Change Within to Change Outside – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1246

 Change Within to Change Outside – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1246

Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1246 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to pharmaveterans2017@gmail.com  for publishing your contributions here.

Credit: Kampus Production

Preamble

This blogpost is based on a McKinsey article which takes insights from the book “Winning fron Within’ by Erica Ariel Fox (Harvard). Link at the end.

Change Leader, Change Thyself: Why Real Transformation Begins Within

Organizational change is one of the most talked-about, and among the most misunderstood, topics in leadership. Companies invest heavily in strategy, restructuring, technology, and processes, yet a large proportion of transformation efforts still fail.

Why?

A powerful insight from McKinsey & Company’s article “Change Leader, Change Thyself” provides a deceptively simple answer: Organizations don’t change; people do. And people don’t change unless leaders change themselves first.

This idea shifts the entire paradigm of leadership. Change is not just an external exercise of strategy and execution. It is an internal journey of self-awareness, mindset transformation, and behavioral alignment.

This blog explores the key insights from the article and what they mean for leaders navigating complex change.

The Core Problem: Why Change Efforts Fail

Most organizations approach transformation as a technical challenge:

• redesign processes

• introduce new systems

• define new strategies

But the real challenge is adaptive, not technical.

McKinsey research shows that many change initiatives fail because leaders do not role model new behaviors, employees revert to old habits, and underlying mindsets remain unchanged.

In other words, you can change the structure, but if you don’t change the thinking, nothing really changes. This is why traditional transformation efforts often deliver short-term results but fail to sustain impact.

The Missing Piece: Looking Inward, Not Just Outward

A central idea in the article is that leaders must balance two dimensions:

• Outward focus: strategy, execution, performance

• Inward focus: mindset, identity, behavior

Most leaders are highly skilled in the outward dimension. They analyze markets, design strategies, and drive execution. But they often neglect the inward dimension, their own inner operating system.

The article argues that meaningful transformation requires leaders to ask deeper questions:

• What drives my behavior under pressure?

• Which habits limit my effectiveness?

• How do my assumptions shape decisions?

This process is not easy. It requires confronting personal blind spots and internal contradictions. But without it, change remains superficial.

The “Inner Leadership Team”: Understanding the Big Four

One of the most powerful frameworks in the article is the concept of the “inner leadership team”, often described as the “Big Four.”

According to the framework, every leader operates through four internal dimensions:

1. The Dreamer (Visionary CEO): Focuses on purpose, aspiration, and possibility.

2. The Thinker (Analytical CFO): Drives logic, analysis, and decision-making.

3. The Lover (Empathetic CPO): Represents emotions, relationships, and values.

4. The Warrior (Execution-focused COO): Ensures action, discipline, and results.

These are not roles in an organization; they are roles within the leader’s mind.

Why This Matters

Most leaders tend to over-rely on one or two of these dimensions. For example:

• A highly analytical leader may neglect empathy

• A visionary leader may struggle with execution

• A relationship-focused leader may avoid tough decisions

The result is imbalance.

Effective leadership requires accessing all four dimensions and knowing when to use each.

Profile Awareness: The Foundation of Leadership Growth

The first step toward better leadership is what McKinsey calls “profile awareness.”

This means understanding your dominant tendencies, your strengths and blind spots, how you respond under stress, and which “inner voices” you rely on most. 

Without this awareness, leaders operate on autopilot. With it, they gain choice and control.

For example:

• A leader who recognizes a tendency toward over-analysis can consciously shift toward action

• A leader who avoids conflict can develop the courage to confront issues

Self-awareness transforms leadership from reactive to intentional.

State Awareness: Managing Yourself in the Moment

Beyond understanding who you are, leaders must also understand how they show up in different situations. This is called state awareness.

Leaders operate in different emotional and mental states: calm vs reactive, open vs defensive, and confident vs fearful. These states directly influence decision quality, communication style, and team dynamics.

For example:

• A stressed leader may become controlling

• A defensive leader may resist feedback

• An anxious leader may avoid decisions

The ability to recognize and manage these states is critical. Leadership is not just about what you do—it is about the state from which you do it.

