Embedding change that sticks: Evolving roles in leading transformation webinar

For change to succeed, project sponsorship must be more than a name on a governance slide and individuals must feel like more than passengers on the journey.

Change is accelerating, and yet, many organisations still struggle with how to embed it effectively. This webinar presented on Monday 22 September opened a conversation about the evolution needed across both individual and organisational roles in leading change. We explored the critical role of executive sponsorship in driving outcomes, alongside how individuals at all levels can become more active participants in their own change journeys.

Drawing on lived experience in organisational change and project delivery, this discussion highlighted why change efforts falter, how to build change accountability both at leadership and individual levels and shared practical tools to accelerate success and reduce resistance.

• Why change management is often misunderstood, undervalued, or started too late, and what needs to shift
• The evolving role of executive project sponsors and how to better support them to lead change from the top
• Practical approaches to build change accountability both at leadership and individual levels
• New developments and tools from the fields of project sponsorship and change enablement

What the audience left with:

1. A new perspective on why change efforts often struggle to gain traction or commitment
2. Clarity on the distinct but connected roles of sponsors, leaders, and individuals in making change stick
3. Practical tools and frameworks to support project sponsors and individuals through change
4. Inspiration to evolve change practices so that both people and projects succeed together

This was a joint webinar from the APM Enabling Change Interest Network, APM People Interest Network and Change Management Institute.

Webinar resources

The panel have kindly allowed their presented material to be made available for viewing. The webinar recording on Vimeo and the slides on Slideshare, will shortly be available in our APM resources area and also embedded below for reference.

The panel are reviewing the questions submitted during the broadcast, and as an additional resource the answers will be added shortly.

This webinar content is suitable for professionals with any knowledge level of the project profession.

 

 

Speaker panel 


The webinar was chaired by Ian Cribbes, APM People and APM Sustainability Interest Networks volunteer.

Dr. Grant Van Ulbrich’s career spans 20+ years working globally in leadership roles within sales, operations, and revenue divisions within the cruise and hospitality industry. 

Having been featured in FORBES, Cover Entrepreneur’s 2024 Person of the Year, Your Business, Microsoft News and global media for his work in sales transformation and pioneering personal change management, London is his homebase. He continues his work helping global organisations excel in the areas of transformational leadership, executive coaching, sales transformation, and change management. He is the first member in the hospitality industry to graduate both with the MSc Leading Sales Transformation and becoming the first Doctor of Professional Studies in Sales Transformation both through the Consalia Sales Business School and Middlesex University. 

Grant is a Founding Fellow of the Institute of Sales Professionals, a Fellow of the Institute of Training & Occupational Learning (ITOL), and a visiting fellow at Cranfield University School of Management. He is an I.L.M. Certified Sales Coach, a TEDx and keynote speaker, and is the founder of SCARED SO WHAT Ltd, whose sole purpose is to help people learn how to transform their lives through pioneering personal change models, consultancy, accreditation, and app technology.

 

Muriel Barre is a transformation expert with over 25 years’ experience delivering high-impact, complex portfolios and programmes in regulated industries. She is the creator of the SponsorACTION™ Framework, a practical approach to help executive project sponsors lead change with clarity, confidence, and strategic impact.

Through her consultancy, Nexgen Innovation Consulting, Muriel partners with C-level executives and change leaders to improve sponsorship capability, accelerate execution, and unlock organisational value.