How to get everyone on board

Change has many faces. But whether you’ve grown fast, are implementing AI, navigating uncertainty, integrating two organisations, handing over the family business or rebuilding after a crisis — the question is always the same: how do you get your people on board?

Growth pains

Your organisation has grown fast and successfully over the past years. But that pace brings new questions: who decides what, roles blur, the distance between leadership and the front line grows — and you’re seeing the effects in absenteeism and staff turnover. It’s time to ensure that your culture and leadership evolve alongside this growth.

▸ Often starts as a leadership journey across multiple levels — so your leaders lead clearly and humanely, with more ownership throughout the organisation.

AI transformation

AI is changing the way we work faster than people can keep up. You invest in data, technology and tools — but the real benefits lie in helping people work differently. Research by Deloitte shows that only 7% of AI budgets are allocated to redesigning work, roles and change, whilst the human aspect accounts for 70% of the challenge.

▸ Often starts as an inspiration workshop for managers to get to grips with the human, behavioural side of AI change.

Uncertainty

You’re in a transition where the old is disappearing, but the new isn’t here yet. How will geopolitics play out for your supply chain? What if customers suddenly drop away, or the investments dry up overnight because of political uncertainty? Your team is looking to you for answers that you don’t yet have yourself.

▸ Often starts as a ‘First Aid for Uncertainty’ keynote for leaders, so you train your risk-tolerance muscle and learn to communicate clearly about the unknown.

Cultural integration

Two organisations become one — on paper. In practice, ways of working, expectations and national cultures clash. This is exactly where most mergers and acquisitions fail: too little attention is paid to cultural integration.

▸ Often starts as a three-part workshop series, so leaders learn to navigate cultural differences and bridge the conflicts that inevitably arise.

Family business succession

Your family business is facing a generational transfer. The new generation needs to be prepared to carry on what has been built up over decades. How do you pass on not only the reins, but also the direction and the culture?

▸ This often begins with a bespoke executive coaching programme, so that the new generation can grow into self-aware leaders.

Recovery after misconduct

Something has gone seriously wrong — financial mismanagement, toxic leadership from the previous management team, or inappropriate behaviour. Trust has been lost and the business is in turmoil. The question is: where do we start, and how do we rebuild leadership and trust?

▸ It often starts with listening during conversations with employees to identify what is going on, what is going well and what the priorities are.

Interactive change programmes

What a change process or workshop looks like? Ideally, we work out together what suits your organisation best. Here’s an impression of my favourite interactive change workshops and training programmes. I offer these in English, Dutch, German, French and Spanish — and where needed multilingually within a single session, for example an English-German group at the same time.


Positive Change inspiration workshop

Experience how positivity inspires people to take an active role in change themselves.

Leading change training

Turn resistance into change motivation. Discover how you, as manager, can get your people on board.

Storytelling in change

Create an attractive and credible change narrative that gets your people on board.

What clients say about tailor-made change journeys

Entrusting Lisette with the development of our leadership team and our young talents was one of the best decisions I have made as a managing director. Furthermore, she has become a valued sparring partner to me on complex HR and leadership matters … What sets her apart is the rare combination of clarity, genuine warmth and a keen sense of what truly moves people – she sees everyone as an individual without losing sight of the bigger picture. I have seen our young talents grow visibly, our leadership team grow closer, and I myself lead in a more conscious, attentive and confident way. Thank you, Lisette – for your energy, your honesty, and for making change truly human.
Frank Reuter
Interim Managing Director | PassportCard Europe GmbH
Attending Lisettes' Empowerment Trainings was a truly transformative experience. From the very beginning, her energy, authenticity, and deep knowledge created a space where everyone felt seen, heard, motivated and inspired. The tools and techniques shared weren't just motivational, but also very practical, actionable, and immediately impactful in our professional life and day-to-day business.

Lisette has a unique ability to connect with each individual and help them unlock their confidence, purpose, and inner strength. Even not that much beloved roles plays were done with motivation by more introverted people. I walked aways from the training not only feeling empowered, but equipped with a renewed sense of clarity and drive. I can't recommend this experience highly enough - it's a game-changer.
Yvonne Ziesemer
VP Revenue Management and Commercial Excellence | Flix SE
In order to be able to work together well, it is important that everyone looks into the mirror and realises what behaviour they display and how this impacts others. As a result of experiencing the exercises during the Leadership Weekend, we became aware of the kind of behaviour we display and how some behaviour actually inhibits collaboration instead of stimulating it. In particular the exercise where we had to recreate our collaborative process with thread and rods in the grass, characterised what our way of working together was like at that time. After the weekend, we have started improving our collaborative process step by step. For us collaboration is all about making sure the customer comes first, which leads to more customer insight for all colleagues and eventually to more customer satisfaction
Rob van Oene
Managing Director | Mifa Aluminium
We really appreciated the workshop on developing a common vision and improving communication that Lisette delivered to our staff members at WUR. It was really engaging as we requested and was greatly appreciated by every member. It made us reflect on common directions and focused us on clear actions to foster positive change. Lisette’s added knowledge and intervention in steering the discussion made the whole conversation more effective and honest.
Prof. Dr. Maria Suarez-Diez
Professor and Chair Holder Systems and Synthetic Biology | Wageningen University & Research

About Lisette

Lisette van de Sandt (MSc.) is an internationally recognised expert in change and leadership — and was herself General Manager of a technical-industrial company in Germany. With experience at 60+ organisations including Haskoning, Arvato Bertelsmann, Radboud University, the Province of Limburg and Boston Consulting Group across 12 countries, she has trained 2,000+ managers and 3,500+ employees to embrace change — in Dutch, German, English, French and Spanish. Her book Zo krijg je iedereen mee (Bring everybody along), longlisted for Management Book of the Year 2025, shows managers how to turn resistance into motivation.

Ready to bring your colleagues along?

Let’s explore how we can develop a bespoke change process that’s perfectly tailored to your organisation’s situation and challenges.

Let's talk