After nearly two decades of rolling up my sleeves and leading large-scale change through mergers, acquisitions, integrations, and corporate turnarounds, I built the Change EQ™ Framework. It’s the natural evolution of my work in organizational change management, and it reflects one simple truth: change isn’t just strategic, it’s emotional.
Change EQ™ As Organizational Change Readiness
Change EQ™ is what happens when emotional intelligence (EQ) meets the instinctive ways people respond to change. It doesn’t replace the fundamentals of traditional change management; it enhances them. Specifically, it lives within the often-overlooked space of Change Readiness, where leaders assess not just the “what” and “how” of change, but the emotional readiness of the people experiencing it.
At the heart of Change EQ™ are the 4 Pillars of Change Leadership:
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Presence – Leading with self-awareness, calm, and clarity in the midst of uncertainty
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Connection – Building trust and psychological safety across teams
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Insight – Understanding both emotional patterns and change preferences to make better decisions
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Energy – Sustaining momentum, engagement, and emotional resilience throughout the change journey
These pillars anchor how we assess and coach leaders using tools like the EQ-i 2.0 and the Change Style Indicator. Together, they help leaders move from reaction to intention, and guide their teams through change with empathy, alignment, and strength.
What Is Change EQ™?
You’ve heard of emotional intelligence. You’ve seen change style frameworks. But what happens when you connect them? This is the Change EQ™ difference.
How It Works
Most assessments give you data. Change EQ™ gives you direction.
You’ll complete two gold-standard tools:
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The EQ-i 2.0, which measures how you manage emotions, relationships, and stress
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The Change Style Indicator (CSI), which reveals your default approach to change, whether you lean toward preserving stability, driving innovation, or balancing both
Then, I connect the dots. Through a custom interpretation layer I’ve developed, I analyze how your emotional intelligence patterns interact with your change style tendencies, and what that means for how you lead, how your team responds, and where tension or synergy may show up during transformation.
This is not a new assessment. It’s not a rebrand. It’s a strategic coaching analysis designed to unlock insights you won’t get from either tool alone.
Why It Matters
You’re not just leading a process. You’re leading people, people who feel change before they understand it. Change EQ™ gives you the roadmap to:
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Spot emotional blind spots during change
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Understand why communication or engagement may break down
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Coach others more effectively through resistance, ambiguity, or burnout
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Lead with both insight and empathy
Who Is Change EQ™ For?
Change EQ™ is built for:
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CEOs, division presidents, and senior executives leading high-impact transformations
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HR leaders who want to build emotionally intelligent change capability across teams
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Change agents, consultants, and project sponsors tasked with driving results without burning out their people
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Leaders at any level who need to communicate with clarity, lead with empathy, and reduce change resistance
If you’ve ever thought, “I wish my team could just get on board faster,” or “Why does this change feel so emotionally draining?” Change EQ™ is for you.
In addition to Change EQ™, our signature framework, we offer a suite of assessment-based coaching tools designed to support organizational transformation. These tools help leaders strengthen emotional intelligence, build trust, and lead more effectively through change.
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EQ-i 2.0 + Coaching – Build emotional intelligence across your leadership pipeline
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EQ 360 Feedback – Gain deeper insight into how leaders are perceived
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Team EQ Assessments – Strengthen team dynamics and collective resilience
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Pearman Personality Integrator + Coaching – Increase behavioral flexibility and adaptability
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Change Style Indicator – Understand how leaders and teams instinctively approach change and where alignment or tension may exist
Click below to explore how each tool can help your organization lead change with clarity, empathy, and measurable impact.
Disclaimer
Change EQ™ is an original framework developed by Robin ML Johnson, DSL, integrating insights from the EQ-i 2.0 and the Change Style Indicator. While both assessments are administered using certified tools, Change EQ™ is a proprietary coaching interpretation and not affiliated with, endorsed by, or a replacement for the official tools published by MHS Assessments or Discovery Learning International. All rights to the original assessments remain with their respective publishers.
Phone or Text: 630.274.5414
Emails: robin@designorgsolns.com
EDWOSB, WOSB, MBE, WBE, SDB, AABE, Certified



