208 Transition
Getting better every day
Category: Uncategorized
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Last night I was pleasantly surprised when Justin Balaski—a thought leader from Canada—referred to an experience I had with a hiring manager earlier this year. During the interview, the process was paused and I was told, “change management is more than having chats with people.” I was deeply shocked by the comment and withdrew from…
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Building on the talent management theme in my last post, I revisited Dave Ulrich’s work on Talent Management. It raises a useful question: what is actually required from a Change Lead to build and manage talent across an enterprise-level change? So much is asked of leaders during change—yet what can a Change Lead do to…
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Let’s start with a story. I had a longstanding ambition to be a Senior Executive in a Government Department or within a Non-Government Organisation. From finishing my postgraduate degree in 2003 to making my internal transition in 2017, I was not part of any clear talent management program. The desire was there. I was keen…
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Most accountability problems in organisations are created by leaders who won’t let go. A few years ago, I worked on a small project to build a new client onboarding system. I tried to introduce human-centred design. It failed—not because the idea was flawed, but because leadership couldn’t trust experienced employees to lead the work. When…
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“To bring value to the participant or the client, we need to design our efforts to support learning at the expense of teaching.”— Peter Block, Flawless Consulting Last weekend I finished my AFC B Diploma in football coaching — a significant step in my coaching journey. Like my undergraduate social work degree, the course blended…
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Yesterday I met with a change and transformation colleague to discuss networking and job-hunting strategies. The conversation turned to the tension between what agencies say they want in a change manager and what experienced practitioners actually do. This tension sits between engaging in transactional work — like preparing a change-impact assessment — and working as…
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I recently spent five weeks away with my family — two weeks in the Netherlands, the home of my late father-in-law, a week in Ireland, and two weeks in England. One week in England was spent in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, the home of Hastings for at least 400 years. The timing wasn’t ideal. I’ve been…
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I’ve been reading Marshall Goldsmith’s What Got You Here Won’t Get You There — a brilliant book about the behaviours that shape a fulfilling life. It’s not an easy read in the sense that it cuts close to the bone. I recognised myself in many of the 20 habits that hold people back: speaking when…
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Learning as a Student I regularly reflect on my time as a social work student in the early 1990s. It was a wonderful period of learning and discovery. The course was groundbreaking in its use of experimental ways of learning—placements, reflective journalling, guest speakers, and video recording of group work. Tony Vinson’s work in Wilful…
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Reflections inspired by Ken Rickard and Jason Little This chapter is emerging as one of my favourites, as it captures the balance required to be an effective change agent. Last week, I met with a mentor who suggested I’m more of an artist than a scientist. Her reflection helped me realise that my change practice…
208 Transition 