Confidential briefing
Confidence: High
Michael
Prepared for your Operating Model Change Discovery
What stands out
Almost everything Michael chooses to talk about circles back to ownership. Specifically: consistently describes work where the decision sat with them.
It matters here because decision making happens close to delivery teams — the same ground, reached from the other direction.
Recommended next step
Meet Michael
Suggested first conversation:
- What ownership actually looks like inside your delivery teams.
- Which leadership behaviours bring out their best work.
- How the work here connects to something they'd care about.
You've not met before.
What we've learned
Ownership
Consistently describes work where the decision sat with them — and the examples behind it were about decisions, not responsibilities.
Heard across separate conversations months apart, described the same way each time.
Leadership
Michael keeps returning to this without being asked: describes their best managers as coaches rather than reviewers.
Raised unprompted more than once, with different examples behind it.
Mission
Repeatedly prioritises meaningful energy impact. It has shaped what Michael has moved towards, not just what they say.
Revisited deliberately, and Michael did not soften it.
Why we're confident
We expected leadership to be the deciding factor for Michael. Repeated conversations pointed at ownership instead, and it has held every time since.
- Ownership, leadership and mission each read the same way from Michael's side and from yours, separately.
Their expectations sit at £85,000. No prior relationship — the reasoning carries this on its own.
Worth discussing first
- What ownership actually looks like inside your delivery teams.
- Which leadership behaviours bring out their best work.
- How the work here connects to something they'd care about.
- How decisions get made, and where they get written down.
- What would make the first year successful here.
Context
Where they are today
Michael is currently a Change Manager, based in Manchester, United Kingdom. Their employer is theirs to share once you've both agreed to talk.
Where they've operated
Mostly energy, government and fmcg.
Michael has moved from Business Change Lead to Change Manager over 22 years — widening responsibility rather than lateral moves. Not looking, but would take the right conversation. Status: not yet connected.