where I come in.

Here’s what I do:

→ Design tailored change strategies and transformation roadmaps.
→ Coach leaders and sponsors to drive change with confidence.
→ Assess impact, resistance, and risk to ensure smooth transitions.
→ Build internal change capability through hands-on training.
→ Drive clear, 360° communication across all levels, using existing channels effectively.
→ Measure engagement, readiness, and behaviors to demonstrate ROI and lasting impact.

At Elevation Groupe Conseil, my goal is simple: make change your competitive edge.

If you’re ready to make your change initiatives stick, let’s connect.

Send me a DM or email me at andy.lauret@elevationgc.ca

Andy ⬆️

Everyone wants transformation to go faster.

Almost no one counts the damage speed creates.

I’ve seen rushed transformations burn teams, miss decisions, 
and stall adoption months later.

I’ve felt that pressure too.

“Go faster” sounds productive.

Until energy drops and shortcuts multiply.

Speed without clarity isn’t progress.
Speed without capacity creates workarounds.
Forced pace looks efficient, but it quietly sabotages outcomes.

Real acceleration comes from alignment, not pressure.

What’s one change you slowed down to move faster later?

🔁 Repost & ➕ Follow Andy Lauret for more real talk 
from the change frontline.

Andy Lauret ⬆️

Change management partner | Building Change-ready Organizations by helping People-First leaders and employees | Founder @Elevation Groupe Conseil

Change management does not need a seat at the table.
It needs its own table.

For years, change has been treated like support work.

Brought in after decisions are made.

Asked to help people “align” once the hard parts are over.

That is not change management.
That is damage control.

Change work shapes the decision, not the announcement.
- It challenges timelines.
- It questions readiness.
- It slows things down when speed would break trust.

If change leaders only react, they will always be ignored.
If they only facilitate, they will never influence.

Owning the table means saying no.

It means pushing back on leaders who want buy in without ownership.

It means being accountable for outcomes, not just adoption plans.

P.S. Is change invited early or only when things start breaking?

🔁 Repost & ➕ Follow Andy Lauret for more real talk 
from the change frontline.

Leaders accidentally kill engagement.

They broadcast instead of dialogue.
Present instead of co-create.
Celebrate go-live instead of measuring what sticks.

Here’s the truth:
Engagement is not about making people excited.
It’s about making them feel involved, equipped, and heard.

This framework shows:
→ The 5 things that kill engagement (even when leaders mean well)
→ Why each shift matters

One column builds compliance.
The other builds ownership.

Same intentions but very different outcomes.

Worth asking: which one are you designing?

🔁 Repost & ➕ Follow Andy Lauret for more real talk 
from the change frontline

People support what they help shape.

Consultation creates compliance.
Co-creation creates care.

One informs people.
The other gives them authorship.

Change doesn’t need more direction.
It needs shared ownership.

And you, are you designing for control...
or for commitment?

🔁 Repost & ➕ Follow Andy Lauret ⬆️for more real talk 
from the change frontline

Saying ‘I support this change initiative’ is not leadership. 

It’s distance.

Support without visibility is abandonment.

It tells teams the work matters, but not enough for leadership time.

Change does not need cheerleaders.
It needs sponsors who are willing to be seen and challenged.

Here’s what sponsorship actually looks like:

1/ Publicly own the change.
Say “I am accountable for this” instead of “I support this.”

2/ Show up where the tension is.
Join the meetings where people disagree.

3/ Repeat the message often.
If you are tired of saying it, people are just starting to hear it.

4/ Make one visible decision early.
Cut a process, fund a priority or stop an old habit.

5/ Protect the work publicly.
When resistance shows up, address it out loud.

🔁 Repost & ➕ Follow Andy Lauret for more real talk 
from the change frontline.

Same goal, different approaches.

And… it’s OK!

Company A: top-down, directive driven.
Company B: co-created, Participative-driven.

We often search for *the* right way to lead change.

Truth is: there isn't one!

Both succeeded, because their strategies fit their culture, pace, and people.

The danger? Forcing a framework that doesn’t fit your DNA.

Yes my preference goes for a more co-created path… 
but different doesn’t mean wrong!

Context is king.

Custom beats copy.

And you, what’s the boldest change path you’ve seen work?

🔁 Repost & ➕ Follow Andy Lauret for more real talk 
from the change frontline.

For a long time, I thought leading change required authority.

A role, title or mandate.

Then I watched most change actually happen.
It didn’t come from the people with the biggest say.
It came from the ones who stepped in early.

