You Don’t Need Permission to Lead Change

You don’t need permission to lead change. Not from your boss, not from society, not from history and certainly not from the voice in your head that says, “Who am I to lead?”

Because the real question is: Who are you not to? Too often, we wait. We wait for someone to notice us. To tap us on the shoulder, to tell us we’re ready, to offer us a plan. But that permission rarely comes.

Most people don’t have someone focused on their career development, no manager mapping out their growth, no teacher guiding their next step, no friend suggesting what skills to build.

And that’s why adopting a leadership perspective is so powerful. When we see ourselves as leaders, we stop waiting and we start creating. We take ownership of our lives, our careers, and our global impact.

Leadership isn’t something you’re born with, it’s something you learn. Like any skill, it can be taught, practiced, and refined, At any age, in any role, at any level.

Over the past two decades, I’ve worked with thousands of leaders, especially women, across the globe. I’ve seen how often they’re underestimated, overlooked, or told to wait their turn. And I’ve seen what happens when they don’t wait for permission, when they lead, when they transform themselves and others.

That’s why I created the 1 Million Change Leaders by 2030 initiative.

It’s a bold, global movement to inspire, equip, and mobilise one million people to become everyday leaders of change in their lives, work, and communities.

It’s deeply rooted in UN Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality, but it goes beyond gender, policy and metrics to focus on personal transformation, collective intelligence, and real-world impact.

Why Now?

We are living in a time of unprecedented disruption:

Workplace change: 64% of employees feel overwhelmed by how quickly work is changing. 68% would consider changing careers.

Mental health: Diagnoses of anxiety and depression have risen by 40% since 2019.

Climate crisis: The past decade was the warmest on record. Ice melt and sea level rise are accelerating due to human activity.

Conflict: Armed conflicts have nearly doubled in the past five years, with a 30% increase in conflict-related deaths in 2024 alone.

Change is no longer a phase. It’s the new normal. And in this reality, the question is not “Will I face change?” It’s “How will I lead through it?”

What Is Change Leadership?

Change leadership is the ability to inspire, influence, and mobilise yourself and others toward a future that doesn’t yet exist.

It’s not just about executing an operational plan, it’s about creating the conditions for transformation.

Change management asks: “How do we implement this?”

Change leadership asks: “Why does this matter, and how do we bring people with us?”

At Aspire, we focus on change leadership because we believe that real transformation begins with people, not processes.

And crucially, leadership is not reserved for executives or senior leadership teams. It’s not about hierarchy, it’s about humanity. It’s not about position, it’s about perspective.

Leadership is a mindset. It’s the decision to take responsibility, to act with purpose, and to influence change, wherever you are and whoever you are. Change leadership is a skill set that can be learned, practiced, and refined.

Who Is This For?

Change leadership is for everyone. It’s for:

The frontline worker who sees a better way

The parent modelling resilience every day

The team member who dares to ask, “Why?”

The student who wants to make a difference

The retiree who still has wisdom to share

Leadership is not a privilege. It’s a responsibility. And it’s not something you wait for, it’s something you cultivate.

We must move away from the outdated notion that leadership belongs only to those at the top. Empowering people to adopt a leadership mindset, regardless of age, role, or level, is critical to leading change.

We must embrace the idea that education and development are lifelong pursuits. Leadership doesn’t come naturally to most, it must be taught, nurtured, and supported.

It’s about stepping up, together.Because when we lead together, we build a world that works better for everyone.

How Our Model Stands Apart

Our model is not just about leadership, it’s about mobilising a global movement of individuals committed to leading change.

From Individual to Movement: We scale transformation into a global movement, mobilising 1 million change leaders by 2030.

From Process to Purpose: We distinguish between change management (process) and change leadership (purpose).

From Hierarchy to Humanity: We reject authoritarian leadership in favour of inclusive, visionary, and deeply human leadership.

From Self-Help to Systemic Change: We empower leaders to challenge norms, dismantle bias, and lead with authenticity.

From Thought Leadership to Movement Leadership: We’ve evolved from ideas to action, mobilisation, and global impact.

From Isolation to Collective Intelligence: We believe that long-term success and consistency in delivering individual goals and aspirations comes from collaborative connection, support, and accountability between people.

When diverse change leaders come together, whether working on business transformation, culture change, talent development, climate action, poverty alleviation, education reform, or social justice, they accelerate each other’s progress.

Our model builds on the idea that diversity is not only about demographics, but also about psychographics, shared values, and purpose-driven collaboration.

The Path Ahead

The Aspire 1 Million Change Leaders initiative is a five-year iterative project that begins on 8th September 2025 with our hybrid launch at Telefónica Tech UK. It continues with the Pioneer Change Leaders Research Day on 11th September 2025 at King’s College, London, and evolves into The Pioneer Change Global Hybrid Conference on 10th and 11th November 2025.

Rather than mapping everything out in advance, we are embracing an adaptive, co-created approach. Each time we come together, we will redefine the next step, guided not by rigid plans but by the collective intelligence, lived experience, and leadership of those involved.

This is a bold departure from traditional programme design, opening us up to more inclusive and collaborative metrics of success, and empowering individuals to shape the journey as it unfolds.

We invite the combination of both possibility and pragmatism!

Your Invitation

Join us at the Aspire 1 Million Change Leaders launch at Telefónica Tech UK.

Date: Monday, 8th September 2025 | Location: Telefónica Tech UK, 20 Fenchurch Street, London, UK or via Teams.

Find out more here

Sources

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The Annie E. Casey Foundation. Emergency Room Visits for Mental Health. https://www.aecf.org

Gallup. State of the Global Workplace Report 2024. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx

LinkedIn. Workforce Confidence Index: 2024 Trends in Career Change. https://www.linkedin.com

FlexJobs. Career Change Survey 2024. https://www.flexjobs.com

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IPCC. Sixth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2023. https://www.ipcc.ch

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UN SDG 5. Achieve Gender Equality and Empower All Women and Girls. https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal5

Harvard Business Review. Why Change Efforts Fail. https://hbr.org

Kotter International. 8-Step Process for Leading Change. https://www.kotterinc.com