Welcome to Changemaker Stories from LOCAL – an ongoing series of personal interviews with leaders driving change across every industry and discipline. Because change shouldn’t mean going it alone.
Joan Finley doesn’t just manage change—she inspires belief in it. With academic rigor, corporate experience, and a coach’s intuition, she bridges skeptics and champions in the messy middle where culture, doubt, and possibility collide. Her approach is grounded in aligning people, not chasing theories, and that’s why it delivers.
Peers are powerful. The strongest drivers of change aren’t strategies—they’re people. When leading transformation, I don’t just seek champions. I find the loudest skeptics. If I can understand their resistance and help them shift, the organization often follows. Peer influence isn’t just positive vibes; it’s nuanced. Winning over the toughest critics sparks a ripple effect, turning quiet doubters into believers.
Models are important, but alignment is critical. I don’t lead with frameworks. I know them all—Prosci, Kotter, Bridges. I’m trained in them, I’ve taught them, and I’ve applied them in high-stakes settings. Models are my backdrop, not my pitch. I chart the action path and build confidence in an organization’s abilities to navigate change. That’s what moves organizations.
Partnering with leaders to address and navigate the obstacles to change is the work. Laying out the roadmap, eliminating the friction, and instilling the confidence to move forward together – that’s the work I love. Understanding an organization’s culture is imperative to assisting organizations in successful transformations. Whatever’s in the way, we name it, and we work through it.
Coaching is about alignment, not advice. Whether guiding a team, a peer, or a friend navigating a career shift, I start with one question: What’s the ultimate goal? I help them see the big picture and their place in it. Recently, I was coaching a friend who was juggling multiple roles. My advice was this: List what lights you up in your resume and talk about what you love about your work with potential employers. That energy will sell your story better than anything else.
Navigate the emotional curve. No change leader escapes the emotional curve, no matter how seasoned. I’ve mapped it, taught it, and even shared quirky stick-figure diagrams. But relaunching my consulting practice, I had to address the path through change–denial, resistance, ambivalence-the whole messy journey. It’s human. What keeps me grounded is knowing growth awaits, expecting the chaos, and trusting the process to lead me through.
"You can't steer a yacht like a kayak."
Culture is a catalyst that either fuels or stifles change. Organizations with growth-oriented, open cultures adapt faster—not because of posters on the wall, but because of how people lead and collaborate. For growing companies, structure isn’t the enemy of innovation—it’s the foundation for scale.
Storytelling is the engine. Change management is marketing in disguise. It’s not about tools or processes—it’s about selling a vision. Slide decks inform; stories inspire. To make people embrace change, you have to lead them to want it. I always ask the teams I work with: If there were no constraints, what would this look like? You’d be amazed at the clarity that emerges. The magic happens when people realize what seems impossible is indeed possible!
