In this episode, we talk with Noah Shepherd about leading change in a foreign country. We tap into his 30+ years of experience as a leader and executive in Asia.

Our conversation covers three key success factors for leading change:

• It's not a race
• Involve everyone
• Tailor your communication to each audience

While this certainly can be seen as common knowledge, there is a lot to learn from Noah's deep experience and the stories he is sharing. He provides practical examples and insights, leading to significant improvements in people turnover, accident rates, product quality, and customer service. The episode also highlights challenges like resistance from middle management and how to overcome them by empowering staff at all levels.

Key moments

01:01 Introducing Noah Shepherd and his Leadership Journey

02:47 The Thrills and Challenges of Leading Change

06:59 Key Success Factors in Leading Change

07:58 “It's not a race”

14:45 “Involve everyone”

27:31 “Tailor your communication”

35:15 Closing Thoughts and Reflection Questions

Reflection Questions

• As change is not a race, reflect on: What motivates you to participate and lead a particular change journey? It might be the sense of achievement from driving results, it might be in terms of developing people or developing yourself, or it might be for the money.
• In the context of involving everyone, ask yourself: do you understand the people you work with enough? Different people have different reasons for coming to work and are motivated by various factors. What are their needs? And what's in it for them if they can achieve this change?

About Noah Shepherd, Managing Partner

Noah has been turning around, leading and starting businesses since the day he moved to Thailand in 1993. He has held country, regional and global responsibilities from SMEs to large multinational companies across a range of industries. Before establishing the Shepherd Partnership, Noah led operations transformation in Asia-Pacific for Stanley Black&Decker – Leading Advanced Manufacturing, Lean Transformation, Industry 4.0 and Automation across 26 facilities in seven countries in the Indo-Pacific, covering $US2.6Bn of manufacturing cost.

Find out more at shepherd-partnership.com and connect with Noah on LinkedIn.

About Second Crack

More info about us and our work is also on our website: secondcrackleadership.com

Do you have any questions, feedback, or suggestions for us? Would you like to explore how we can help you drive results in your organisations through a company-wide initiative or individual executive coaching? Then email us at: hello at secondcrackleadership.com.

To connect with us on LinkedIn:

Martin Aldergård
Gerrit Pelzer