Organisations invest heavily in change. But how much do we actually teach people about managing change for themselves?

In this final episode of Season One of We Are Powerful, James Russell and Alex Sellers are joined by Dr Grant Van Ulbrich, founder of The PCM Company and creator of the Scared So What Personal Change Management methodology.

Grant's argument challenges a familiar assumption in organisational life: that people naturally resist change. He suggests that what leaders often label as resistance may instead be unprocessed change. People are trying to make sense of what is happening, what it means for them and how they feel about it.

The conversation explores why organisational change management and personal change management are different, and why we may need both. Grant explains the thinking behind Scared So What, a framework designed to help people recognise fear, question assumptions, consider their choices and develop their own response to change rather than simply having change done to them.

We also get into some wider questions about leadership.

What changes when leaders move from telling people what to do towards asking better questions? What happens when we give people greater voice, agency and choice? And, as AI and other technologies accelerate the pace of transformation, are organisations developing human capability at anything like the same speed?

In this episode

• Why Grant believes there is a gap between organisational change management and wellbeing
• Why apparent resistance may sometimes be unprocessed change
• The thinking behind Scared So What
• Why feelings, uncertainty and fear belong in conversations about organisational change
• The importance of choice and agency when people are navigating change
• Why technology adoption is as much a human challenge as a technical one
• The difference between transactional and transformational leadership
• Why vulnerability can matter when leading through uncertainty
• How asking rather than simply telling can transfer greater ownership to people
• Grant's ambition to make Personal Change Management a capability people can learn and use throughout their lives

One of Grant's simplest messages for leaders is also one of the most practical: ask more questions. Leadership during change is not simply about communicating the answer. It is about creating the conditions in which people can think, participate and take greater ownership of what happens next.

The episode also brings Season One of We Are Powerful to a close, with James Russell and Alex Sellers looking ahead to where the conversation might go in Season Two.

Dr Grant Van Ulbrich shares the Scared So What app in the episode as a free resource for people wanting to explore personal change, alongside The PCM Company. Personal Change Management. Where Transformation Begins and his LinkedIn presence. Take a look here at the Scared So What Our FREE APP

For more from We Are Powerful, visit WeArePowerful.org, and get in touch if there is an issue, idea or perspective you would like us to explore in Season Two.