Sophie Maddison

In this episode of The Brand Called You, Joris Merks-Benjaminsen, former Google leader and author, discusses the concept of managing without positional power and its impact on organizational effectiveness. He explains how true leadership requires balancing human care with accountability, and why excessive internal competition can hinder digital transformation. Joris shares insights from his experience at Google and working with global brands, revealing how unconscious leadership and misaligned KPIs often lead to organizational silos. About Joris Merks-Benjaminsen- - Joris Merks-Benjaminsen is a trainer for managers and leaders. - He is the author of 'Managing Without Power'. - He was the Head of Google Digital Academy and became one of Google's highest-scoring managers of all time. WATCH:https://lnkd.in/e8HxuDb6 . . . #LeadershipDevelopment #ManagingWithoutPower #OrganizationalCulture #WorkplaceCulture #CorporateLeadership #EmployeeEngagement #TeamManagement

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Sometimes people make you blush, like with this review from Susan Feenstra-van Niftrik from Bird ☺️ Our People masterminds BEYOND program is built for People & Culture leaders in scale-ups, by people who’ve been in your shoes. 🌟 What makes it different? - Real, no-fluff insights from experts who know the scale-up grind. - Practical tools and templates you can actually use the next day. - A tight-knit group of peers who just get it. Ready to go BEYOND the day-to-day practice? 🚀 👉 You can now subscribe, a new cohort starts in February ‘25. #peopleandculture #leadership #hrstrategy #BEYOND #review

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By focusing on the elements within the FidesOak® HPT® Model, organisations can cultivate environments where teams thrive, innovate, and deliver exceptional results. Let's harness this knowledge to build stronger, more effective teams! #HighPerformance #OrganisationalCulture #TeamCohesion #EvidenceBasedManagement #LeadershipDevelopment #PerformanceImprovement #OrganisationalDevelopment #EmployeeEngagement

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I’m speaking LIVE at the Happiness at Work Experience in Ghent this February! Three years ago, I’d have never believed I’d be sharing the stage. Talking about how to lead through rapid change. Back then? I was going through massive transformations myself. Now, I help leaders thrive in fast-changing environments. Here’s why this is important: 1. The pace of change isn’t slowing down 2. Leaders who adapt are the ones who drive impact I’ll be sharing strategies I’ve used over 12+ years of leading transformative projects. Plus insights from my own journey on resilience through change. Because thriving in a fast-paced world isn’t magic. It’s a skill any leader can learn. Honored to be doing this with Happiness at Work Experience and Impact Speakers. Want to be there? DM me “IMPACT” to secure an early bird ticket 🎟️ (€64 excl. VAT). ↳ I have only 10 tickets reserved for my network. More details here → https://lnkd.in/eSwVU8g4 PS. Seats are limited, so don’t wait to reach out!

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🌍📈 The Netherlands: A Masterclass in Upskilling! In a world where change is the only constant, the Netherlands is setting a stellar example of how to effectively upskill a workforce to meet the evolving demands of the market. Initiatives like the STAP scheme and the National Growth Fund are reshaping the landscape of professional development. Why is this important? Because staying relevant in your career means continuously learning and adapting! 🚀 #Upskilling #ProfessionalDevelopment #Netherlands #EducationPolicy #HumanResources #ContinuousLearning Insightful 💡👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

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 ⚖ Equal Pay: A Key to Inclusive Organizations and Thriving Societies Today is Equal Pay Day in the Netherlands. With still two thirds of the women being paid less than their male peers according to recent research by Wissenraet Van Spaendonck. In the journey toward building an inclusive organization, equal pay stands as one of the most powerful levers. When we ensure fair compensation, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or background, we’re not only fostering a culture of respect and belonging but also paving the way for sustainable growth and innovation.   📊 Why is Equal Pay Essential for Inclusion? When employees see that they are valued equally, they feel empowered to bring their full selves to work. This inclusivity fuels collaboration, commitment, and creativity, strengthening the organization from within. An inclusive culture is a more resilient one, equipped to navigate change and foster innovation. 📚 Insights from Why Nations Fail In Why Nations Fail, Acemoglu and Robinson underscore that nations thrive when institutions are inclusive and support equal opportunity. This same principle applies to organizations: just as nations stagnate without inclusivity, so do companies. Equal pay is a foundational step in creating workplaces where everyone can contribute meaningfully, fostering the well-being of not just individuals, but society at large. By promoting equal pay, organizations are not only driving their own success but are also contributing to a fairer, more prosperous society. Happy at Kyden we can contribute to this journey for organisations to get on a fast track to better. Reach out to Jornt or myself for any numbers questions on Equal Pay. And for questions on inclusivity feel free to get in touch with Jara, Fien, Ellen or Ewold.  #EqualPay #Inclusion #WhyNationsFail #InclusiveWorkplace #SustainableGrowth

