SUCCESS STORIES

From industry leaders and clients.

“ I feel privileged…”

“ ..the insightful mind of Karen Ferris.”

Thank you Karen, these sessions have been amazing. I feel privileged to have spent the time one-on-one with you, the skills and knowledge you have passed on to me are invaluable and will be well used.

- Jeanette Smith - Senior Curriculum Developer - ServiceNow

Clear. Concise. On-point. Relevant. Practical.
All we’ve all come to know, respect and rely on from the insightful mind of Karen Ferris.
Your fans are always surprised by you and how you show up and lovingly challenge us to show up to be and become the leaders we want to be!

- Jay Steven Levin - Forbes Writer | Newsweek Contributor | The Ken Blanchard Companies Channel Partner

“The best I have ever experienced…”

Your change process is the best I have ever experienced. I have been in <this organisation> for nearly 10 years and endured many changes and their associated change management processes. 

Never before have I felt:

·         So informed (of good news and bad)

·         So consulted

·         Like I have been a part of the whole journey

I am impressed with the way that all feedback from all participants has been discussed and incorporated into the process/solution as appropriate and that so many concerns have been addressed so early in the change process. The communications plan is second to none that I have experienced and I would like to congratulate both you and your team on how you have conducted yourselves and the whole process. I am deliberately providing this feedback before the go live date because irrespective of the result, the process has been fantastic, and for that you should all be commended.

- Client name withheld on request

“Great to work with Karen…”

Great to work with Karen on team development focusing on change and adaptive leadership. Karen has a style that puts the team at ease and is pragmatic and can relay practical organisational applications.

- Con Balaskas - Vice President and Managing Director ANZ - Motorola Solutions

“It has been fantastic…”

It has been fantastic partnering with Karen as our leadership team build capability in change management and adaptive leadership. Karen's experience and insights have served us well and its a pleasure working with Karen.

- Elise Mann - Head of Human Resources ANZ - Motorola Solutions

“The workshop was an outstanding success…”

The workshop was an outstanding success, and feedback received from Change Advisory Group members included the following:

• Your presentation style was energetic, inclusive and professional

• The material you presented was highly relevant for the Group and our organisation

• The tools you provided were practical, and easy to understand and use

The group came away quite energised and motivated by the session.  We are looking forward to working with again so that we can equip more people, and in particular our leadership group, to manage the ongoing change within the organisation.

- Denise Hartman - Executive Manager, People and Culture - Wentworth Community Housing

"Energising and in step with business needs..."

Karen has a brilliant ability to make Change Management powerfully simple, tangible, energising and in step with business needs

- Liz Sweeney - Senior Change Analyst

"Able to influence senior stakeholders, which is particularly difficult in such a highly regulated environment..."

Karen has worked with the ATO over the past twelve months to strengthen the capability of the Superannuation Program of Work to respond to changes in legislation. Karen has developed the appropriate networks to exchange information, build individual and group capability and introduced new ways of managing change to the ATO. She has mentored and developed individuals and groups and significantly shifted the capability of the Superannuation Project Management Office in managing the people side of change. Karen connects well with staff of all levels and is able to influence senior stakeholders, which is particularly difficult in such a highly regulated environment. I would recommend Karen and Macanta to any organisation that needs support in building their change management capability.

— Sam Dureau, Director People Change Management, Australian Taxation Office

"She had the knowledge and experience to help me develop the skills I needed..."

When moving to the next stage of my career, I understood I needed a mentor who was already an expert at the things I needed to learn. Whilst I have over 30 years experience in Service Management I wanted to be able to do international SM consulting, specialising in service design, build and implementation whilst bringing to the table a strong ability in OCM. Whilst it is never a showstopper, I was also keen to have a woman as my mentor. After investigation, for me, there was no real option other than Karen Ferris. Karen met all the criteria in the depth and breadth of her knowledge and experience. 
I approached Karen (nervously, as I hadn’t considered a plan B) and asked her to mentor me. She thankfully accepted. 
I found Karen to be very approachable. She is professional, kind and above all she had the knowledge and experience to help me develop the skills I needed. Karen also covered a number of areas of learning I hadn’t considered I needed, and which I use to this day. Of the many areas of skill, I found her ability to move easily from the theory / strategy to the application and implementation of solutions inspirational.

— Sue Lamont, Service Management Solutions Consultant, Fujitsu Australia

"Hard working, professional, committed and responsive..."

Karen's knowledge is both broad and deep. She has the practical experience to underpin her process expertise. I found Karen to be hard working, professional, committed and responsive to deadlines. She has a great sense of humour, which is certainly an asset when working in the process field.

— Steve Kirkpatrick, Director Advanced Services, Cisco

"Karen is a world class speaker..."

I was so impressed with Karen when I saw her speak at a conference in Holland that I knew there and then I would arrange for her to speak at an itSMF Ireland event in the future. And so I did. Karen spoke passionately about the green agenda and how IT and ITSM principles can make a small but significant difference. Karen is a world class speaker whom I would have no hesitation in recommending.

— Mark O’Loughlin, Director, itSMF Ireland

"Her authenticity is indefinably out of this world..."

I have never quite understood the concept of the ‘professional speaker’. I have read books, listened to tapes, breezed through blogs on the ‘best practices’ of a public speaker. The proclaim edicts such as ‘have a call to action’, ‘don't read your slides’, and ‘it's normal to be nervous’. We live in a world where public speaking is something that happens constantly - a billion or so people publicly broadcast themselves every moment of every day as they update events in their lives to a public audience via social networks.

Today it is important to understand the role of the new public speaker, and how this role affects the event and the audience. Firstly, today’s speakers, as should always have been the case, must have a level of mastery in a topic that is seen as ‘common sense’. Secondly, they need to be able to present their message with a level of humility that transcends what we used to call ‘genuine’. Audiences have been exposed to every cliché and trick in the book; they deserve a speaker who has taken the time to consider, both intellectually and emotionally, the topic at hand. Finally, today's orators have to come with something that, just three years ago, didn't exist.

Today’s speaker must bring their own audience, amplify events and lift the dialog out of the room through the audience’s use of social media. This feat is unique to today’s connected world. Good speakers fill up the coffers of events with hope, and a feel good message. A professional communicator must offer to a physical event, an online brand and persona that attendees can consume before, during and long after the event. Public speaking in 2013 is full of best practice but, ultimately, it is full of new responsibilities.

I have had the rare pleasure of experiencing presentations from Karen Ferris at events on three continents over the past three years. I can, without hesitation, endorse her persona, her person and her message. Karen is a human who effortlessly transcends the physical room and creates a complete digital experience for conference organizers. Karen is followed by tens of thousands of people online, and her authenticity is indefinably out of this world.

— Chris Dancy