Cutting Through

Helping experts
engage ‘outsiders'
in complex ideas

Leading a major change effort while navigating almost polar opposite expectations of a board and the employees is no small task.

This week's Cutting Through guest Adam Bennett shares his experiences leading such a challenge as the first post-privatisation CEO of the NSW Land Registry Services.

Adam transformed a previously largely paper-based government department into a lean and modern digitised and customer-oriented team. We talked about how to

  • Engage the team as the CEO on day 1 when about half of them had been picketing outside parliament against the organisation's privatisation
  • Think about both the mindset and mechanics of the first 90 days and beyond
  • Bring humility and honesty to appeal to the team's adulthood (or, in other words, how to simultaneously avoid sugar coating what's coming while not creating dissent).

I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation as Adam shared deep leadership and communication wisdom.

Timestamps 

00:38 – Get to know Adam 

06:18 – Engaging team as CEO on day 1 

14:22 – Approaching the first 90 days as CEO  

23:16 – Importance of both employee and customer satisfaction 

32:36 – Handling the heat of tough discussions or unpopular decisions 

36:40 – Maintaining a positive workplace environment amidst great change 

47:26 – Adam’s final two tips: Mindset and Mechanics 

 

 RESOURCES

  1. Download Adam's whitepaper on Great Change below.
  2. Connect with Adam on LinkedIn

 

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