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Hiring a Chief Transformation Officer not only benefits underperforming companies, but also those already overperforming their industry. Read more from BCG to see why 'transformation' is not always a synonym for a 'turnaround', but benefits companies in many situations and scenarios. https://buff.ly/3QXGWTj #change #transformation #business #competition #bcg

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This utterly thought-provoking and status quo-disrupting TEDx talk by Professor Thijs Homan provides a completely different view on Organizational Change Management, opening boldly with the statement “The more you try to manage change, the more it comes to a halt”. With more than 80% of Change Initiatives failing, there is a good reason to lift the hood and do some “critical science” unearthing the reasons why Monocentric Change (change originating from one center, usually the “top” of the hierarchy) doesn’t work. W/o giving it all away, Professor Homan believes the traditional approach to OCM is inadequate because it assumes that a Manager/Leader is all-knowing and if he or she undertakes all the right change interventions, all others will follow. Instead what research shows is that change happens “off-stage” (in many little groups, amongst like-minded colleagues who drink coffe and eat lunch together, trying to make sense of the world around them😉) as opposed to “on-stage” (behavior people show at a Townhall, in front of managers, HR and change consultants). “Off-Stage” dynamics are numerous and heterogeneous and tend to form an array of volatile “clouds of meaning” that Management cannot possibly wrap their heads around and certainly not with the traditional OCM tools and techniques. #keepitreal #challengestatusquo #OCM

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🌟 Leaders navigating ambiguity with courage and confidence? 🌟 For those of you who are leading organizational transformations such as a shift to new products and services, or adapting to evolving markets, you might be interested in joining this online conversation with Monique Timmermans that I'll be hosting together with Richard Lucas. In her role as VP Org Development & Learning at Shell, Monique set up an internal global practice of transformation/change experts focused on designing and implementing solutions for the most complex business challenges required to progress the energy transition. We’ll be talking about: 💡How to adapt your leadership approach for different business models within a single organization 💡What it takes to support both existing and future-facing business needs 💡Practical ways to design organizations that thrive in ambiguity This event is for leaders who are driving organizational transformation and managing complex change, including: 🫵 Business leaders involved in strategic transformations 🫵 Heads of Strategy, Transformation or Change Management 🫵 Senior HR Executives and HR Business Partners 🫵 Functional leaders supporting strategic transformations, e.g., Finance, IT, Corporate Development 🫵 Chief Sustainability Officers looking to align their organizations with the energy transition A Leaders Perspective with Monique Timmermans is on December 4. Contact me for an invitation or click the link in the comments to register.

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🛑 DO NOT READ IMPACTFUL ORGANIZATIONS BY ALLAN RENNEBO JEPSEN ⚡ "Impactful Organizations—And How to Become One!" by Allan Rennebo Jepsen is an illustrative journey about what makes sense in organizational development and transition. I hate this book because I wish I had written it! ⌨ Let's start with the background story of a fictional tech company. Unlike many other books, the story is not just an arbitrary wrapper to introduce yet another concept. Instead, the story leads towards the reasoning behind the theories and supports understanding through realistic examples. 💡 The theories and approaches backing the book are sound and maybe well-known among agilists, but sometimes, they are uncharted territory for too many executives. The sequence and build-up of the theories is a genius move. For instance, Scrum and Kanban do not appear before the final chapters. They are valuable concepts. Still, they are far from the crucial questions an organization should ask themselves at the beginning of their change endeavor. 🇩🇪 I would love to translate it into German. And that would be a painful project by itself—maybe not as painful as writing the book—but I would need much time. If enough people indicate their desire to spread the ideas in the German language areas, I might give it a shot. However, the English writing style is refined but easy to read, which is another plus. 😡 So why not read it? You might want to start over with your transition, and you probably got it wrong in the first place. Learn more on Allan's website:

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What do you do if your client uses one specific change model and your consulting company (employer) uses another? How do you reconcile. Third in the series of great questions asked at our Intro to Agile Change Webinar series! So the context is, in the webinar we teach people how to adapt Prosci / ADKAR with agile change capabilities and practices so it is a little more fit for purpose with Agile deployment or agile transformations. And one of our participants asked how do you address the situation where the client site has a specific change methodology to be followed and your employer (consulting firm) also has a specific change methodology to follow. It was a tricky question and I'm not totally sure I had the right answer but here's what I said: 1️⃣ First principles: What serves the change recipients and the change sponsor best? 2️⃣ Back yourself: You have the expertise and can evaluate the relative merits of the two methodologies. There maybe a hybrid that works best? 3️⃣ Engage & Communicate to manage expectations: Bring your client contact (sponsor / product manager / program director) together with your consulting firm account manager / client lead / partner and explain the situation and what your recommendation is. Curious - would you do differently?

