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.

What difference can one encouraging conversation make?

In this uplifting and deeply personal episode of the We Are Powerful Podcast, James Russell and Alex Sellers welcome Tracie Nemeth to share her remarkable story of overcoming a challenging childhood marked by poverty, uncertainty and trauma.

Tracie reflects on the powerful influence of a teacher who saw potential in her when she couldn't yet see it in herself. A few simple words of encouragement became a pivotal turning point, helping her develop the self-belief to make different choices and shape a brighter future.

The conversation explores social mobility, the role of community, the importance of positive role models and why small acts of kindness can have life-changing consequences.

Tracie also shares her passion for supporting young people through her work with Break Charity, a Norfolk-based organisation supporting children and young people in and leaving care.

This episode is a powerful reminder that while we may not always realise it, we all have the ability to influence someone's future through the time, belief and encouragement we offer.

In this episode:

• Tracie's experience growing up in difficult circumstances
• The teacher who changed the course of her life
• Why self-belief is often built through the belief of others
• The realities of social mobility and opportunity
• How volunteers, mentors and community organisations can make a lasting difference
• Why visibility and access to opportunities matter for young people
• The value of giving back and becoming a "net giver"
• How small acts of kindness can create powerful ripple effects

Key Quotes

"When you have that self-worth and that self-belief bolstered, that's the foundation for everything."

"You can be useful to someone in a moment, and it will always be worth it."

"If you see the good thing in someone, tell them."

"Life can be a lottery. That's why it takes more people rallying around young people and opportunities."

"When you give back, you cannot fail to have an impact in your local community."

Resources Mentioned

Break Charity Supporting children and young people in care and leaving care across East Anglia. https://break-charity.org

We Are Powerful https://wearepowerful.org

About Tracie Nemeth

Tracie Nemeth has worked in financial services for over 20 years, is an award-winner marketer and proud Mum to two young daughters. Having come from a background impacted by poverty, violence and trauma, she passionately advocates for the role we can all play in supporting social mobility - both for school students and those who are seeking opportunities and pathways in the workplace. Since January 2026, she has expanded into keynote speaking, drawing on both her lived experience and professional career to speak on social mobility, resilience and the transformative power of opportunity.

Connect with Tracie - Search for Tracie Nemeth on LinkedIn.

Why do so many change initiatives fail, even when organisations invest heavily in new systems, training programmes and transformation plans?

In this episode of We Are Powerful, James and Alex are joined by systemic coach Karen Lord to explore a different way of thinking about change. Drawing on more than two decades of experience across sectors, Karen argues that organisations often focus on the visible aspects of change while overlooking the human dynamics that ultimately determine success.

The conversation explores why resistance is rarely about the change itself, how organisations become trapped in optimisation mindsets, and why genuine transformation requires curiosity, experimentation and what Karen calls, "connected autonomy".

Karen shares practical examples from healthcare, charities and large organisations to illustrate how teams can unlock innovation, improve engagement and create lasting change when people are trusted to think, learn and solve problems together.

In this episode we discuss:

• What systemic coaching is and how it differs from traditional executive coaching.
• Why organisations often solve the wrong problem and focus on symptoms rather than causes.
• The difference between the "visible" and "invisible" economies of an organisation.
• How optimisation can unintentionally drive decline when circumstances change.
• Why curiosity is one of the most important leadership capabilities during periods of uncertainty.
• The power of peer-to-peer influence over hierarchical change programmes.
• Why Karen avoids labels such as "change agent" and believes change agency belongs to everyone.
• How boards and leaders can benefit from the "wisdom of crowds".
• Real examples of teams transforming performance through mindset shifts rather than new procedures.
• How systems naturally rebalance and regenerate when people are given the freedom and agency to contribute.

Key Takeaways

✅ Notice what your results are telling you.

✅ When current approaches stop delivering results, more optimisation is rarely the answer.

✅ Curiosity often creates more progress than expertise.

✅ Sustainable change happens through relationships and conversations, not instructions.

✅ Every person in an organisation has the capacity for change agency.

