📚 Michael Bungay Stanier

Change Signal

Change Signal: for transformational leaders seeking modern change mastery. Cut through the blather, the BS, and the noise to find the good stuff that works.

If you lead change, this will be your favourite podcast and newsletter.

Host

MBS.works

=> We help people be a force for change.

I’m looking for people ready to leave the world better than they found it.

•	Do you ever feel you have more to contribute?
•	Is it time to shake off complacency and shake things up?
•	Are you ready to challenge who you are today so you can grow into who you want to be?
•	Are you looking for ways to use your power for good?

This is self growth that goes beyond the self. 

MBS.works is where you find the confidence, the capacity, the community, and the ambition to be a force for positive change.

Founder

Box of Crayons

Box of Crayons is a learning and development company that helps organizations transform from advice-driven to curiosity-led. We believe curiosity-led cultures are more resilient, innovative and successful. We create live, virtual, and digital programs that unleash the power of curiosity, and we serve enterprise-size organizations with large-scale development initiatives that harness that curiosity to connect and engage across all levels.

Marshall Goldsmith #MG100

In 2016, Marshall Goldsmith, the world's #1 Executive Coach, launched his 100 Coaches project to mentor the next generation of top executive coaches for the world.  Out of more than 12,000 applications, he selected 25 for the original cohort.  The group includes leading academics, best-selling authors, corporate executives, and top executive coaches. 
 
We met in December to go through the first workshop with advisors and CEO potentials, and to initiate a plan for building a community of practice.  Moving forward, the group will also go through Stakeholder Centered Coach Certification Process.  For full list of the 25, visit http://www.marshallgoldsmith.com/100-coaches/

Member of the Original Cohort of 25

Smythe Dorward Lambert, part of Omnicom

Worked on various large-scale organizational change programs. Amongst other things, wrote the global vision for GlaxoSmithKline.

Senior Consultant

?What If! Innovation

Invented products and services for a wide range of organizational clients. Run innovation and creativity training.

I'm driven *nuts* by how we’re dealing with organizational change. When things are faster, more complex, more overwhelming, and more destined to fail than ever, the tired old models of “change management” and the very expensive big consultancies don’t feel fit for purpose.

I'm here to cut through the blather, the BS, and the noise to find the good stuff that works. 

If you’re a transformational leader seeking modern change mastery, you’re in exactly the right place.

-----------------------------------------
But wait, there's more 🙂!

 I am...

The founder of Box of Crayons, a training organization helping organizations with practical coaching skills rooted in curiosity. Our clients include Microsoft, Salesforce, and TELUS.

An author of eight books that have sold more than 2 million copies.

The winner of the Thinkers50 Coaching Award, "the Oscars of Management" (2023) and Hall of Fame (2025).

An Australian holding a long-term grudge about living through Canadian winters.

A Rhodes Scholar.

On the flip side, I was also...

Sued for defamation by one of the professors at Law School (it's a long story.)

Banned from my high school graduation for "the balloon incident" (also, a long story.)

Moments like these remind me how many extraordinary people are out there doing the work...thinking boldly, leading generously, and stepping fully into the hero’s role in their own story. 🌟 
Thinkers50 brought together friends, mentors, collaborators, and brilliant troublemakers… and every one of them reminded me what it looks like to claim centre stage in your life and work. That’s exactly what I wrote about in this week’s newsletter — what it means to stop being a side character and step into the role that’s been waiting for you. 
If that feels timely for you, here’s the full reflection: https://lnkd.in/edfSr5wY

MBS.works champions the thought that "curiosity is insubordination in its purest form" (Nabokov)

Box of Crayons helps organizations transform from advice-driven to curiosity-led. We unleash the power of curiosity to create connected and engaged company cultures. We believe curiosity-led cultures are more resilient, innovative and successful. 
=> Learn more at www.BoxOfCrayons.com

Meantime...

Michael is the Founder of Box of Crayons. He is the author of the best-selling book *The Coaching Habit* He was a Rhodes Scholar and in 2019 was named the #1 thought leader in coaching. 

Before founding Box of Crayons, Michael held senior positions in the corporate, consultancy and agency worlds  He has lived and worked in Australia, the UK, the US and Canada.

Michael has an M Phil from Oxford, a law degree and a BA with highest honours from the Australian National University.

Helping transformational leaders find modern change mastery (pod & newsletter) // Author of ‘The Coaching Habit’, best-selling book on coaching this century // Thinkers50 Hall of Fame // Rhodes Scholar

I’m holding some of the books that are helping me learn my “new spells” — the things I need to understand if I’m going to grow into the next version of myself.

📚 It’s uncomfortable, honestly. I’m used to being the teacher… but right now, I know I need to be the student. That’s what this week’s newsletter is about: the humility, uncertainty, and quiet excitement that come with learning something new, and becoming someone new. If you’re sensing it too — the whisper of a new role, a new story — you might enjoy this one. 

https://lnkd.in/edfSr5wY

This little recipe book is one of my most precious possessions. It’s my mum’s handwriting, full of the meals that shaped our family — including lemon delicious, which still feels like magic every time it works. 
What struck me recently is how much a recipe teaches us about growth. 
You don’t have to invent everything from scratch. 
You take one step, then the next. 
You trust yourself enough to try. Those simple lessons are at the heart of the work we do inside The Conspiracy — a steady structure, clear constraints, and a place to practice choosing what you want. 
Join our online community of brilliant and brave humans on the journey to their dreams - and ready to support you on the road to yours. 
Doors to join The Conspiracy close tomorrow! 
https://lnkd.in/eXD2nM3q

When you’re leading change, it’s tempting to see resistance as the enemy. 
But often it’s telling you something important — something worth noticing, honoring, or even grieving. 💛 
In this clip, I explore how resistance can hold the energy you need to move forward… if you’re willing to listen. 
So here’s the question I’m sitting with today: What is the resistance telling me?

