We recently connected with Suzie Lewis and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Suzie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

I work hard, but I also play hard and it’s really important to me to achieve that elusive work-life balance. I offset my long hours in front of a screen with lots of physical exercise and movement, such as cycling, running and Pilates, and I am thoroughly enjoying once again being able to travel again and meet clients, colleagues, friends and family in person, something that I have missed terribly during COVID, so much do I value human interaction and connection.

I worked for 20 years in the aeronautical industry with major clients in Europe, Asia, Australia and the United States. I worked in various fields – all linked to people, value and simplifying complexity as I am extremely value- and purpose-driven – in the fields of culture change and digital transformation and led flagship projects as well as teams large and small. I loved it, and I met some brilliant people, and had some brilliant teams,. but something was missing for me – I wanted to do things differently and in a more empowered way; I was bored of the big machine.

I had a light bulb moment one day when I decided to leave the safety, and constraints of said ‘big machine’ and branch out on my own to look at discovering other organisations and industrial sectors, and try out my own methodologies, based on the hypothesis that it was all about messy human problems whatever the setting. I was excited to discover something new and to test my hypothesis. Many people advised me not to take such a bold step but I knew I wanted to. I wanted to try out the ideas that seemed to come to me as I imagined how to create systems of change and not just in one team or one ‘project’.

The next steps were hard yet invigorating -fraught with thoughts of what if it doesn’t work’ ? I was apprehensive about the enormity of the growth curve and task that lay ahead, yet sure of my will to do what I wanted to do. The next weeks were filled with curiosity and doubt.. as I got used to having to relearn everything and understand what it meant to run all aspects of your own business : marketing, accounting, branding, business development, content creation, IT systems and platforms, new forums and networks etc. One of my colleagues gifted me with a 5 year diary. I was disciplined enough to fill it out and I’m so glad I did – it really documents the ups and downs of doing something bigger than you – bringing your vivid vision to life, which isn’t always as vivid as it seems.

I have one specific memory of realising that in fact I wasn’t tired, but lonely; I knew that the collective aspect would be missing for me as I am a real team player and love working collectively, so I used this feeling to fuel my strategy to build out my networks and wider outreach. Energy management was a huge topic to manage and really one that crept up on me, as I drove myself harder and harder to deliver.

After much consideration, I named my business Transform for Value to reflect my quest for unlocking potential and value and for sustainable, equitable and meaningful transformation. I am passionate about helping people to connect, unlock their potential and rediscover their sense of joy, both at work and at home. I do this work as a coach, both for individuals and groups, but also run programmes for organisations wanting to create powerful communities and sustainable change. Boiling this down into something tangible for people was also hard and I spent a lot of time asking for feedback on the simplicity and clarity of my mission statement, messages and methodologies.

One of my biggest questions was about how I can have maximum impact in a smaller and, at the beginning, less connected structure. However, I very quickly built and expanded my existing networks, and used COVID as an opportunity to pivot on what I did and how I did it and to add multiple channels for impact – my podcast series for example. Let’s Talk Transformation covers a variety of topics and attracts global leaders in their field to explore the human and digital sides of transformation, including the future of work, platform-based business models, tech for good and new leadership trends.

Asking for help was a key learning for me and reminds me of some feedback I got one day from my boss who said: ‘Suzie, you forget how much people liked being asked for help’. I subsequently stepped over myself a lot until it became more of a reflex. To this end, I also created my Human Systems Practitioner (HSP) Programme, to shed light on how human systems work in an organisation. It is designed to be accessible and easy to operationalise to enable and coach people to create change in their environment and bring their best selves to work. This is part of my quest for more collaborative, inclusive and regenerative workplaces and I also offer training in DE&I and for women in leadership.

As my business grew, I intentionally crafted a way of continuously learning and also keeping my operational practice and knowledge up to date to allow me to remain relevant and impactful. The next step was to collaborate with associate peers to co-create and deliver value together – allowing for more impact and a larger scope of work – which was rewarding and refilled my energy cup daily ! Building and leading more agile ecosystems is part of everybody’s ongoing challenge and the human element of these systems is the key – I feel that I should practice what I preach and therefore am constantly looking for new ways to expand and enjoy both what I do and how I do it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a dynamic and fun-loving person and like to think I bring these qualities to both my work and my private life! I am British by birth but have lived in France for many years. I still have a strong connection to my family and home nation, but feel very at home in my adopted country, which is also where my son was born. I have experienced first-hand the advantages – and challenges! – of constantly straddling two different cultures and languages. I have always loved people and connecting people to create collective communities – I did this in school as a girl guide leader, in youth orchestra and youth choir, in my family with my sisters and now in work with the different teams and communities.

Cultural identity and understanding people has, looking back, been a constant red thread through my career and has led to me setting up my own business in exactly these subjects. What I really like is watching people and ideas bounce off each other for a greater cause.

