Featuring Angela Lapovsky, Owner & Founder of ARL Elevate
In the latest episode of The Cg Business Advisor, the guest is Angela Lapovsky, a seasoned business strategy and operations consultant and Fractional COO with over 15 years of experience driving transformational change and sustainable growth. As Founder of ARL Elevate, Angela helps organizations and teams across a variety of industries translate the vision for their business into reality by helping them solve complex business problems and creating a business strategy to target those challenges. Angela specializes in enhancing operational effectiveness, leading change initiatives, and empowering leadership teams through Fractional COO support, project-based services, and as a strategic advisor. Drawing on her deep expertise across Fortune 500 companies as well as small businesses, Angela brings a collaborative and results-driven approach to navigating organizational shifts
Change Is Not Optional
Angela’s core belief is simple: “If you’re not changing, you’re going backwards.” Drawing on the fate of companies like Blockbuster, she warns against complacency in a constantly evolving market. Angela’s passion for transformation has shaped her entire career, from UBS to Lincoln Financial to launching her own consultancy focused on strategic problem-solving across industries.
She’s made it her mission to help businesses tackle their most complex challenges and evolve in sustainable, forward-thinking ways. But as she emphasizes throughout the episode, change isn’t always about massive overhauls—it can also be small, strategic shifts like improving the way meetings are run.
The Four-Step Formula for Effective Change
Angela shared her structured, people-first approach to navigating change successfully:
- Start With the End in Mind: Don’t just decide what needs to happen—understand why. Whether it’s tripling revenue
to prepare for a sale or clearing debt, the motivations behind change define the strategy. - Set Realistic but Aspirational Goals: Using a road trip analogy, Angela explained how goal-setting must be both achievable
and inspiring. Know your destination (California) and how you want to get there (the
southern route), but leave room for flexibility along the way. - Conduct a “Pre-Mortem”: Rather than waiting until a project ends to evaluate what went wrong, Angela advocates
for a proactive “pre-mortem.” Assessing potential obstacles early helps shape a more
resilient plan. - Build Accountability into the Process: Change isn’t one big moment—it’s a consistent drumbeat. Angela recommends checking
in on progress regularly (even for five minutes during team meetings) and adjusting
quarterly goals as needed.
Demystifying Change Management
Angela admits that the term “change management” can scare people off. But at its core, it’s simply the discipline of aligning people, processes, and outcomes to achieve a defined goal. Whether that’s through new technology, restructured teams, or updated workflows, the goal is always to make change feel less daunting and more actionable. She stresses the importance of meeting people where they are. For leaders, that means understanding not just the technical requirements of change, but the human resistance that often comes with it. When people pushback, Angela says, don’t take it personally. Listen. Understand their fear. And make them part of the process.
Organizational Readiness: Are You Actually Prepared for Change?
Angela separates readiness into two buckets: organizational and individual. Organizations need to assess whether they have the right resources, clear goals, and the capacity to implement new systems. On the people side, understanding the “what’s in it for me?” mindset is crucial. Change threatens routines, security, and sometimes even job stability. Unless leaders communicate clearly and consistently, adoption will be slow—or fail altogether. And don’t expect change to move in a straight line. As Angela notes, progress will ebb and flow. Market conditions shift. People change their minds. Success requires flexibility and a long-term commitment to the process.
The Most Common Mistake? Underestimating the Challenge
Too often, leaders assume that once they’ve announced a new strategy, buy-in will follow. But change takes time, energy, and effort—from everyone. Even seemingly minor changes, like restructuring meetings, require planning, communication, and commitment. Angela urges leaders to respect that process and ensure teams have the support and tools they need.
Final Lesson: Change Is Inevitable
Angela’s closing insight is both powerful and practical: “Change isn’t a choice.” Whether you plan for it or not, the world—and your industry—will keep evolving. The most successful organizations are the ones that proactively embrace change, equip their people, and build structures to stay agile.
Connect with Angela:
Interested in learning more about Angela’s approach or how ARL Elevate can help your business? Find her on LinkedIn or reach out via email at angela@arlelevate.com.
To hear the full conversation, be sure to listen to this episode of The Cg Business Advisor wherever you get your podcasts: cgbusinessadvisor.com © 2025