Here are three big insights that emerge from this Change Signal conversation with Hahrie Han:
Are you creating value or just convenience?;
Does belonging come before belief in your organization?; and
Are you building agency or just compliance?
Hahrie Han, political scientist at Johns Hopkins University and author of How Organizations Develop Activists and Undivided, has spent her career studying how people build power that lasts. She brings a sharp, human perspective on what drives genuine participation and why small, intentional acts often change systems more than sweeping plans.
The conversation explores why engagement depends less on ease and more on meaning, how “radical belonging” can transform even divided communities, and how leaders can use small, safe failures to build confidence and agency across teams.
You’ll also hear practical tools for turning involvement into influence — designing scaffolding that helps people learn from risk and own their results.
If you’re leading transformation, culture, or change projects in a big organization, this conversation offers fresh, grounded insight into how participation turns into durable power.
Change Signal. Cut through the blather, the BS, and the noise to find the good stuff that works in change. This is the podcast for transformational leaders seeking modern change mastery.
***
WHEN YOU’RE READY
🎧 A new episode every week (and sometimes two!)
The Change Signal newsletter. Short, practical, weekly
***
CONNECT
💼Connect on LinkedIn
***
SAY THANKS
💜Leave a review on Apple Podcasts
💚Leave a review on Spotify
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35:12
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35:12
Campfires Not Stadiums: Building Belonging: Charles Vogl
Here are three big insights that emerge from this Change Signal conversation with Charles Vogl:
Leadership maturity means rejecting the “Superman” myth of doing it all alone;
Real change requires creating spaces where the rules are rewritten; and
Belonging — and transformation — scale through small, steady “campfire” gatherings, not grand events.
Charles Vogl, author of The Art of Community, has spent his career helping leaders move from heroic independence to interdependent impact. Drawing from his work with the Peace Corps, the military, and mission-driven organizations, Charles shows how leaders can build communities that hold trust, courage, and connection — without losing focus on performance.
The conversation explores how to create “sacred spaces” where vulnerability is safe, why deep community often looks boring on the surface, and how scaling change means working in small units with intention.
If you’re leading transformation, culture, or organizational change, this episode offers grounded, practical insight into how belonging becomes your most powerful change strategy — and why it’s time to put the Superman cape away.
Change Signal. Cut through the blather, the BS, and the noise to find the good stuff that works in change. This is the podcast for transformational leaders seeking modern change mastery.
***
WHEN YOU’RE READY
🎧 A new episode every week (and sometimes two!)
The Change Signal newsletter. Short, practical, weekly
***
CONNECT
💼Connect on LinkedIn
***
SAY THANKS
💜Leave a review on Apple Podcasts
💚Leave a review on Spotify
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22:36
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22:36
Common Mistakes in Leading Transformational Change: Linda Ackerman
Here are three provocative questions that arise from this Change Signal conversation with Dr. Linda Ackerman Anderson:
What if change were treated like finance?
Are your leaders modelling the change — or just managing it?
And what hidden costs are you paying for “too much change, too fast”?
For forty-plus years, Linda has studied what actually derails transformational change. Her insights aren’t about tools or templates — they’re about discipline, mindset, and meaning. She shows why relevance and personal connection drive real engagement, and why most organizations still treat change as an event instead of a strategic function.
We dig into the trap of leaders who delegate transformation without transforming themselves, and the illusion that people can “add” change on top of already full plates. It’s an unflinching look at how organizations overload, under-resource, and unintentionally resist the very change they want.
If you lead change projects in a large organization, this episode will help you see the patterns behind slow traction and surface-level buy-in — and how to lead change that actually sticks.
Change Signal. Where transformational change leaders seek and find modern change wisdom. Cut through the blather, the BS, and the noise to find the good stuff that works.
***
WHEN YOU’RE READY
🎧 A new episode every week (and sometimes two!)
The Change Signal newsletter. Short, practical, weekly
***
CONNECT
💼Connect on LinkedIn
***
SAY THANKS
💜Leave a review on Apple Podcasts
💚Leave a review on Spotify
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29:59
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29:59
Are You Pretending Change Has No Cost? Paulo Pisano
Here are three big questions that arise from this Change Signal conversation with Paulo Pisano:
Is complexity masking your real priorities?;
What sacrifices are you pretending aren’t happening?; and
How are you building protagonist mindsets?
Paulo Pisano, CHRO at Booking.com, has spent his career leading transformation in large, global organizations where change is never simple. He brings a grounded perspective on how to simplify without dumbing down, and why leaders need the discipline to stop saying “yes” to everything.
The conversation explores why honest change leadership means naming losses and trade-offs instead of painting everything as a win. Paulo shows how acknowledging sacrifice reduces victim mindsets and keeps people engaged in the process.
You’ll also hear about the mindset shifts he’s championing — helping people move from victim to protagonist, from knower to learner, and from silos to true one-team collaboration. These are practical, human tools for embedding change in ways that actually last.
If you’re navigating transformation or change leadership in a big organization, this conversation offers fresh, pragmatic insights into what really makes change stick.
Change Signal. Cut through the blather, the BS, and the noise to find the good stuff that works in change. This is the podcast for transformational leaders seeking modern change mastery.
***
WHEN YOU’RE READY
🎧 A new episode every week (and sometimes two!)
The Change Signal newsletter. Short, practical, weekly
***
CONNECT
💼Connect on LinkedIn
***
SAY THANKS
💜Leave a review on Apple Podcasts
💚Leave a review on Spotify
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35:45
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35:45
A Fresh Take on Courage for Change: Dave Ulrich
Here are three provocative questions that emerge from this Change Signal conversation with Dave Ulrich:
Why do so many leaders know what to do in change but fail to actually do it?
If change is always messy and iterative, how can leaders set expectations without killing momentum?
What does it really take to lead through paradox instead of choosing sides?
Most change leaders treat transformation like a neat plan: set the strategy, communicate the vision, and drive execution. Dave Ulrich, one of the most influential HR and leadership thinkers of the past 30 years, argues that this mindset misses the real challenge.
In this conversation, he explains why the knowing–doing gap is the biggest barrier to transformation, how to embrace experimentation and failure as part of the process, and why courage in leadership often means knowing when not to act.
The most provocative idea? Great leaders don’t eliminate tension — they learn to navigate the paradoxes between instinct and data, boldness and patience, top-down direction and bottom-up energy.
If you’re leading change management or organizational transformation, this conversation offers a practical, human, and honest look at what leadership really requires.
Change Signal. Cut through the blather, the BS, and the noise to find the good stuff that works in change. If you’re a transformational leader seeking modern change mastery, you’re in the right place.
***
WHEN YOU’RE READY
🎧 A new episode every week (and sometimes two!)
The Change Signal newsletter. Short, practical, weekly
***
CONNECT
💼Connect on LinkedIn
***
SAY THANKS
💜Leave a review on Apple Podcasts
💚Leave a review on Spotify
If you’re leading change in organizations, this will be your favourite podcast.
Change is harder than ever. Transformation is more complex, unpredictable and overwhelming than it’s ever been. Change Signal cuts through the noise to find the good stuff that works.
Michael Bungay Stanier, author of The Coaching Habit and organizational transformation student for thirty years, talks to the best thinkers, senior leaders, and experienced practitioners in the world of change, to find what works, what doesn’t, and what to try instead. With Change Signal as your guide, you’ll be more efficient and less overwhelmed, and your change projects will more likely succeed.
Change Signal: Where we cut through the blather, the BS, and the noise to find the good stuff that works.
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