Can There Be Digital Transformation Without Personal Transformation? (Part 1)

In Oct 2019, whilst at the Women in Business Expo, I attended a StemConnext panel discussion on female leadership entitled “How To Jump To The Top”.

The panel was made up of various women in leadership roles and included Mindset Coach Susie Ramroop. Whilst each panelist shared their personal journey to leadership and how they tackled the challenges along the path, it was Susie’s story that resonated the loudest with me. She handled each question from the audience by cutting right through to the core of the issue and effortlessly knowing the exact question to ask to unblock. Something awoke inside me and I was hooked to know more about this mindset coaching.

A few days later, with Susie’s advice still ringing in my ears (“Be it - so others can see it”), I did what any corporate, professional, confident woman who knows her outcome does - I stalked her on LinkedIn. At the time, my career was not where I wanted it to be, I was not making the personal impact I wanted, and I certainly wasn’t thriving. If I’m honest, I had been feeling this way for quite a while but seemed blocked as to what the issue was. I had tried several methods to shift myself - from reading personal development books, undertaking additional training to upskill, trying different roles within my organisation - but nothing was putting me on a path where I felt I was flourishing.

Then something serendipitous happened, she caught me! As I was scrolling through Susie’s archive of articles, she messaged me: “Hi! I noticed you’ve been looking at my profile, would you like to arrange a call?”.

Fast forward three months, and Susie is leading me on my personal transformation journey. I’ve already made shifts in my mindset that have impacted every area of my life positively, including my career. After years of habitual, unconscious thought patterns that did not serve me, I now have new and more empowering perspectives.

My journey is just beginning and I’m only halfway through my work with my coach. But already, I’ve been able to identify the time wasting activities in my diary and replace these with productive ones (process optimisation!). I’ve created space to focus on what really give me joy, which is connecting with people (customer engagement!). I’ve identified unfulfilling tasks that I can delegate or let go of all together (increased efficiency!). I’m gathering evidence and feedback on what feels right (insights from data!) and what does and doesn’t work in the real world (failing fast!).

Of course, this type of mindset shift is an investment. I had to stretch my personal innovation budget in order to be able to work with the best to achieve my new vision. But what was my alternative? I could not face another year where I saw other people move forward while I stayed stagnant. Or worse, was made redundant altogether!

I now understand what successful transformation looks and feels like. To me it means:

·      Having a vision for a better future

·      Be willing to trust in the person who is leading me to it

·      Be willing to let go of my need to know how everything is going to work out in every detail

·      Understand that “failure” is also good feedback

With what I now know, I’m wondering, it is possible for companies to undertake successful digital transformations without their own people undergoing personal transformations?

I will be posting more about my own transformation journey in the coming months, but in the meantime, I’m interested in hearing your views on this.