Transformation & Change108

Leading a Transformation without Getting Fired

"Leading a Transformation without Getting Fired" | Jardena London, CEO at Rosetta Technology Group

[email protected]

March 22, 2020

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Leading a transformation is not for the faint at heart. Transformation Leadership requires competencies not traditionally developed by organizations. I’ve been doing this role since before it had a name. I’d like to share the stories of my journey through scrapes, bruises, and successes. Maybe you’ll learn something, surely you’ll laugh.

About Jardena London

Photo of Jardena London

CEO @ Rosetta Technology Group

Jardena’s mission is to help organizations become healthy, productive and fun. She is out in the field consulting to the Fortune 50 on Enterprise Business Agility. Jardena’s diverse background, starting as a programmer, project manager and then launching multiple startups, has created a dynamic lens to view organizations.

Her most recent successes have been transforming a large legacy organization into a modern workplace with breakout results. Jardena served as co-founder and CEO of Rosetta Technology Group since 1997. Check out her blogtoon on workplaces that thrive at www.rosettatg.com/blogtoon.

Follow them on LinkedIn:
https://linkedin.com/in/jardena/

Presentation Slides

Video Transcript

You've already heard a bit about me, so I won’t belabor the point. I have kids and all that good stuff, but the one thing that’s important is that I’ve led transformations as an employee, as a consultant, and I’ve coached and consulted with people leading transformations. I have the war stories, I know what works and what doesn’t. This talk—and the four-day course it previews—all started because people kept asking me: What are you doing that makes you stick at clients while others get bounced out? I had to dig deep and figure out what I do differently. Some of that is what you’ll hear today.

What Does It Mean to Be a Transformation Lead?

Some people have the title of Transformation Lead, and that’s great. But I believe everyone in this room, in some way, is a transformation lead because you're influencing your organization toward change.

First question: What could get you fired in this role? Anyone?

"Being overly authentic," says someone in the audience. What else?

"Failure?" Yes! If you fail terribly and things don’t work, that could get you fired. Other things? Your boss feels threatened. People feel threatened. They’re not seeing results.

Now, what could make you wildly successful in this role?

Success? Getting everyone on board? Revenue goes up? Yes! You already know what will make you successful.

The Reality of Leading a Transformation

Leading a transformation is tough. This isn’t traditional leadership. You’re implementing new things within the old system, and you're being judged by that old system while creating new ways to measure success. You’re asked to challenge the status quo—except when you’re not. And sometimes, it’s hard to tell when that moment is.

This role is highly political. If you don’t like politics, find another job. I’ve told people that explicitly. Some cringe when I say "politics," but I don’t mean dirty politics. I mean actively navigating the human system. If you work with humans, you need to understand and navigate the human system.

Five Ways to Knock It Out of the Park

I'm going to tell you five stories today. As you listen, don’t just hear the story—ask yourself: What was the competency that needed to be built before I was in that situation? I didn’t build the skill in the moment; I built it beforehand, so I was ready when the moment came.

1. Heal the Pain

When an organization is in acute pain, they don’t care about your transformation. Imagine coming to me with a nail through your hand, and I tell you, "Meditation is great for connecting mind and body." You wouldn’t listen. You’d probably punch me with your good hand.

Organizations in pain can’t hear you until you help them heal first.

At one company, my first day on the job, I sat in a VP’s office with the leadership team. Every product they wanted to launch was blocked by finance. The team complained, saying finance was terrible and needed more people. They were facing disruption but couldn’t get products out. In the middle of their rant, I said, "I can fix it." Dead silence. Then laughter.

"Oh, the new girl is so cute," they said. "We’ve tried everything. This problem isn’t solvable."

I dug in. The real issue? One accountant—Ann—was fielding calls from 60 project managers. She was drowning. I created a backlog and prioritized the work for her. The VP dismissed it, but I convinced my boss to let me try. Within weeks, products were launching. Finance was happy. Product development was happy. And Ann, though still a little crabby, was much better.

The moral? Stand in the pain. Stay there until it’s resolved. And yes, this was political—I brokered peace between finance and product development.

2. Share Shamelessly

Can you share without worrying about credit? Without caring if people steal your ideas? Without expecting anything in return?

Sharing gets you a seat at the table. If you don’t have access, you’re toast.

Someone once told me, "I’m not getting invited to portfolio meetings, but I need to be there as the Agile lead." I asked, "Did you share insights with them? Did you offer help? Did you send them useful articles?"

I share all the time. "Hey, have you heard about this? I can stop by your meeting for five minutes and explain prioritization in Agile." That’s how you get invited—by being of service, not demanding a seat.

3. Love Your Boss

Who loves their boss? Oh, this is a good room! Usually, I don’t get that reaction.

Your boss is probably not transformed yet. They may not fully understand Agile. That’s normal. I once had a boss who was old-school, constantly yelled at me, and hated when I sought feedback before slides were "perfect." I got in trouble a lot.

But I developed empathy. I assumed positive intent. Over time, she became a huge advocate. Your boss controls your fate—one level above can fire you. So, love your boss. Learn what drives them. Assume they’re doing what they think is best.

4. Show Me the Money

In Agile, there’s a lot of hand-waving: "This is good! This is better!" But nothing wins over leadership like money.

At one company, they were "doing Agile," but nothing was getting out the door. Financials looked like a hockey stick—scrambling at year-end to hit targets. I told them: forget retrospectives, forget stand-ups, focus on delivering value sooner. Agile coaches quit on me, saying I wasn’t following the Scrum Guide.

Guess what? The company met its year-end financial target in six months. They doubled their target—$100 million.

Focus on the business. Measure something meaningful. OKRs are great for this.

5. Drop the Ego

Your ego will kill you in this job.

When I started in corporate after running my own business, I wanted to get promoted. The team knew it, and they resented me. They thought I’d throw them under the bus. I insisted I could do both—get promoted and stay true to the mission. I was wrong.

You can't make decisions for your team based on looking good. You have to stand up for what’s right, even if it means delaying personal gain.

Transformation work will challenge your self-worth, values, and ego daily. Build a support system. Stay grounded. It’s tough.

Final Thoughts

So, the five ways to knock it out of the park:

  • Heal the pain.
  • Share shamelessly.
  • Love your boss.
  • Show me the money.
  • Drop the ego.

If you want more, check out our four-day transformation leadership course. We cover the things no one tells you—politics, emotional intelligence, executive communication, and taking responsibility without authority.

One of my favorite transformation leaders used to say, "On any given day, I stand an equal chance of getting promoted or getting fired. That’s how I know I’m doing my job."

If you’re not okay with getting fired, you’ll struggle. But paradoxically, the sooner you accept it, the less likely it is to happen.

So go out there. Be a politician. Be courageous. And lead.

Thank you!

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