In today’s professional services landscape, driving organisational change requires both strategic finesse and emotional intelligence.
In October 2024, Seldon Rosser ran a series of panel discussions on the topic of “Mastering Influence and Embracing Change” as part of ICON APAC’s annual conference. We were joined in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney by different panellists, a real mix of leaders in the professional services industry including C-level and Director BD, Client, Marketing, Innovation professionals as well as COO, CFO, Board Directors and Transformation leaders. With thanks to our panellists: Renee Bidwell, Amber Burgess, Jacqueline Butler, Suneiah Cullen, Richard Kohinga, David Lizzio, Jason Milton, Natalie Truong and Emma Zadow.
We’ve summarised some of the key insights and experiences shared, together giving you practical tips on embracing change as well as positioning and implementing change initiatives effectively.
Driving change within your organisation
As a Marketing and BD leader, driving change within your organisation requires a resilient, considered, proactive mindset. Managing the opportunity of change is a delicate balance. Knowing when to push and when to pull back is critical when driving transformation and new initiatives within your own organisation. The various phases of a transformation journey require their own strategy and Marketing and BD leaders and professionals can use these points to prepare most effectively.
Securing board and leadership buy-in
When presenting new initiatives, headcount requests or investment propositions to the board:
- Know your business’s risk appetite, not just its strategy
- Secure pre-meeting support through individual stakeholder conversations
- Present compelling ROI data and commercial metrics
- Be prepared to identify areas for potential divestment
- Frame initiatives through the lens of client impact first, then revenue.
Building your business case
Your strong business cases for marketing and BD initiatives should:
- Quantify current team time allocation (e.g., “My team spends X hours on Y…”)
- Demonstrate clear ROI through data and metrics
- Present commercial implications and predicted objectives
- Include pilot program results where possible
- Show understanding of market timing and stakeholder readiness.
Managing resistance
Some resistance will always present itself. Some examples and ways to address this reluctance or avoidance of change might be:
- Fear of change – address through empathy and personal impact storytelling, remember the reasons for fear, being surprised, lack of understanding the problem, not a personal problem
- ‘We’ve tried this before’ syndrome – demonstrate new context and approach
- Lack of consultation – ensure stakeholder engagement before formal presentations
- Poor timing – recognise when to pause without seeing it as failure
- Communication gaps – maintain transparent, consistent messaging
- Use data and insights from clients – pilot small and then demonstrate success.
Implementation strategies
Consider the key success factors for change initiatives:
- Be sure to identify and secure internal champions early
- Create FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) through successful pilot programs
- Lead with client impact and voice
- Start small and demonstrate success before scaling
Build cohesion through pre-emptive stakeholder engagement.
Effectively managing change within your own career
Managing change initiatives is a great way to demonstrate the value you bring for current and future opportunities. Change can be fast-paced or unexpected. Thriving in change which impacts your team or role is a valuable piece of experience employers look for that builds resilience. Consider the ways you demonstrate your own effective leadership through change, no matter your seniority, as well as the ways you should communicate the value you bring in these journeys.
Personal leadership and reacting to change
For marketing and BD professionals navigating change:
- Take ownership of your career trajectory, it’s no one’s job but your own
- We can’t control what happens to us, but we can control how we respond
- Proactively present solutions, not just problems
- Maintain professional wellness through exercise, mentorship, and peer support
- Choose curiosity over resistance when facing unexpected changes
- Show up professionally – avoid gossip, avoid getting into a negative cycle or group
- If you aren’t bought-in, don’t push back on the change but instead, get curious. Ask questions in the appropriate forum (perhaps offline, with a manager first). And if you you can’t get there, maybe you’re in the wrong place.
Finding career opportunities within change:
- We heard stories from our panellists of them pro-actively seeing the opportunity for a newly created role, driven by client or market demand, making successful business cases internally for the role before securing this position for themselves. Be proactive. Keep it commercial. Find a champion and an advocate wherever you can.
- Others shared stories of embracing new roles and responsibilities they unexpectedly needed to take on. In hindsight these had been transformative moments in their careers where the skills learned had led to new opportunities they hadn’t imagined.
- Learning is your responsibility. Don’t wait to be asked, take ideas to your manager.
- Seek feedback from leaders, one tip being to ask ‘and it would be even better if …?’
- If you’re not getting growth, inspiration or value from your leader, you might not be in the right place
- Don’t fear including all kinds of change management experiences in your CV and at interview, including projects that were not prioritised or didn’t get to completion.
Key takeaways for success
In summary, remember these key takeaways when driving and navigating change.
- Change implementation requires highly developed soft skills including influence, relational and EQ, knowing when to push and pull-back
- Your career development is your responsibility – take initiative
- Use data and commercial metrics to support your proposals
- Build stakeholder support before formal presentations
- Focus on client impact first, then revenue implications
- Maintain personal resilience through proactive self-care and mentorship.
Remember: timing and stakeholder readiness are as crucial as the change initiative itself. Sometimes knowing when to pause or pivot is as valuable as knowing when to push forward.
If you are reading this thinking about positioning for change in your career, we encourage you to follow our content on LinkedIn, review our live jobs and/or reach out to our Consultants.