✅ Culture shifts when people understand both the visible and invisible dynamics of the systems they work within.

Memorable Quote

"Connected autonomy. It's peer to peer that does it. It's not the consultant at the front of the room or a directive from the board. It doesn't work that way. It works systemically and humanly." - Karen Lord

Find Out More

You can connect with Karen Lord | LinkedIn, where she regularly shares practical tools and insights on systemic leadership, mindset and organisational transformation.

In this episode we speak to Hannah Oyewole, Author, TEDx speaker and CEO and founder of Young Ladies Club, a social enterprise that has supported over 10,000 young women to raise their aspirations and fulfil their potential.

Hannah shares her journey growing up in Hackney and how she chose a different path, turning adversity into purpose and impact. We explore the role of belief, habits, and personal responsibility play in creating change, alongside practical ways to overcome limiting thinking.

This is a grounded conversation about purpose, forgiveness, and taking action - even when you start with very little.

Key Topics

• Rewriting limiting beliefs
• Finding purpose in a busy world
• The power of daily habits
• Why forgiveness unlocks progress
• Creating opportunity through action

Key Insights

• You can’t control everything — but you can control how you respond. Hannah focuses on attitude, beliefs, habits, and daily actions as the foundation for change.
• Beliefs can be rewritten. Actively identifying negative thoughts and consciously replacing them with more constructive ones is a practical way to shift direction.
• Purpose is discovered through reflection, not busyness. Creating space to step back, think, and ask honest questions is essential for clarity.
• Forgiveness unlocks movement. Letting go of past experiences or self-judgement creates the conditions for change.

Key Takeaway

Change starts with what you can control: your mindset, your habits, and the actions you take next.

Links:

Home - The Young Ladies Club

I Dare You: Roll the Dice of Life: Oyewole, Hannah: 9780957557901: Amazon.com: Books

TEDx https://youtu.be/Fi0Vkoa8fc4?si=6otVtyY4BDnAUuQU

You Win or You Learn: Culture, Space and the Reality of Work.

In this episode James and Alex speak to Steve Henigan, Founder & MD of HCG, about the reality behind workplace culture and transformation.

This conversation goes beyond office design, exploring how leadership behaviour, clarity, and culture shape whether workplaces actually work.

Steve shares his journey from corporate roles to building his own consultancy, along with powerful lessons from swimming the English Channel and applying performance thinking to business.

Key Topics

• Why great offices don’t always create great cultures
• “You win or you learn” – reframing failure
• Lessons from swimming the English Channel
• The importance of leadership visibility in change
• Hybrid working: balancing people, clients, and business reality
• Why behaviour matters more than perks or policies

Key Takeaways

You can design the perfect space on paper. But if people don’t feel safe to be themselves within it, it remains just that - space.

• Culture is created through behaviour, not design
• Leadership visibility is the single biggest driver of change
• Big challenges become possible when broken into small steps
• There is no perfect model, only clarity about what matters
• People don’t need more perks, they need permission

Links

• Steve Henigan: LinkedIn
• HCG: HOME | HCG
• We.Are.Powerful: wearepowerful.org

Guest: Chris Herbert, Founder of Fit for Life Youth

In this episode, James Russell and Alex Sellers are joined by Chris Herbert, founder of Fit for Life Youth, an award‑winning community organisation working with children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in Ladbroke Grove, London.

Chris shares his personal journey from growing up on a local estate to creating a charity that supports confidence, resilience, life skills and healthier lifestyles through sport, mentoring and community connection.