Closing the Performance Gap

Every leader has a gap between intentions (what they want to do), and actions (what they actually do). This is the performance gap.

For example:

• A leader wants to empower teams – but micromanages

• A leader values collaboration – but dominates discussions

• A leader promotes innovation – but punishes failure

Closing this gap requires awareness, discipline, and behavioral change. 

It is not enough to “know” what good leadership looks like. Leaders must practice and embody it consistently.

Role Modeling: The Most Powerful Change Tool

One of the strongest findings in McKinsey research is that leaders shape behavior through example more than instruction.

People do not follow what leaders say, they follow what leaders do.

If a leader talks about transparency but withholds information, promotes collaboration but rewards individual performance, and encourages innovation but punishes risk, the organization will follow behavior, not words.

This is why transformation often fails. Leaders unknowingly reinforce the very behaviors they are trying to change. True change begins when leaders align their actions with their stated values.

The Courage to Change Yourself

The hardest part of leadership transformation is not strategy; it is self-change. 

Changing oneself requires humility, vulnerability, and willingness to confront discomfort. 

Many leaders resist this because they are successful already, they fear losing control, and they avoid confronting weaknesses. 

But as the article suggests, the deeper the change required in the organization, the deeper the change required in the leader. 

From Individual Change to Organizational Transformation

When leaders change, organizations follow.

Why? Because leadership behavior shapes culture, decision-making, priorities, and norms.

For example:

• A leader who listens deeply creates a culture of openness

• A leader who takes accountability builds trust

• A leader who embraces learning fosters innovation

Conversely:

• A reactive leader creates fear

• A controlling leader limits initiative

• A disconnected leader erodes engagement

Organizational change is therefore a cascade of behavioral change, starting at the top.

Practical Lessons for Leaders

The insights from “Change Leader, Change Thyself” translate into several practical actions:

Start With Self-Reflection. Regularly ask:

• What is driving my behavior?

• Where am I overusing my strengths?

• What am I avoiding?

Develop Your “Inner Team”. Strengthen all four dimensions:

• Vision (Dreamer)

• Analysis (Thinker)

• Empathy (Lover)

• Execution (Warrior)

Pay Attention to Your State. Notice:

• how you react under pressure

• how your emotions influence decisions

Align Words and Actions. Ensure that:

• your behavior reflects your values

• your actions reinforce desired culture

Lead by Example. Remember:

The organization is always watching and learning from you.

A Deeper Reflection: Leadership as Inner Work

The article ultimately challenges a deeply held assumption:

That leadership is primarily about influencing others. Instead, it suggests: Leadership is first about mastering oneself.

This aligns with a broader shift in leadership thinking, from command-and-control models to self-aware, authentic leadership. In today’s complex environment, where change is constant and uncertainty is high, technical expertise is no longer enough.

What matters is clarity of thought, emotional intelligence, adaptability, and inner stability.

Sum Up

The message of “Change Leader, Change Thyself” is both simple and profound: If you want to change your organization, start by changing yourself. This is not a motivational slogan; it is a strategic imperative.

Because strategies can be copied, technologies can be acquired, and processes can be replicated. But leadership behavior is unique and it shapes everything else.

In the end, the success of any transformation depends not on plans or tools, but on the mindset and behavior of the people leading it. And that journey begins within.

Concluded.

Disclaimers: Pictures in these blogs are taken from free resources at Pexels, Pixabay, Unsplash, and Google. Credit is given where available. If a copyright claim is lodged, we shall remove the picture with appropriate regrets.

For most blogs, I research from several sources which are open to public. Their links are mentioned under references. There is no intent to infringe upon anyone’s copyrights. If, any claim is lodged, it will be acknowledged and duly recognized immediately.

Reference:

https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/leadership/change-leader-change-thyself?cid=mgp_opr-eml-nsl-cls-mgp-glb--&hlkid=7bcfc675daaa429d873b1671e152677d&hdpid=a23db570-160c-4c06-98aa-069ff3610841