AME Milwaukee 2026 International Conference
Workshops
Workshop
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TransFORM resistance
Discover your inner Resistobot™ and learn how to turn pushback into progress
OVERVIEW
Every change leader has faced that wall of resistance and pushback that slows progress and drains energy. What if I told you that change isn’t hard because people resist. It’s hard because we often invite and create that resistance without realizing it.
In this four-hour hands-on session, you will uncover the hidden Resistobots™ at play in your toughest change initiatives, both in others and in yourselves. Then using Kelly Mallery's transFORM™ framework, you’ll learn to decode what type of resistance you’re facing, reveal the fears fueling it and apply a structured process to shift your approach from battling to breaking through.
In the spirit of this year's AME conference theme "People first, progress together," this workshop dives into the human side of resistance. Helping you see the people behind the pushback and discover how to move forward together with empathy, curiosity and shared purpose.
In this four-hour hands-on session, you will uncover the hidden Resistobots™ at play in your toughest change initiatives, both in others and in yourselves. Then using Kelly Mallery's transFORM™ framework, you’ll learn to decode what type of resistance you’re facing, reveal the fears fueling it and apply a structured process to shift your approach from battling to breaking through.
In the spirit of this year's AME conference theme "People first, progress together," this workshop dives into the human side of resistance. Helping you see the people behind the pushback and discover how to move forward together with empathy, curiosity and shared purpose.
Key Learning Objectives
1. Identify the Resistobot™ archetypes in action.
2. Explore how your own automatic responses may be amplifying pushback.
3. Use the transFORM™ framework to craft a personalized strategy and action plan to re-engage others and re-energize progress.
2. Explore how your own automatic responses may be amplifying pushback.
3. Use the transFORM™ framework to craft a personalized strategy and action plan to re-engage others and re-energize progress.
Presenter
Kelly mallery
Founder & Coach
Kelly Mallery Coaching & Consulting LLC
Kelly Mallery knows what it feels like to give your all in a continuous improvement role and still go home exhausted, doubting yourself and wondering if you’re really making an impact. For years, she carried that same weight — working harder and harder, only to feel stuck in resistance, drained by self-doubt and unsure if she was really cut out for this work.
Founder & Coach
Kelly Mallery Coaching & Consulting LLC
Kelly Mallery knows what it feels like to give your all in a continuous improvement role and still go home exhausted, doubting yourself and wondering if you’re really making an impact. For years, she carried that same weight — working harder and harder, only to feel stuck in resistance, drained by self-doubt and unsure if she was really cut out for this work.
Over time, Mallery discovered that the real barrier wasn’t just “resistant people.” It was how she was responding to their resistance. Mallery now calls these ways of responding her Resistobots™. They not only made her feel worse, they actually invited more pushback from others. When Mallery learned to quiet them, face the fears underneath and lead with curiosity, compassion and confidence, everything changed.
That experience shaped the work Mallery does today. As the operational excellence manager for two Viant Medical sites (NH and MI), she drives improvement in high-stakes manufacturing. But her true passion is coaching women in CI roles — helping them grow their confidence, strengthen their coaching presence and lead change with more influence and less struggle.
Mallery has spent more than a decade in manufacturing (solar, industrial consumer products, aerospace and now medical devices), and along the way she's learned that true transformation doesn’t start with tools and tactics. It starts with how we see change — and how we see ourselves.
That’s why she launched her coaching and consulting business: to help women CI leaders overcome resistance (in themselves and others), build cultures of adaptability and innovation, and finally feel the joy and ease of shaping meaningful change.
Mallery is also a proud kata geek! In 2020, she joined Kata Girl Geeks, and in 2023, founded Kata School Northeast to spread the power of scientific thinking even further.
View on LinkedIn
That experience shaped the work Mallery does today. As the operational excellence manager for two Viant Medical sites (NH and MI), she drives improvement in high-stakes manufacturing. But her true passion is coaching women in CI roles — helping them grow their confidence, strengthen their coaching presence and lead change with more influence and less struggle.
Mallery has spent more than a decade in manufacturing (solar, industrial consumer products, aerospace and now medical devices), and along the way she's learned that true transformation doesn’t start with tools and tactics. It starts with how we see change — and how we see ourselves.
That’s why she launched her coaching and consulting business: to help women CI leaders overcome resistance (in themselves and others), build cultures of adaptability and innovation, and finally feel the joy and ease of shaping meaningful change.
Mallery is also a proud kata geek! In 2020, she joined Kata Girl Geeks, and in 2023, founded Kata School Northeast to spread the power of scientific thinking even further.
View on LinkedIn
TAGS
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Click on a tag to discover more sessions with that theme, topic or level.
Culture of respect and collaboration
Operations improvement
Level: Intermediate
