How can you become a thought leader in Change Management after a career change?

Becoming a thought leader after a career change involves establishing yourself as an authority in your new field and actively contributing to discussions and innovations within that industry. Proactively pitch yourself to industry publications, podcasts, and other media outlets. Offer to contribute guest articles or participate in interviews. Consider writing a book or e-book on a topic relevant to your new field in change management. Becoming a thought leader is a gradual process that requires consistent effort, dedication, and a genuine commitment to adding value to your industry. Remember that credibility and influence are built over time, so be patient and persistent in your pursuit of thought leadership.

Navigate Change Expertly! ??? In building a reputation as a Change Management thought leader after a career shift, I'd first pinpoint a unique niche, akin to Simon Sinek's 'Start with Why.' Crafting insightful content becomes crucial in establishing my voice in the field. Building a robust network and engaging with industry experts and followers is vital. Showcasing tangible results cements credibility. Continuous learning, as emphasized in Peter Senge's 'The Fifth Discipline,' keeps me ahead. Engaging my audience turns them into advocates.

I believe after time, you naturally create your own thoughts and persisting based on your experience. This in turn becomes your perspective, which others will no doubt be interested in.

1. Identify Your Niche: Choose a specific area in change management where you have passion and expertise, like a certain industry or aspect like culture or technology. 2. Build Expertise: Gain education, certifications, and use your past experiences to strengthen your knowledge. 3. Share Content: Write articles, engage on social media, and speak at events to share insights. 4. Network: Join professional groups and collaborate with other experts. 5. Practical Application: Offer consulting or coaching, and use real-world examples. 6. Feedback and Adaptation: Regularly seek feedback and adapt to new trends and information. Leverage your unique experiences and continuous learning to set yourself apart in your niche.

Evaluate your current skills and experiences, focusing on transferable skills acquired in your past career that align with change management. Investigate the latest trends and challenges in change management, pinpointing areas that pique your interest and offer opportunities for meaningful contributions. Examine established thought leaders in the field, understanding their expertise, and use this insight to carve out your distinct position in the domain.

Selecting appropriate content formats is crucial; consider exploring a range of platforms like blogs, articles, podcasts, videos, webinars, or social media posts to showcase your expertise effectively. Prioritize delivering unique value by offering fresh perspectives, original research, actionable insights, and practical strategies tailored to address specific challenges encountered by practitioners in the field. To build trust and credibility with your audience, maintain consistency and reliability by establishing a regular publishing schedule and consistently delivering high-quality content.

There are a number of ways by which we can demonstrate our skill sets. Creating relevant posts on and publishing articles on LinkedIn can be a good start. Going forward, I can create videos or publish books. When others find value in the content, the engagement level will rise. I have created few posts on how AI is impacting project management domain. As I gain more insights, I can write more and share the domain knowledge with others. I intend to focus on the application part of generative AI and share my learnings with others. I also intend to showcase on how people can learn the new concepts and start with small implementation. Gradually as the community grows, I will be able to add more value.

My impression: There isn't enough storytelling in change management. Most change books discuss theory and frameworks, not experiences of change managers.

Content creation definitely helps build thought leadership. Be clear on where your expertise lies. Choose the best channels that can help you remain consistent and producing the type of content you enjoy doing the most.

Building on Caroline Lucie-Ulbrich's contribution, defining what makes content "valuable" is the key here. There are plenty of theoretical works that walk you through a bevvy of change management models and principles; however, as practitioners, especially anyone new to this space, case studies illustrating the change process from end-to-end, process flow charts with examples of potential inputs and outputs and templates that can be adjusted based on the size and impact of the project would be valuable content.

Your network is a goldmine for new opportunities, new resources, greater collaboration and it expands your brand as a thought leader in this space. Also look to expand your network and ensure you enter the spaces with a willingness to offer value to others.

