Change Leadership vs Management: What Humans Do Best

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This episode explores why emotional resilience is becoming a core leadership skill in the age of AI. Jennifer Selby Long explains how a leader’s emotional state shapes team performance, why calm and consistency now matter more than constant disruption, and how grounded leadership enables effective change. Drawing on real client examples, she shares practical frameworks leaders can use to build self awareness, manage stress, and lead transformation without burning themselves or their teams out.

👉 Full Show Notes
https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/817   

🎙️ What you’ll learn 

• Why a leader’s emotional state is contagious and shapes team outcomes 
• The difference between change management and change leadership in practice 
• How calm, consistency, and grounding build trust during rapid change 
• Frameworks leaders use to recognise stress triggers and manage reactions 
• Why emotional intelligence is a competitive advantage in AI driven workplaces 

✅ Highlights 

• “The emotional state of the leader is highly contagious to the team.” 
• “You really need to understand those stakeholders and get those folks aligned.” 
• “Change management is about ensuring completion to a standard.” 
• “Change leadership is keeping people hopeful, inspired, and focused on the future.” 
• “The leadership element is what the human brings.” 
• “Calm, consistency, and stability in leaders has been really underemphasised.” 
• “Even when you think you’re hiding your emotions, you’re not.” 
• “Cultivating inner calm is a surprisingly vital foundational skill for leaders today.” 

🧰 Mentioned 

• Shirzad Chamine: https://positiveintelligence.com/about/  
• Positive Intelligence by Shirzad Chamine: https://books.google.com/books/about/Positive_Intelligence.html?id=ziSoxw_ACSwC  
• The Problem with Change by Ashley Goodall: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/203578496-the-problem-with-change  
• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: https://www.themyersbriggs.com/en-US/Explore-Solutions/MBTI 

✅Keywords 
emotional intelligence, change leadership, change management, leadership resilience, grounded leadership, stakeholder alignment, organisational change, ai leadership, inner calm, self awareness, saboteur mindset, positive intelligence 

Microsoft 365 Copilot Adoption is a Microsoft Press book for leaders and consultants. It shows how to identify high-value use cases, set guardrails, enable champions, and measure impact, so Copilot sticks. Practical frameworks, checklists, and metrics you can use this month. Get the book: https://bit.ly/CopilotAdoption

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Thanks for listening 🚀 - Mark Smith