FAVORITE QUOTE
"Before people will embrace a new way, they have to feel safe letting go of the old one."
- William Bridges
Anne Graczyk
Change Management, Strategy Development and Deployment Consulting Partner
Since becoming a certified Lean Six Sigma Black belt and ADKAR Change Manager, Anne has delivered millions in cost savings, saved countless hours of capacity ensuring the front line is focused on value-add work, and trained hundreds of employees from the C-suite to the front line in effective problem solving techniques, ensuring that process optimization investments and product enhancements are sustained long-term.
Core Professional Info
Full Name:
Anne Graczyk
Industries Served
Financial Services, P & C Insurance, Banking
Brief Career Summary
Anne Graczyk transitioned from a career on the national Opera stage to a successful business career over 15 years ago, when she began her journey in process improvement at an international Financial Services company. Since becoming a certified Lean Six Sigma Black belt and ADKAR Change Manager, Anne has delivered millions in cost savings, saved countless hours of capacity ensuring the front line is focused on value-add work, and trained hundreds of employees from the C-suite to the front line in effective problem solving techniques, ensuring that process optimization investments and product enhancements are sustained long-term.
Credentials
Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt (15 years)
ADKAR Certified Change Manager (9 years)
Achievements
Developed the first ever Change Management framework and supporting platform for Citibank US Personal Bank Analytics
Built foundational problem solving, White and Yellow-belt curriculums with a focus on Lean Leader behaviors and scaled to train hundreds of leaders and front-line employees
Built process ownership model and training that was scaled enterprise-wide at major P&C insurance company
Most recent large end-to-end optimization delivered 9 FTE capacity save and $8M in top line growth for a single business unit
Sought after facilitator of Kaizens, Design Sprints and other single focus "off the shelf" deliverables such as program or product RACI development and team, program or product Values, Vision and Mission sessions
HR background including as the HR Business Partner supporting a group of 70+ Change Agents, 10 Black Belts and 4 Master Black Belts through the deployment and implementation of a Lean Management System at a major P&C insurance company
Lead the initiative to re-define the enterprise behaviors aligned to Lean Management System of major P&C insurance company
Personal Brand/ Approach
As a consultant, the work I do is only as good as those who partner with me along the way, those who know and live the day-to-day workflow, product, or program. Building meaningful and trusting connections with the people who do the work and those who lead them is critical to the success we will achieve together. I start by understanding personal and professional motivations, learning communication styles and meeting clients where they are so I can focus on the "how" while they manage their "why".
What Others Say
Anne doesn't just care about the work, she cares about the people doing the work. She has a way of making projects run smoothly while helping others grow at the same time.
Colleagues regularly describe Anne as someone who makes their lives easier; a dynamic, organized, reliable and inspirational leader, who motivates teams to do their best work time and time again.
As a facilitator, Anne has an uncanny way of fostering creativity and getting to decisions faster by ensuring everyone feels heard and understood in what is often a short and dedicated timeframe. She is a master at guiding the discussion, navigating and structuring ideas and helping shape interconnected statements that feel true to the experts in the room.
As a presenter, Anne is an amazing storyteller; not only in creating materials that make the complex, simple, but also in how the content is delivered. She has an engaging and magnetic presence that brings content to life and that leaves a lasting impression long after the audience leaves the room.
Testimonials
"I attended my first Vision-Values-Mission" workshop Anne facilitated and was truly blown away by her talent. Anne is an exceptional facilitator; she let our session through the exercise with a keen sense of subject matter and a genuine desire to help our group work together to define our team's purpose. The tone Anne set for our group was collaborative and fun; she made the discussion feel natural and inviting, not like an assignment. Anyone who has the opportunity to work with Anne is in for a wonderful and memorable experience!"
Robbyn I.
MCM, Corporate Communications
"I have never worked with anyone in my career who accomplished so much in so little time."
Bryce G.
SVP, Insurance
"Anne basically created an entirely new process for our whole BU. When she transitioned the implementation phase over to me, we spent months working together closely. Honestly, Anne made my life so much easier. She helped me lead project meetings with senior leadership (something I had never done before), improved my organizational skills, and just made me a better communicator overall. Her support and coaching were the reasons I got promoted to Underwriting Director."
Moses S.
Underwriting Director, Insurance
Skills & Expertise
Process Optimization - all
Facilitation (process mapping, kaizen, design sprints)
Change Management
Strategy development and deployment
Training and Coaching (RCA/Problem Solving, White or Yellow Belt, Process Ownership)
Executive presentation skills and vocal coaching