A moment that takes me right back to where my career began — Primrose Hill — only this time I wasn’t alone. 
These fellow Conspirators showed up (some starting at 4am!) simply to connect, think together, and ask: What have you learned in the last year? 
Every time we gather, I’m reminded how much we grow when we find “our people.” 
If you’re curious about the community and conversations behind this moment, here’s the newsletter: https://lnkd.in/edfSr5wY

It’s December now, and I’m looking back at the last days of the outdoor tennis season. 
In my final match of the summer, I got absolutely thrashed...and it gave me a question I’m still carrying into winter:Am I playing to win, or am I playing to get better? 
I played my best tennis against the players who beat me, not the ones I could easily win against. 
That feels true well beyond the court. 
If you’re interested in more questions like this (the kind that help you grow, lead, and experiment) you might enjoy the newsletter I send each week. 
🔗 https://lnkd.in/edfSr5wY

Want to bring out the best in someone?
Give them a better story to live into.
Not just a task. Not just a title.
A role in something exciting, true, and worth doing.
(That includes you, by the way.)

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the difference between something that feels daunting… and something that’s actually inviting me into a deeper, braver version of myself. 
I’ve got two projects on my desk right now that feel like that: new roles, new stories, new definitions of success. 
They’re unfamiliar. They’re stretching me. 
And honestly? They feel a little overwhelming. 
But that’s the point. 
A new conflict is meant to rattle you. 
It’s meant to wake up the part of you that’s indomitable. 
That’s what I wrote about in this week’s Distillation. 
If you’re feeling restless, pulled toward something harder and more meaningful, you might find resonance in it. 
Full newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/edfSr5wY

What do you feel called to learn next? And who might you become by learning it? ✨

Are you ready to step into the spotlight? ✨

The more I sit with this conversation with Vanessa Bohns, the clearer it becomes: we’re influencing people far more often and far more quietly than we realise. 
This weeks episode of Change Signal was all about those subtle moments: the side comments, the tiny signals, the things we say when we think no one’s paying attention. Those are the real levers of culture and change. 
If you’re leading anything that involves other humans, her insights are worth your time. 
🎧  https://lnkd.in/eyEPut6u

You're More Influential Than You Think

What could you accomplish if you had more of your people beside you?

The real barrier to change in most organizations isn’t strategy — it’s ______. 
In my experience, the plans are usually pretty good. What’s harder is shifting the mindsets, habits, and stories that keep people where they are. 🌱 
We discuss topics like these on the Change Signal podcast — how we step out of the old story and into a new one. 
What do you think gets in the way of change?

Where are you being called into something harder and more important?

The moments you aren’t trying to influence people might be the moments shaping your culture the most. 
In this clip, Vanessa Bohns explains how a single off-hand comment can override even your best-intended message — and why leaders need to pay attention to their “accidental influence.” 
Proud to share this conversation on Change Signal. 
🎧 https://lnkd.in/eyEPut6u

Change doesn’t require agreement.
It requires courage.

Most change projects stall before they start. Why?
Because “change” is a terrible sales pitch.
David Lancefield says there’s a better word and it shifts everything.
If the word “transformation” makes your people roll their eyes... you’ll want to hear this.

If you're an author you should be following Jonathan Goodman at the moment ... he's rethinking book marketing in a very helpful way.

What a treat to share this episode with Linda Ackerman Anderson, Ed.D. as part of the Change Signal pod series

Host of the "Ask Dr. Change" podcast. I coach and develop senior leaders and change consultants in how to consciously succeed in organization transformation.

BONUS EPISODE: “Is Your Organization Change Allergic?” featuring Anne Gotte on the  Change Signal Podcast.  Here's a sneak peek on LinkedIn, and then listen to the full conversation through the link below.

This week I'm adding a bonus episode of Ask Dr. Change because I want to share a powerful conversation my colleague Michael Bungay Stanier had over on his "Change Signal" Podcast.  Michael interviews Anne Gotte, SVP of Global Talent & Organization Effectiveness at Mondelēz International. I chose this episode because it speaks directly to why many organizations don’t simply resist change, but show a deeper, systemic “allergy” to it. In their discussion, Michael and Anne explore why episodic, traditional change management is no longer enough - the limits of top-down decree, the need for greater emotional tolerance for uncertainty, and the value of embracing imperfect, adaptive leadership. The dialogue offers grounded, practical insight for anyone responsible for leading or supporting transformational change.

LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE HERE:
https://lnkd.in/gA4m8zPm
You can also listen on the podcast platform of your choice. Look for Episode 53 of the "ASK DR. CHANGE" Podcast.
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Peter's one of the biggest influences on my work. I'm really excited to know he's Substacking it, and I've subscribed.

Author | Consultant | Citizen

I type and I talk. Now, also on Substack. If you want, follow me there. 

➡️ https://lnkd.in/eVWndd43

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