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21 Key Failings in Transformation Leadership
Change and transformation leadership unfailingly underwhelms
For 25 years now, I’ve been working on large, highly complex, often multi-geography, regulatory, and technology-centric operational transformation, programmes. These are collectively worth over £1bn, across close to 20 globally recognised insurers and banks.
In the past 13 years, I have directly led change and transformation delivery worth c.£0.55bn+ across 11 of these organisations, in various capacities.
When it comes to leading change and transformation in organisations, there’s so much that’s not quite right. If I were to attempt to list it all here, you would likely end up doom-scrolling, and we could be sat here till the cows came home.
That said, here are the 21 key failings in change and transformation delivery leadership I have repeatedly come across – or have committed myself – that have had the most detrimental impact, not just on programme outcomes, but also sometimes on the organisation itself:
1. Treating change management as being solely about people, and programme management as being solely about technical delivery
2. Pulling change management funding shortly after go-live (while programme management funding continues for significantly longer)
3. Shaping a transformational change delivery roadmap in a vacuum i.e. pretending as though this was the only significant piece of change going on
4. Not making the effort to craft an overarching transformation narrative at the organisational level that supports, aligns with, and brings together individual change narratives
5. Considering only well-defined change programmes and projects while considering the organisational change portfolio, while completely ignoring smaller, localised change initiatives
6. Poor, or non-existent, management of risks and issues across ‘Business As Usual’ and ‘Change’, with no traceability of such risks and issues across the different levels of the organisational change portfolio
7. Waiting needlessly long for more clarity and data points, to make a decision that has wide-ranging, strategic implications
8. Not sufficiently challenging a sponsor call or ask that may not be in the best interests of the change and/or the organisation
9. Reluctance to engage Risk, Legal, and/or Compliance functions where the change is not explicitly regulatory in nature
10. Lax attitude to scope management and change control, with formal governance not going far enough
11. Governance arrangements that are overly onerous, obfuscate programme delivery risks and issues, and do not support timely decision-making
12. No, or minimal, cross-functional or cross-workstream engagement
13. Over-reliance on lagging delivery indicators, and reluctance to accord primacy to leading delivery indicators instead
14. No, or minimal, focus / work on benefits planning, management, or realisation
15. Working to a delivery plan where key business stakeholders are perennially 100%+ allocated across all their BAU and change engagements
16. Treating all stakeholder dissent / disagreement as ‘resistance’, and all such ‘resistance’ as equal / as a negative
17. Not adequately preparing the business to transition to, and operate under, the post-go-live end-state
18. Couching change and business readiness management in jargon and frameworks that the business find challenging to relate to
19. Not engaging all of the relevant stakeholder groups in a timely manner, or choosing not to engage certain stakeholder groups at all
20. Pinning responsibility for all change and business readiness management on just the change management function (which is often a one-person army)
21. Treating business readiness as a point-in-time, side-of-desk exercise, as opposed to being the culmination of many activities / supporting stakeholder engagement right through the programme delivery life-cycle
It does not have to be this way. Starting now.
My Transformation Promise
“By offering a battle-tested framework-methodology that I’ve perfected over 13 years while leading transformational change worth £0.55bn+ across 11 global insurers and banks, I transform change and business readiness management and transformation leadership:
From:
A fluffy, sometimes overly prescriptive, and often vague mix of ‘stuff’ that most stakeholders struggle to relate to and that delivers little real value
To:
A pragmatic, accessible, and strategic outcomes-focused discipline that stakeholders across the organisational hierarchy willingly and intuitively engage with
Thereby enabling change and business readiness practitioners and transformation / enterprise change leaders to:
1. Deliver long-term business readiness, assure change adoption, and unlock benefits on transformational change programmes while honouring programme constraints
2. Build a more change-mature, resilient, and cohesive organisation in the process
3. Ultimately, be rightfully recognised for creating strategic value within their workplaces”
Keen to up your game in transformational change leadership and delivery? Click the button below to grab your free copy of my resource that calls out the hefty costs you pay for each of the 21 key failings in transformation leadership I note above, and what to do to transform these failings into success
Featured
Grounded. Holistic. Real. Tough-loving.
That’s…GHReaTSM!
