Podcast: The #1 M&A Mistake Leaders Make: Ignoring Employee Identity

Jennifer and Master Your Merger host, Klint Kendrick, unpack a critical but often overlooked challenge in mergers and acquisitions: employee identity loss. You’ll learn why culture clashes and change resistance aren’t just about poor communication but about how people grieve the loss of their roles, titles, and professional identities. This episode explores how leaders can … Read more

Podcast: Why Most Mergers Fail and What Leaders Miss About People

In the rush of mergers and acquisitions, financial projections often take center stage while the human element is overlooked. Jennifer Fondrevay argues that this is where businesses falter. In this episode of Leadership NOW with Dan Pontefract, Jennifer dives into the hidden pitfalls of post-merger integration, the overconfidence that derails deals, and the often-underestimated importance … Read more

Forbes Article: Forbes Power Breakfast – Oana Ijdelea (Ijdelea & Associates) and Jennifer J. Fondrevay (Day1 Ready™), about the M&A market, female leadership and the human element in business

Oana Ijdelea, Managing Partner of Ijdelea & Associates and Jennifer Fondervay, Founder of Day1 Ready™, told us during the Forbes Power Breakfast event what their vision is regarding adapting to uncertain times, the role of the human side in business, but also what the secrets of female leadership are. Click here to read the full article in … Read more

Forbes Article: Key Lessons From Microsoft’s Skype Experiment About Integration

In this article, Jennifer J. Fondrevay unpacks the strategic missteps behind Microsoft’s $8.5B Skype acquisition and its eventual sunset in 2025. The article challenges the “preservation mindset” often favored in M&A, revealing how delayed integration can lead to strategic ambiguity, talent drain, and missed market opportunities. By contrasting Skype’s fate with the success of Microsoft … Read more

Podcast: What CEO’s Forget During Mergers

Jennifer sits down with David Lovejoy to talk about how she supports organizations in building people-first strategies that drive successful integrations. In this episode, they discussed: ✅ Why the emotional toll of M&A is often underestimated—and how grief, identity loss, and ambiguity impact performance. ✅ How middle managers are the make-or-break force in post-deal success … Read more

Forbes Article: Avoid An M&A Deal ‘Lame Duck’ Period After Acquisition

To be a ‘lame duck’ is to lose power. Or so the thinking goes. Popularized in politics, the term lame duck refers to an elected official still in office who will soon be succeeded. The official typically experiences diminished influence and authority as they await their successor’s assumption of power. President Joe Biden’s extended lame duck period … Read more