Building your network provides a few key pieces to an individual's growth. 1. The ability to learn from others helps you build your knowledge base and overall growth. 2. It helps you expand how your experience, skills, and talents can be used or expanded upon in a new environment. 3. Learning from others can help with cutting down your learning curve in a new field or position. 4. Networking provides new support systems, mentorship, thinking, and idea creation to name a few. 5. Helps to build confidence and how to connect and reach others through understanding perspective language and guidance.

Share your content on pertinent platforms and actively participate in discussions with fellow professionals. Broaden your audience and enhance credibility by guest blogging and contributing to industry publications. Foster connections with influencers and engage in collaborations with thought leaders, creating joint content, co-hosting webinars, or participating in collaborative projects. Additionally, amplify your visibility by speaking at conferences and events, sharing your knowledge and insights both in-person and online. These strategies collectively contribute to expanding your professional network and establishing yourself as an authoritative figure in your field.

Reaching out to the right people and establishing strong bonds with them will help me gain meaningful insights and also will give me an opportunity to share my ideas with them. As I will be able to add more value with my content, my network will grow and people will start engaging with my content. I intend to share my knowledge on LinkedIn and in other events. I can also share my insights by engaging with posts created by other experts. Establishing an authority in a particular subject takes time and efforts. With my consistent efforts, I believe I can reach this milestone.

Yes - use LinkedIn for that. Write blog articles. Create YouTube videos. Make it short concise and engaging. I prefer shorter formats that are easy to digest to longer conversations.

Probably the only possible way to change others is becoming an example, you need to become an Influencer of the change process. People don’t resist change, people resist to be changed

To establish myself as an authority in a particular domain, I need to prove the value that I have added. The impact can be shown in terms of savings achieved in costs, time and in increase in productivity. As I gain expertise in my chosen field of AI implementation in project management, I will be able to demonstrate on how adapting to new practices can improve efficiencies in project management. I can track my progress by monitoring my engagement levels in terms of the number of posts that I will create, the number of presentations I will make and the feedback that I will get.

The ability to showcase results requires thoughtfully assessing what results should be tracked and building the mechanisms needed to actually measure them. There are so many insightful outcomes to measure (i.e., engagement based on tactics used throughout the change process, stakeholder sentiment, etc.) in addition to whether a project launched on time, within budget, etc. Equally important are post-launch outcomes - are stakeholders still adopting the change 2-weeks, 30-days, 60-days post launch? Are there gaps or new knowledge that need to be addressed to grow and sustain the change?

You have to approach change management with a sense of curiosity. We learn something new with each new project on which we embark, each article we read, and conversation we have. New information should be assessed, cataloged, and utilized when the opportunities present themselves.

But how do I keep learning if I've done all the relevant coursework? Great question: here's how... 1. Explore Related Fields ?? How can you apply insights from psychology, sociology, or organizational behavior to change management? 2. Technology Awareness ?? Am I keeping up with emerging tech that could affect change management? 3. Global Trends & Culture ?? Do I understand global trends and how they influence change management across cultures? 4. Networking with Diverse Professionals ?? Am I engaging with professionals from various industries for fresh insights?

LinkedIn is an accessible and easy way of connecting with your audience. The next step would be to take part in professional events and conferences both outside and inside your industry. Outside your industry events can offer new insights and perspectives about what could be done in change management.

Es finden sich hier nützliche Impulse für die pers?nliche Vermarktung. Mir fehlt aber die Praxis! Change Prozesse sind komplex und erfordern vor allem souver?n mit Widerst?nden umgehen zu k?nnen, Kritiker miteinzubeziehen und diejenigen, die es betrifft, in den Mittelpunkt zu stellen! Klare, souver?ne Kommunikation ist dabei so wichtig! Nische, Branchen-Know-How - ja. Aber oft genug habe ich erlebt, wie Change Prozesse aus vermeintlichen Trends heraus, aber vollkommen vorbei an bestehende Kulturen und realen M?glichkeiten aufgesetzt wurden. Klare Kommunikation, Zuh?ren, Konfliktl?sungskompetenz und den Spagat zwischen Vordenken und realistischen Schritten zu meistern sind F?higkeiten auf die es ankommt.