There’s no one magic ingredient for success in leading change and transformation. But these adjectives represent some of the most potent approaches in your leadership repertoire.
The real magic, though, happens when you consistently apply them together, not in isolation. Click on each piece below, and be inspired to produce your own GHReaTSM magic!
Case Study: Agile Transformation
From a ‘wild west’ way of working, with poor productivity and a lackadaisical culture, to adopting Agile, with 30% sustained improvement in throughput, and a culture of camaraderie
Stakeholder Resistance: Don't shun it
Your transformation programme will likely be much better off mining such resistance instead, to support better outcomes, and, sometimes, help prevent an outright disaster
Change Portfolio Management (CPM)
CPM is a must-have when running multiple change initiatives concurrently. Of a number of components, there are but only a handful that merit implementation focus.
Testimonials
Avishek comes from a strong change management background and he’s been a go to person for bouncing ideas off especially when I’ve worked on large change programs in the past. I’ve found his frameworks and ways of working very useful to adopt in my own organisation.
Most importantly I’ve found him to be selfless in contributing to help others succeed. I wish him the best in his new engagements!
I’ve had the pleasure of working with Avishek on a high profile and demanding Finance Change project, and I can confidently say he is an outstanding Business Change expert.
Avishek brings a unique blend of strategic thinking, organisational excellence, and collaborative leadership to every project. He has a remarkable ability to navigate complex change initiatives, ensuring alignment with business objectives while keeping stakeholders engaged and informed.
What sets Avishek apart is his:
Analytical mindset – quickly identifying risks, dependencies, and opportunities for improvement.
Adaptability and resilience – thriving in dynamic environments and managing ambiguity with confidence.
Exceptional communication skills – translating complex ideas into clear, actionable steps for all levels of the organisation.
People-focused approach – building trust and fostering collaboration across teams to make change sustainable.
If you’re looking for someone who can lead transformation with clarity, empathy, and results-driven focus, I’d strongly recommend Avishek.
I worked with Avishek when he led a complex digital transformation project.
His ability to remain calm and composed in stressful situations is inspiring.
He brings a refined management style that adds dignity to the leadership role.
Avishek creates a safe and inclusive environment where teams can deliver high-quality outcomes aligned to business goals and timelines.
He would be a strong fit for organizations navigating change or transformation.
Avishek worked for me as the business change manager on the £135m Brexit Program at Zurich Insurance.
He brought a valuable tool kit and quickly put that to good use, shaping and designing the methodology for ensuring the business was ready for Go Live. Following a seamless move into BAU, I can confirm that Avishek succeeded!
Avishek is empathetic, unassuming, incredibly hard working and brings a quiet calm approach to the business at a time when traditionally teams are under a lot of pressure.
I can highly recommend Avishek and would love to work with him again.
Avishek worked for me as Change Manager on a major project implementing a global reinsurance solution for a major industry player.
He was easy to work with, methodical and considered in his approach, with strong theoretical grounding coupled with practical and pragmatic application, leveraging his wide experience.
He championed and delivered a Change Management programme in an intensely fast moving and varying global environment, providing a valued contribution as part of the program management team, and leading the Change Management workstream.
Avishek is a fabulous person to work with, combining a great sense of humour with an instinctive empathy and consideration for those around him. This allowed him to add value in sometimes unconventional, but always effective ways.
He also has a strong personal and professional integrity which you can absolutely rely on.
I had the pleasure of working alongside Avishek on a major enterprise-wide transformation programme at Tokio Marine HCC, where he was Business Readiness Manager. I was extremely impressed by his professionalism, dedication, and deep expertise in Change Management.
Avishek demonstrated a rare ability to quickly immerse himself in complex subject matter, leveraging all available resources to produce high-quality deliverables and clear, practical implementation plans. He coordinated readiness activities for two major releases across Underwriting, Finance, Claims, IT, and Enterprise Change, and was highly regarded and relied upon by senior stakeholders to deliver critical milestones.
I can honestly say Avishek is one of the most capable change managers I have worked with. On a personal level, he is a true gentleman and a pleasure to work with. I would highly recommend Avishek to any organisation seeking a high-performing change agent, and I look forward to working with him again.
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