In this conversation, we explore:

• How early experiences with youth workers shaped Chris’ sense of purpose and legacy
• Why sport – and boxing in particular – can be a powerful vehicle for confidence, discipline and emotional regulation
• The modern pressures young people face today, including social media, online comparison, and public “slip‑ups” that never disappear
• Challenging the “snowflake” narrative by naming the very real pressures facing today’s youth
• How Fit for Life Youth creates belonging, structure and positive role models at a local, human level
• Stories of young people who have grown from participants into coaches, leaders and role models themselves
• The realities of running a grassroots charity: funding pressures, uncertainty, and navigating the Voluntary sector
• Turning setbacks into opportunities, including building a permanent gym space after losing community facilities
• Why community still matters – for young people and for adults – and how real connection shapes wellbeing
• Advice Chris would give his younger self about self‑belief, starting sooner, and keeping calm through uncertainty

Key themes:

• Belonging before performance
• Community as a foundation for resilience
• Sport as a metaphor for life and leadership under pressure
• Faith, persistence and “keeping calm and carrying on”
• The quiet impact of consistency and care

Quote from the episode:

“The feeling you get from seeing people develop and grow and become happy — that’s why we do this. It’s a feeling you can’t really put into words.”

Find out more:

• Fit for Life Youth: Website FFLY HQ
• Chris Herbert on LinkedIn: Christopher Herbert
• Follow Fit For Life Youth CIO (@fitforlifeyouth) • Instagram photos and videos for updates, stories and community work

If this episode resonated with you, consider how community shows up in your own life and where you might choose to contribute, reconnect, or support others.

www.wearepowerful.org

What if leadership wasn’t about getting more out of people but about designing the conditions where people naturally thrive?

In this episode, James Russell, Alex Sellers, and James Sale explore what truly motivates human behaviour and why understanding motivation is one of the most powerful levers for personal change and organisational effectiveness.

James Sale shares the story behind Motivational Maps, reflecting on his own mid‑life career transition and how decades of reading, curiosity, and experimentation shaped a tool now used by hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. Along the way, the conversation ranges beautifully, from leadership and organisational culture to listening, identity, and what it really means to “become” rather than arrive.

Key themes explored in the episode include:

• Why motivation is not fixed Motivation shifts as our lives, contexts, and circumstances change. Understanding this can unlock energy, clarity, and compassion for ourselves and others.
• From control to design in leadership A powerful reframe: great leaders stop asking “How do I get more out of people?” and start asking “How do I design roles, rewards, and conversations so people’s natural drivers are engaged?”
• Mid‑life transitions and reinvention James reflects on leaving a secure career in education in his forties and why trying things out, rather than over‑planning, is often the only way to discover what truly motivates us.
• The danger of misaligned organisations When mission statements, leadership motivators, and employee drivers don’t align, organisations unintentionally create friction, disengagement, and resistance to change.
• Listening as a leadership discipline Listening isn’t just a communication skill. It may be the closest thing we have to love in organisational life, and a foundation for trust, influence, and change.
• Becoming, not predicting Why trying to define your future self too precisely can limit growth and why life, like an acorn becoming an oak, unfolds in ways we can’t fully foresee.

The episode closes with reflections on perseverance over strength, small steps over big gestures, and the importance of staying curious, present, and human especially in complex leadership roles and times of change.

Motivational Maps

In this episode of We.Are.Powerful, we’re joined by Louise Birritteri, founder and CEO of Pikl, for an open and deeply grounded conversation about what it really takes to build and scale a business.

Louise shares her journey from a career in large insurance organisations to founding an Insurtech from a dining‑room table and growing it into a company of more than 60 people across Norwich, London and New York. Along the way, Louise speaks candidly about fear, uncertainty, resilience and the often‑unspoken loneliness of leadership.

We explore the emotional reality of being a founder, learning to live with ambiguity and why resilience becomes something you build through experience rather than something you’re born with. Louise also reflects on the importance of understanding what you can and can’t control, and how letting anxiety drive decisions can be paralysing.

This conversation goes beyond growth stories and success narratives. It’s about vulnerability, relationships, culture, and knowing when to persist and when to pivot as your organisation evolves.

Key themes include:

• The transition from corporate life to founding a business
• Building resilience through uncertainty and repeated challenge
• Separating fear from decision‑making
• The changing role of leadership as organisations scale
• Culture, trust and vulnerability at executive level
• Why “dream big” still matters, especially when things feel hard

Whether you’re a founder, a leader, or navigating change in your own work or life, this episode offers reassurance, perspective and practical wisdom from someone who has lived it.

www.pikl.com

www.wearepowerful.org