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It’s a great honor to represent the Philips Neurodiversity Network as a panel speaker at the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva this week, where the Global Business & Disability Network is kicking off its annual conference. It’s also a deeply meaningful moment for me personally. When I started my neurodiversity advocacy, I never imagined I would have the opportunity to speak at such forums about a topic that I had never spoken about publicly – because it was too painful, too drenched in shame. Around the time I was diagnosed with autism in my early twenties, there was a song I listened to on repeat. It was a cover of Joseph Arthur’s ‘In the Sun’ by Michael Stipe and Chris Martin. One line in that song captured my inner struggle at the time: “Trying to find anything you can feel / That you can believe in." At the time, I couldn’t feel anything. Or at least, I didn’t know how to express what I felt; a challenge that many autistic people face. I was experiencing the opposite of expression: depression. And I didn’t have anything to believe in. Now, almost 20 years later, I still have to make a conscious effort to speak, because my natural inclination is to remain silent and fade into the background. But I do know what I believe in. And I also know that I will not remain silent when I can play my tiny part in ensuring that unspoken truths are heard. Since I started my neurodiversity advocacy, I’ve listened to the stories of hundreds of neurodivergent people. In many of these stories, I heard echoes of my own struggles. Often, I was inspired by the resilience demonstrated by others. But it has also become increasingly clear to me how deeply ingrained certain biases are, both in organizations and in society at large – biases that often prevent neurodivergent people from getting a fair chance and reaching their full potential in life. These biases can take many forms – whether it’s hiring practices that overlook the skills of autistic candidates because they struggle to make eye contact, or leadership styles that favor one way of being and working rather than creating space for different minds with different ways of working. I’ve been lucky to have received the right support from others. Unfortunately, many neurodivergent people are not as lucky. They remain sidelined, their voices unheard. Some may feel the added pressure to live up to unrealistic ‘superpower’ standards to justify their differences – when at the end of the day, all we really want is to be seen, valued, and supported for who we are. Social justice is at the heart of the mission of the ILO, the UN’s agency dedicated to the world of work, and I believe it also encapsulates what the movement toward neuro-inclusion at work is all about. Everyone is worthy of meaningful opportunities in life. That‘s what I believe in, and what I feel to the core of my being. #Neurodiversity #GBDN2024 Photo: The Alley of the Flags at the United Nations in Geneva.

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The Strategy Pyramid

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𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 - 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲! I interviewed Behavioral Economic Strategist Erik Vermeulen for my upcoming book (Wiley 2026) about realizing potential. Erik is an adventurer who insightfully links adventure risk to the psychological contract between employers and employees. People go to work for their own reasons, not the company's. Employees want to learn, grow, have fun, and set autonomous goals, and Erik introduces the idea of risk and how to embrace that. Check out this powerful video clip from my upcoming #podcast. #selfleadership #potential #hr #engagement

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#pricing technology cannot be deployed without change management (the engine) and strong #change leadership (the fuel). I encourage all #pricingprofessionals to get certified in change management. Prosci is what I chose. But I created the CAP® (Change Agent in Pricing) certification in 2015 as the only change certification applied to pricing. Find out more here: https://lnkd.in/gq6uHSY2

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Is change in the air in your organization? Nearly every organization is undertaking significant change right now. It could be process, technology, strategy, or people-based. Or perhaps a combination of these. During these periods of significant change, it is crucial to activate a collective community committed to managing transitions smoothly and achieving success together. This unified approach ensures that all members are aligned in their goals and supportive of one another. We facilitate a cohesive and resilient response to change, regardless of your context and the changes taking place. By fostering a spirit of collaboration and collective commitment, people in your team will navigate challenges effectively and emerge stronger. Plus, they’ll deliver more, and more quickly. It’s just the tip of the iceberg on how we support you. Don’t wait to fail; reach out to us to learn more: https://lnkd.in/g_GvFUKV #teamsuccess #teamculture #teamcohesion™ #redefinewinning #businessresults #change #teamdynamics #transition

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There is a saying that the path is the one which enriches us, not the destination. 🛣 I believe this fantastic group confirmed this saying. Great discussions, great brainstorming, great results. 🏝 But I am sure that the destination also provided some satisfaction for the group of new Prosci Change Management Practitioners! Big Congrats to Reka Szabadszállási, Dora Toth-Tobias, Andrea Berze, Mario Manuel, Tim Fux, and Tan Yishun Edison! 🙌 Welcome to the Prosci world of change! I wish you many successful changes! 🌟 #ChangeManagement #Prosci #Leadership #PDiVision #ADKAR #Change2value #ChangePractitioners

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