Are You Leading Toward Results—Or Just Hoping for Readiness?

You’ve got goals to hit before the year’s out.
Productivity targets. Culture shifts. Maybe even a major transformation in how your team works or leads.

But here’s the question most food leaders skip: Is your team actually ready for what you’re asking them to do?  Because if they’re not—and you haven’t checked—you’re not leading them to results.  You’re leading them to resistance.

The assumption that breaks culture.

At Catalyst, we work with food industry leaders who are running fast, aiming high—and sometimes running into a wall they didn’t see coming.

One Ops Director recently told us,

“We launched a new initiative, sent all the right messages… and nothing changed.”

They didn’t miss the memo.
They missed the readiness.

Change fatigue. Misalignment. Quiet resistance. All of it simmers beneath the surface when leaders assume people are ready—without ever asking, listening, or checking the signs.

Research from McKinsey shows that 70% of change initiatives fail, largely due to employee resistance and lack of support—not strategy.

Readiness is a leadership responsibility.

It’s not enough to roll out goals or name a new direction. Readiness means asking:

• Do your people have the tools and time to succeed?
• Are leaders sending a consistent, aligned message?
• Do your teams feel emotionally supported—and motivated—to engage?
  
  

Harvard Business Review notes that readiness involves both cognitive and emotional alignment—and without both, change rarely sticks.

If you don’t assess readiness, you risk:

• Quiet compliance instead of real commitment
• Burnout from overloading unprepared teams
• Cultural whiplash when initiatives shift faster than behavior can follow

It’s not too late to lead differently.

We’re entering the final stretch of 2025—and the pressure is on to finish strong. But pushing harder without checking for readiness? That’s a recipe for stalled culture, unmet goals, and disconnection.

The best leaders don’t assume.
They ask. They assess. They listen before they lead.

That’s where the Readiness Compass Tool comes in.
It’s a quick, honest scan across operational, organizational, and people readiness—designed to give you real clarity about what your team needs next.

“This helped me realize why my team wasn’t moving forward—and what to do about it.”
— Catalyst Client 

When you know where your team stands, you can lead with precision—not pressure.

Want to lead with more intention this fall?

Catalyst Food Leaders works with clients across the food industry who want real traction—not just one-off training. We help leaders assess readiness, shift patterns, and create cultures that actually stick.

📥 [Download the Readiness Compass Tool]
🎯 [Explore Fall Leadership Programs]

Because results don’t come from hoping people are ready.
They come from leading like it matters.

References

1. McKinsey & Company. (2022). The state of organizations 2023: Ten shifts transforming organizations.
   Retrieved from: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/the-state-of-organizations-2023
   
2. Harvard Business Review. (2022). Change management requires leadership clarity.
   Retrieved from: https://hbr.org/2022/04/change-management-requires-leadership-clarity 
3. Prosci. (2020). Best Practices in Change Management – 11th Edition. Summary stats on change failure due to lack of leadership and resistance. Retrieved from: https://www.prosci.com/resources/articles/change-management-best-practices