Navigating Change: Insights from a CEO’s Dual Perspective - In conversation with Brian Turner
The ability to lead and adapt to change is more critical than ever, CEOs and senior leaders face the daunting task of steering their organizations through transformative shifts while maintaining stability and fostering growth. This requires a unique blend of strategic vision, situational leadership, and the capacity to draw from diverse experiences. Understanding how to craft compelling narratives, pace change, select the right talent, and balance risk are essential skills. Additionally, the integration of personal leadership experiences can provide invaluable insights and practical guidance for navigating complex challenges.
We are in conversation with Brian Turner, Former President and CEO of Point B. An ‘Innovative Pathfinder’ and developer of future leaders, Brian delves into the intricate dynamic of leading through change and the profound impact of leveraging personal experiences in advising others.
Brian, with your extensive experience both running your own firm and advising numerous organizations across various industries, how do you integrate the perspectives of being both an internal leader and an external advisor to adapt and lead effectively in times of change? How do you use your situational leadership skills to respond to the situation? Can you share a specific example of this dual perspective significantly benefiting an organization?
Leading change as a CEO involves managing several key elements. First, there’s crafting a compelling narrative — explaining the reasons for the change, what it entails, and setting clear expectations for success. Then, you need to control the pace of change, which depends on how much the organization can handle at a given time and the pace of change outside the organization. Selecting the right talent to drive the initiative is crucial. Additionally, determining the level of risk the organization is willing to take and establishing a clear governance structure for decision-making is vital.
In my experience, the most critical aspect is fostering ownership where value gets created — a simple, clear story translated into tangible outcomes coupled with driving empowerment and motivation at the front lines of the business. Many CEO’s get caught either in controlling the change through directives/orders or in the operational details of execution — that belongs to the organization’s senior executive team. Ownership doesn’t come through direct control but through listening, clarifying what success looks like and what it is going to take, negotiating alignment between your goals and your team’s goals, and engaging your team in anticipating and removing obstacles before they hit. The haunting question we all have to ask ourselves is how much time are we engaging our employees and our customers in the transformation vs. in the ivory tower where plans get baked.
Balancing change and stability is a delicate act. A long time ago, a mentor handed me a pair of Mickey Mouse ears and a pair of binoculars. The message was clear — you have to always be listening to see what your organization can absorb and always be looking in the distance to see how your metrics might play out for both success and failure. I look at my job, past and present, as an external catalyst — to bring to life what is happening in and outside the organization and how it will ultimately shape success and failure. If there is a singular lesson I’ve learned over the last 30 years — you’ve got to lean into the uncomfortable conversations with your team, and even with yourself, before problems mount and take on a life of their own. I recently applied situational leadership to help a fellow CEO through a difficult space. The CEO was feeling overwhelmed with the pace of change, competing priorities and employee engagement challenges. Since 2020, most of us in the professional services space can say “been there, done that.”. What helped the CEO that day? Three of my own recent stories in addressing the same set of problems — the landscape I saw, the options I had, the path I chose, how I lead, and what I got right and what I got wrong. Because the CEO job is so unique, the ability to relate peer-to-peer on truly complex, big stakes issues opened new ways for the CEO to think about what is most important now and how to lead in this moment.
In my advisory work, I often assist Boards and executive teams in rethinking their decision-making processes under pressure. Moving them away from consensus-based approaches or authoritarian approaches to more adaptive models helped them make quicker and more effective decisions. This place, the decision-making process, is the playground of situational leadership — because you can unpack and organization’s culture, a leadership team’s mode of operation, the business dynamics and pressures, and the change imperative. From there, you can find patterns — patterns that allow you to apply insights and experience to help the team make different choices.
Drawing from my experience in leadership roles, I’ve found that my personal journey adds immense value when advising other CEOs. I’ve scaled businesses, managed swift contractions, reorganized companies, replaced senior leadership teams, and shifted strategic visions. Each of these experiences has taught me valuable lessons about market dynamics, internal politics, and organizational resilience. Being “in the seat” as CEO establishes a common language where my successes and my failures can help CEOs navigate their paths more effectively, foster a deeper understanding and lead with greater impact.
Thanks for sharing, Brian.
Brian is a transformative leader with over three decades of experience in guiding organizations through transformative change. Known for his pragmatic, human-centered approach, he collaborates with CEOs and executive teams to address complex challenges and drive meaningful impact. Dedicated to developing future leaders, Brian actively engages in community initiatives, mentorship, and fostering partnerships across sectors.
Connect with Brian on LinkedIn.
