Podcast: Thriving Through M&A: It Starts at the Top (with Growth Igniters® Radio)

It’s tempting to focus primarily on the transactional side of the deal; but there’s also an emotional journey post-acquisition that can impact success of the deal. Knowing what to look for can help you and your organization thrive despite the uncertainty and challenges of the transition.  Thriving Through M&A starts at the top.

Jennifer joins Growth Igniters Radio with Pam Harper & Scott Harper® to discuss the emotional journey of thriving through M&A. This episode dives into:

  • How Jennifer’s experiences led her to write her book
  • Exploring some of the tongue-in-cheek “Personas” that Jennifer says can emerge at any level of an organization during an M&A transformation, and how they can affect success
  • The importance of top leaders’ awareness of these dynamics in successfully leading others through integration
  • Immediately useful ideas for leading to thrive through M&A, starting at the top

The people you thought you knew can show a different side of themselves when they’re uncertain of the future. (Jennifer J Fondrevay)

Podcast: Changing the Narrative on Mergers and Acquisitions (with Eloma)

“The payday is a lovely part. But don’t let that drive how you look for your partner, particularly if you want to leave a legacy worthwhile,” explains Jennifer Fondrevay. Mergers and acquisitions have a bad reputation, in part because statistics show that 70-90% of deals fail. However, it is important to still see a merger or acquisition as a viable growth strategy.  

Listen to the full conversation with Kiley Peters.

Podcast: How to Survive & Thrive Through M&A with Tim Hughes

Jennifer joins Timothy Hughes on #TimTalk to dive into mergers and acquisitions and how you can survive if you get caught up in one.

In her book “Now What – A survivor’s guide for thriving through mergers and acquisitions” she talks about the fact that M&A happen, you can be going along nicely in your career and then you get hit with the change and upheaval that M&A provides. So, what will you do?

They also discuss the 5 stages of grief that people go through from denial to acceptance and the stages in between, and the post-M&A characters you will come across.

Contributor: How to Align Life Sciences Teams After a Merger | Lattice

Jennifer was quoted in this Lattice article on aligning Life Sciences Teams following a merger.

Innovation requires a culture of trust.

Life sciences companies are built on innovation — and research shows that innovation takes trust, collaboration, and the sharing of ideas. Unfortunately, trust is often one of the first casualties of an M&A.

“One of the great ironies of M&A activity is that trust, a key ingredient for business success, often quickly dissolves, as M&A activity is usually cloaked in secrecy,” Jennifer J. Fondrevay, the founder of Day One Ready, an M&A consultancy, explained in a 2018 article in Harvard Business Review.

“A workforce can feel blindsided when a deal is announced, eroding trust and transparency in three mutually reinforcing ways: “our” company versus “their” company; the executive team versus frontline employees; [and] who stays versus who goes.”

Read the full article here.