30 years ago, the professional environment was such that you could not get onto the board unless you had finance skills. 10 years ago, it was impossible unless you had technical skills. Nowadays, you must display what both of these examples have in common: a proven track record in facilitating transformation, as change is the only thing that can be considered constant in the workplace. 

According to our Capability for Change Report 2025, this change is currently focused in two key areas: increasing digitisation and driving operational efficiencies. 

As a member of the senior team, if your organisation is going through huge amounts of change, whether that’s financial, technological, structural or cultural, it’s a given that some or all of it will be your responsibility. 

This means that you will be responsible for maintaining the day-to-day business as usual. As a leader, you will have to be able to encourage your teams to work well, despite the period of turmoil they may be experiencing. If this doesn’t happen, you will risk a mounting backlog of work with no visible return on investment. This won’t reflect well on you in the eyes of your employees, peers or superiors. 

You’ll also be responsible for maintaining the workforce’s faith in change as a positive concept. If the last implementation resulted in an increased workload with no tangible benefits, your team will approach the next round with cynicism and mistrust, meaning you will have to spend more time rebuilding their faith in you. 

Using Change as an Opportunity

However daunting the concept of managing change may be, when done well, it’s a real opportunity to truly stand out from peers.

This is for several reasons. Firstly, those who can successfully communicate the need for change to their team are rewarded with increased support and loyalty. This is crucial, not least because this could be the difference between people discussing their leaders with admiration or disdain, both with their peers and senior stakeholders. 

But it’s not just communication skills which set good change leaders apart. Their commitment matters too. When they prove that they are an integral part of the change, rather than just a messenger, they are held in a much higher regard. It also avoids creating an ‘us and them’ culture. This is something I see a lot of amongst companies implementing technological changes, as the majority of the workforce is often expected to both accept and excel at new digital ways of working, whilst upper management does not. In these instances, being a champion for the new way of working is an opportunity to not only distinguish your leadership during the change process but also prove that you’re ahead of the curve. 

Managing Risk While Driving Change 

Change is, inarguably, risky. There will always be a chance that things do not go smoothly, especially in situations where the transformation itself is liable to reshaping. As a result, I only see an extremely small proportion of senior managers involve themselves in change. In fact, our data shows that board members are responsible for change in just 7% of organisations. 

Whilst disappointing, this means that ambitious executives have the opportunity to establish themselves as part of a valuable minority: individuals who are appropriately equipped to and adept at leading change initiatives. 

In fact, I’d argue there is a greater risk to not getting involved. After all, involvement in change is essentially all about becoming a key player in shaping the future of the organisation. This can only be a good thing from a career perspective.

Parting Advice 

With involvement in change offering such clear opportunities to accelerate your leadership progression, here are a few tips for leading a successful programme: 

1. Recognise that you are sponsoring a shift into a new way of working. Too many people view change as just a difference in processes and procedures, without realising that these almost always need to be supported by shifts in values and attitudes. This stalls progress.
2. Remember, you are inherently experienced in change. Change is simply creating new habits and ways of doing things – a constant in both our everyday and professional lives. So, with the right support, you have the power to lead this work – and do so effectively.
3. Know that there are external change training resources and tools you can draw on during a transformation – and that you may well need them, as you may not have all of the answers, all of the time.
4. Finally, remember, a successfully adopted change initiative is a reason for celebration. Despite a third of people saying that managers failed to commemorate short-term wins, it’s a small but effective way to boost morale and show your workforce that their continued support has not gone unnoticed. 

About the Author: Melanie Franklin is Chief Executive Officer at Capability for Change and a globally recognised expert in change management and agile leadership. She empowers individuals and organisations to embrace and lead transformation effectively. Franklin is the author of multiple publications on change management and regularly advises executive teams on building organisational change capability.