Change Signal Is Your Exec Team BORED of change? Probably. Kate Lye
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Oct 17, 2025 In this engaging conversation, Kate Lye, a performance partner to CEOs and an experienced change leader, explores the critical role of executives in driving organizational transformation. Kate highlights the pitfalls of leaders defaulting to functional expertise while neglecting systems thinking. She argues for the necessity of personal change for effective leadership and warns against executive boredom signaling the decline of change initiatives. With insights on holding CEOs accountable, she emphasizes the need for proactive leadership to ensure sustainable transformation.
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Leaders Must Transform First
- CEOs must answer 'what's the challenge for me?' to lead change rather than just be figureheads.
- Transforming the organization requires leaders to transform how they think and lead first.
Coaching Moment At Microsoft
- Michael recounts coaching Microsoft's head of sales who realised he personally needed to change to lead cultural transformation.
- That moment became pivotal for the salesforce's shift and is still remembered as transformational.
Expertise Can Mask Work Avoidance
- Executives often slip into an 'expert' role that avoids messy, system-level work.
- Strategy work becomes sophisticated avoidance when leaders treat it as a one-off task, not sustained change.
