From Manager to Changemaker: Leading Change When You’re Not in Charge
Most managers are asked to deliver transformation—but without the authority, clarity, or control to make it happen. From Manager to Changemaker is a practical leadership experience designed to help them do exactly that.
Developed and led by Adriano Pianesi, this program equips mid-level and emerging leaders with the mindset and tools to create impact from wherever they stand. Drawing on principles of adaptive leadership, Liberating Structures, and systems thinking, participants learn how to mobilize people, build trust, and move real work forward—without waiting for top-down approval.
The program reframes leadership as an act of exploration rather than command. Through interactive workshops, peer coaching, and field-based experiments, managers learn how to:
– Diagnose what’s really blocking progress in their teams or organizations.
– Build influence across silos and engage stakeholders with different priorities.
– Design small, low-risk experiments that demonstrate results and build credibility.
– Shift from managing tasks to mobilizing energy—turning frustration into forward motion.
Each participant leaves with a personalized 30-day action plan, ready to test in their own workplace, and a community of peers committed to supporting one another’s experiments.
Whether you lead a team of five or influence a network of hundreds, From Manager to Changemaker offers a proven path to lead with courage, clarity, and creativity—even when you’re not in charge.
No charge, no honorarium, no mileage costs. This guest speaker is free to groups in Washington D.C.!
Adriano Pianesi, MBA, ACC
Founder and CEO, ParticipAction Consulting, Inc.
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