One of the biggest leadership mistakes I see isn’t poor change management.
It’s moving on too quickly.
Too often, the project finishes, the implementation plan is ticked off and the launch is celebrated.
And almost immediately… Everyone is focused on the next priority.
The assumption is that because something has been introduced, it has become embedded.
But introducing change and embedding change are two very different things.
Throughout my career, I’ve worked on organisational redesigns, operating model changes, service transformations and system-wide programmes.
I’ve learned that sustainable change isn’t measured by the day you launch – it’s measured six months later.
- Has behaviour changed?
- Are people working differently?
- Have leaders continued reinforcing the change?
- Or have old habits quietly returned?
Embedding change isn’t glamorous. It doesn’t usually come with a launch event or a communications campaign.
It’s built through hundreds of everyday leadership moments.
- The questions leaders continue asking.
- The behaviours they continue recognising.
- The priorities they continue reinforcing.
One of the principles in Leading Through Others is that people pay far more attention to what leaders consistently reinforce than what leaders announce once.
This week, I’d encourage you to think about a change your organisation introduced six or twelve months ago.
Ask yourself: “Are we still leading it—or are we simply assuming it has become business as usual?”
#LeadingThroughOthers #Leadership #ChangeLeadership #Transformation #LeadershipDevelopment #OrganisationalChange
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