I also love reading, cooking food from all over the world, and socialising: I have a wide circle of friends with whom I enjoy eating, drinking, travelling, cultural events and talking – about anything and everything! I am a life-long enthusiastic cellist and long-standing member of an amateur orchestra. I love playing music in this collective context and being part of such a special group. This is where I learnt a lot about collective intelligence and the magic of deeper listening in systems.

My last corporate roles before setting up my own business were establishing an in-house leadership university and then as Digital Transformation Leader in a global aeronautical company based in France – I was responsible for developing and scaling the human-centred strategy for digital transformation across the organisation and deploying this in keeping with the agile culture change objectives. I loved this space, and wanted to see what impact I could have in other industries and sectors on the same topics. My hypothesis was that it was the human dimension that was the most important irrespective of the company or industry. I wanted to try out my own methodologies built from experience and collective intelligence in the organisations I worked in.

I now advise, support and coach senior leaders and organisations to nurture the human dimension of transformation, to build sustainable ecosystems and create sustainable change, looking at driving value through people as well as data and processes. I love the operational practitioning side of what I do and always make sure I am continuously in touch with the operational teams, as well as developing operational approaches. I constantly learn through my podcast series from experts, academics and operational leaders in organisations – I love these conversations.

I solve “messy human” problems for my clients ! More seriously, I help leaders and teams in organisations understand how to create more collaborative and inclusive environments – this can be through individual or team coaching, through leadership development programmes, through consulting on the human dimension of their digital and culture strategy or through systemic interventions in team workshops. I design coaching and leadership programmes with my clients to create a model that works for them and that they can use to change “the way things are done” in a more sustainable way. I am a big systems thinker and enjoy taking bits of everything I know, connecting the dots and creating new approaches, often as we go.

I am a big believer in the power of community and more regenerative, collaborative models for business, and I take this holistic lens with me wherever I go. I love supporting this process of awareness and as it transitions into a bolder understanding and people dare to try different things. Multiplying this through the quality of courageous conversations and dialogue in the organisation is what I love to do, alongside the tech and process considerations because you always need to look not only at the problem statement, but also the system within which it sits, lives and evolves.

My value base is impact, respect, learning and fun ! I think playfulness is a key lever for innovation and productivity, and busting myths about what good leaders do and don’t do, and what organisations culture should and shouldn’t be is also important for me – creating a fair and equitable environment is key for both competitive advantage but also for employees to thrive.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I think the best example of resilience is when COVID hit.

My business was 18 months old when the pandemic happened, was almost 100% face to face and my brand was not really known, although I had had some success stories of course. I often fall into the trap of delivering to see the impact and make a difference and don’t talk about it or market success stories because I’m too busy doing :-)

However, I had to make a tough decision in the face of COVID, do I ride out the storm and create space to pivot and do I even dare to pivot? Or I do I think, it was a nice adventure, but I’ll try and go back into a paid job. This was hard, and as ever, I took the more challenging decision to pivot and keep my business going, despite home schooling and the various other challenges that presented themselves at this time. I had to cultivate creative resilience – not just ‘bouncing back’ but finding a way of keeping my creativity open and actively creating new programmes/offerings and communication channels for my business, as well as new clients. I did various things that I was scared of doing, but it paid off. However, I remember creating a routine to build my mental, emotional and physical resilience to make sure that I could see it through to the end.

You can see the results in my podcast audience and traction, my programmes, and the fact that I am continuing to grow my business year on year. I am very proud of what I have achieved, and also, of the fact that what I do is in line with my value base.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of new clients for me continues to be ‘word of mouth ‘ – in keeping with my business model which has always been based on building meaningful relationships. Clearly relying solely on ‘word of mouth’ is not a strategy in itself, but it is at the heart of how I run my business.

There is a lot of pressure when setting up your own business to build a sales funnel etc in a standard way, and most people advised me not to use word of mouth as a business model. This is in fact sound advice, but I think you need to find your own sweet spot as to who your clients are and how you find them.

You must be bold enough to use your model and definition of business development and craft your own process. Here, the power of community is also very prevalent for me. I spend a lot of time connecting people and connecting with people, and I love building communities of practice and wisdom. These communities have also contributed to my business model in some cases.

Building and leading more agile ecosystems is part of everybody’s ongoing challenge and the human element of the workplace has never been more important as we move into a more hybrid and platform-based way of working. We must look at how to enact systemic change throughout the different levels whilst allowing people to thrive in a safe place. We need to consciously shift the systems of today into healthy systems for tomorrow, and building communities of practice/support/business development is one of the ways to incite people to create partnerships and also to test our hypotheses for more regenerative models of business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://transformforvalue.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/transformforvalue
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/SLTransformforvalue
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lewissuzie
• Twitter: @Transform4Value
• Youtube: @transformforvalue7242
• Other: podcasts : https://podcasts.apple.com/fr/podcast/lets-talk/id1516783025