The ones who noticed friction and removed it.
Who helped others make sense of what was shifting.
Who stayed calm when things got uncomfortable.

They didn’t “drive” change, they made it easier to move.

What I’ve learned is this:

Influence doesn’t come from position.

It comes from usefulness, trust, and timing.

– When you create value under pressure, people listen.
– When you follow through, people rely on you.
– When you model the change before it’s popular, people follow.

That’s how change gets led long before it’s approved.

🔁 Repost & ➕ Follow Andy Lauret for more real talk 
from the change frontline.

How to Lead Change Without Authority

Kotter 8-step Framework was meant to guide, not dictate.

It’s not the framework that fails.

It’s how rigidly we apply it.
The problem is using a copy-paste approach to a personalized challenge.

Kotter’s 8 Steps?
Still one of the best frameworks out there.
If you treat it as a compass not a checklist.
Change isn’t linear.

Sometimes urgency comes later.

Sometimes coalitions form mid-flight.

And sometimes empowerment needs to start before the vision is clear.
You can adapt the order.

You can tailor the approach.

But you can’t ignore the conditions.

Frameworks don’t fail.
Misusing them does.

🔁 Repost & ➕ Follow Andy Lauret for more real talk 
from the change frontline.

You didn’t lose value when the project failed.
You lost it when people stopped using it.

On time.
On budget.
Zero value...

Not because of resistance.
But because adoption was assumed, not managed.

Every hour of low adoption is a hidden cost.
And it adds up faster than you think.

Delivery is an event.
Adoption is the investment.

🔁 Repost & ➕ Follow Andy Lauret for more real talk from the change frontline

cost of low adoption

I build modern industrial operations — and the systems, talent, and playbooks behind them — so companies, teams, and investors consistently hit schedule, quality, margin, and cash targets. A VP-level operator at heart and systems thinker by training, I connect operations to EBITDA and enterprise value, bringing experience from the shop floor to the boardroom.

What I Deliver
• Operational Excellence (Lean / OpEx): Culture, process, and performance systems—built from the ground up or revitalized to scale.
• Manufacturing Leadership: Advanced manufacturing and engineering technology discipline integrated with business strategy.
• Program Management & CAPEX: Governance, NPI, and investment portfolios exceeding $20M+ annually.
• Footprint & Flow Strategy: Network rationalization, plant transfers, and optimized global material flow.
• Operating Systems: Daily management cadence, KPI architecture (SQDCI), and leadership coaching.
• Productivity & Value Creation: Four-wall productivity, supply chain optimization, and direct linkage to P&L and cash flow.

Who I Partner With
• Corporate & PE Platforms: Driving multi-site transformation and value creation across global networks.
• Through CS² Advisory: Advising SMB manufacturers, PE portfolio companies, and transformation teams.
• Through TQ Manufacturing: Delivering precision CNC machining solutions for engineering, procurement, and supply chain partners.

How I Work
From gemba to boardroom—hands-on, financially focused, and people-first. I design the system, run the cadence, coach leaders, and institutionalize results.

Brian Summerfield

Global Operations & Lean Transformation Executive | Manufacturing, OPEX & CAPEX Leadership | Driving Growth & Value Creation

Leadership Analyst and Management Historian | Multi-Book Author

If all you do is focus on Deming or Lean or Toyota, you limit your learning and surely suffer from "cognitive entrenchment." Expertise in a narrow domain makes someone less flexible in their thinking and resistant to other relevant ideas.

While sticking to one genre is comfortable, it creates intellectual blind spots that make it harder to recognize major problems in front of your face. Cognitive entrenchment turns into an intellectual moat. It protects what you know but keeps out what you need to know to improve.

The Shingijutsu term for people with cognitive entrenchment is "concrete head." Get unentrenched so you can help move Lean forward. 👇

1️⃣ 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒓𝒊𝒖𝒎𝒑𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑶𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕
https://lnkd.in/en6s-nSh

2️⃣ 𝑰𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔
https://lnkd.in/eGe69Ubt

3️⃣ 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑴𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒖𝒎
https://lnkd.in/eiUKRDym

4️⃣ 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔
https://lnkd.in/e6DfRvXq

5️⃣ 𝑨 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆
https://lnkd.in/eJY3BUJ4

6️⃣ 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒐𝒇 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔
https://lnkd.in/etZyyAsn

taplio

The Battle

Andy ⬆️

Brian Summerfield

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreAndy ⬆️'s LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreBrian Summerfield's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Andy ⬆️

Brian Summerfield

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Andy ⬆️'s LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreBrian Summerfield's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreAndy ⬆️'s LinkedIn Performance