I’ve spent a good part of my career turning businesses, business units and events around. Addressing revenue and profit shortfalls. Restructuring businesses. Rebranding struggling events. Repositioning products. Building new audiences.
On the face of it, these are process-driven exercises. Look a little deeper, though, and you’ll almost always find that the real issue is people.
People who aren’t properly trained or supported.
People without clear guidelines, processes or transparency.
People who lack leadership and direction.
And here’s the interesting thing: more often than not, those same people already have many of the solutions. They just haven’t been empowered to speak up. Or to speak truth to power.
That’s why I believe transformation starts with putting people first.
Change is never easy. But when people are genuinely engaged, listened to and brought along on the journey, remarkable things can happen.
Revenue grows. Costs reduce. Profit improves.
Marketing gets sharper. Customer experiences improve. New audiences emerge.
People develop. Future leaders emerge. Succession becomes possible.
Processes become clearer. Tools improve. Accountability increases.
And, perhaps most importantly, people develop a genuine sense of pride and ownership in what they’re building. Because here’s the thing:
Your people want to be successful.
- They want to be seen and heard.
- They want to contribute.
- They want to be challenged.
- They want to be led.
- And, importantly, they want to be happy.
Transformation isn’t about dragging people through change until they reach some mythical pot of gold. It’s about creating an environment where they can see where you’re going, understand why you’re going there, and believe they have a meaningful role in getting there.
- Personally, I welcome change.
- I welcome transformation.
- I welcome evolution.
Which is just as well, because the workplace is going through profound generational change right now.
And I’m here for it. Again.
Have you ever led your team through transformational change? What did you learn?
Paul Mathers
Paul is a highly experienced commercial event executive with more than 30 years’ experience building, launching and growing successful consumer event brands across Australia, the United States, United Kingdom and Southeast Asia. His career spans business leadership, P&L accountability, strategic partnerships, sponsorship, revenue growth, brand development and team leadership. Paul has led multidisciplinary teams across sales, marketing, operations and event delivery, while developing commercially successful events in the automotive, lifestyle and pet sectors.
His achievements include leading some of Australia’s foremost consumer events, delivering multiple EEAA Award-winning exhibitions and building internationally recognised brands in highly competitive and diverse markets globally. Connect with Paul through LinkedIn HERE
