Enterprise A-Z: Journeys
Moving People One Step at a Time
You share the data, tell the story, make the case. A leader nods, even sounds convinced – and then behaves exactly as before. A year later, you find yourself making the same argument to the same person.
What’s missing isn’t more information. It’s a realistic journey for that leader to walk.
Why journeys matter
We often talk to colleagues as if one great deck or workshop will flip a switch: “now they get it.” In reality, people move through stages – from unaware, to curious, to concerned, to committed, to championing. Different stages need different kinds of contact.
If you don’t name that, you end up frustrated and puzzled: “We had such a good conversation; why didn’t anything change?” When you start to think in journeys, you stop expecting a single moment of conversion and start designing repeatable steps.
What journeys actually are
A journey is the path someone takes from “this is peripheral” to “this is central to our future.” For senior leaders, that path is rarely linear or tidy. It is shaped by:
Their starting point – personal experience, role, pressures, exposure to impacts or opportunities.
The touchpoints they have – data, stories, peer examples, customer or investor pressure, operational close calls.
The first wins they experience – a pilot that works, a deal that goes better than expected, a risk that’s avoided.
Your job is not to drag people to the end state by force. It’s to notice where they are now and offer the next step that is both honest and walkable.
How to start
Map a few real people. Think of 3–5 leaders who matter for your agenda. For each, ask yourself: are they unaware, curious, concerned, committed, or already championing? What evidence do you have? This is for your eyes first, to anchor your expectations.
Design the next step, not the whole path. For each person, choose one next move that fits their stage: a site visit, a customer conversation, a short briefing on how peers are moving, a chance to sponsor a pilot, a deeper strategy session. The question is always, “What would a real next step look like for this person?”
Build journeys into your calendar. Instead of treating every interaction as a standalone event, look at the next 6–12 months and plan a sequence of touchpoints for your most critical stakeholders. A few intentional steps, spaced over time, will do more than sporadic “big conversations” that never connect.
You are not here to win arguments. You are here to walk people, over time, from where they actually are to where they need to be to lead well in this decade. Thinking in journeys lets you hold that work with more patience – and more precision.
