Why Even Managing Directors Often Don’t Know About Change

Take Kerry, for example—a newly appointed Managing Director with a strong background in sales. She’s smart, driven, and successful. But her journey to the top likely didn’t involve leading large-scale transformation initiatives. And that’s not unusual.

How They Got There: A Different Skillset

Most MDs rise through the ranks by excelling in a specific domain—sales, operations, finance, or product most commonly. Their promotions are often based on:

• Delivering consistent results in their area of expertise

• Managing teams of people

• Hitting targets

• Demonstrating commercial acumen and sensitivity to the wider contexts of customer, market, and business structure

• Showcasing their leadership potential and ability to rally and influence others around and behind them

• A willingness to be responsible and make decisions

These are all critical skills—but they don’t necessarily include designing and executing organizational change.

Transformation work is a different beast. It requires:

• Systems thinking – seeing how processes, people, and technology interconnect

• Change management – understanding resistance, communication, and adoption

• Planning - mapping current state to future state with clear milestones for both delivery and benefits realisation

• Project, Programme & Portfolio management – Managing delivery, dependencies, risks, and resources across multiple initiatives

• Structured ideation and analysis frameworks - to evaluate possible paths forward and throw away any that aren’t needed

• Cross-functional collaboration – aligning departments with competing priorities

• Cultural awareness – shifting mindsets, not just structures

These aren’t typically part of a sales leader’s toolkit. So when someone like Kerry steps into an MD role, she may be expected to lead change—but without the background or frameworks to do it confidently.

The Hidden Gap

This creates a hidden gap: high accountability, but low preparedness for transformation. And because MDs are expected to “just know,” they may not feel comfortable admitting what they don’t know.

That’s where I step in and help.

Where I Add Value

I bring the structure, insight, and experience to help leaders like Kerry:

• Understand what transformation really involves

• Build a roadmap that’s realistic and aligned with business goals

• Avoid common pitfalls that derail change efforts

• Translate vision into action across teams and functions

I’m not just a consultant—I’m a partner in making change happen.