How Senior Leaders Create Lasting Change: The Power of Intentional Change Theory
Why Even High Achievers Struggle to Evolve
Perhaps you are ambitious. Strategic. Results-driven. But despite your success, you know certain leadership behaviours - or internal narratives - aren’t serving you or your team anymore. You’ve tried changing by yourself. Sometimes it sticks. Often it doesn’t.
The issue isn’t willpower. It’s that most change efforts are reactive, compliance-driven, or externally imposed. They bypass a critical ingredient: intrinsic motivation tied to a compelling personal vision.
That’s where Intentional Change Theory (ICT) becomes a game-changer. Developed by Dr. Richard Boyatzis, ICT offers a roadmap for transformation that aligns with how the brain actually works—making it especially powerful for senior leaders navigating complexity, pressure, and constant change.
What Is Intentional Change Theory?
Intentional Change Theory is a five-stage framework for achieving sustainable, self-directed change. Unlike conventional approaches that emphasize problem-solving or performance metrics, ICT begins with who you want to become - your ideal future self - and builds change from there.
ICT is a theory of how individuals engage in desired, sustainable change, particularly through self-directed learning and development. - Boyatzis, R.E. (2006: 609)
He frames this model within complexity theory and systems thinking, emphasising that change is nonlinear, emergent, and affected by emotional and relational dynamics - which is what makes it especially relevant to leadership and coaching.
This framework is used extensively in executive coaching, leadership development, and organisational transformation.
The Five Elements of Intentional Change Theory
Envision Your Ideal Self - Your aspirational identity as a leader for example.
Assess Your Current Reality - Who you are today, with openness and honesty.
Develop a Strategic Learning Agenda - What you need to learn or shift.
Practice New Behaviours - Embed change through experimentation.
Leverage Supportive Relationships - Build a network that sustains growth.
These stages are not rigid steps, but a dynamic, iterative cycle. The process starts with vision, and evolves through feedback, learning, and relationships.
Why ICT Works: The Neuroscience of Sustainable Leadership Change
Boyatzis and neuroscientist Anthony Jack (2018) demonstrated that successful behaviour change is not just psychological - it’s biological.
Using functional MRI studies, they found that the emotional framing of coaching conversations activates different neural systems:
The Positive Emotional Attractor (PEA)
Triggered when leaders focus on personal vision, purpose, and core values.
Activates the parasympathetic nervous system - associated with openness, creativity, and learning.
Supports sustained motivation and cognitive flexibility.
The Negative Emotional Attractor (NEA)
Activated when leaders focus on problems, weaknesses, or performance gaps.
Engages the stress response - useful in a crisis, but it narrows thinking and can undermine learning.
Can cause defensive behaviour, especially under pressure.
Strategic Implication for Leaders
The research is clear: if you want change that lasts, start with vision, not problems. By activating the PEA first, leaders create the neurological conditions for deep, lasting transformation - both in themselves and in others.
Step 1: Define Your Ideal Leadership Self
Transformation begins not necessarily with fixing what's broken, but by imagining what’s possible. Your Ideal Self is a vivid, emotionally resonant picture of the leader you aspire to become.
Visioning Questions
What kind of leader do I want to be remembered as?
How do I want others to experience working with me?
Think about your hopes and aspirations. What excites you the most?
What impact do I want to have on my team, organization, and industry?
Dream and think creatively - even about what may feel unrealistic
Capture your thoughts in a manner thats meaningful to you - a detailed description in a journal, a vision board or a personal mission statement for example, Make it as rich and tangible as possible. When your vision is clear and personally meaningful, it activates long-term motivation, resilience, and clarity of direction.
Step 2: Get Real About Who You Are Today
This is the Real Self - an honest, data-informed view of your leadership as it currently stands. It includes your strengths, weaknesses, blind spots, and patterns of behaviour. Others may not see us in the same way we perceive ourselves, so the approaches below are crafted to help in this.
Its important to understand who we are today, multiple studies have shown that most people will say they have a high level of self-awareness but in reality few do.
How to Assess
360° feedback from stakeholders,
Executive psychometrics such as Hogan MVPI, HPI. HDS (see further detail here)
Reflection supported by a skilled professional coach
In particular dwell on understanding strengths, this stays in tune with he PEA neuroscience theory for ICT.
Gaps between the real and ideal self are opportunities for growth. The goal is not to judge but to understand.
Step 3: Create a Strategic Learning Agenda
The learning agenda is your transformation blueprint. It connects the dots between your current state and your leadership vision - focusing on personal development, not just performance. Approach this with a growth and learning mindset- this is all useful information to create a better version on yourself.
Key Questions
What capabilities do I need to build?
How will I practice these in real business contexts?
What success indicators will signal progress?
Who or what can support me? colleagues and your coach for example
Start small. Anchor your efforts to your core values. Build momentum through deliberate, achievable actions.
Step 4: Experiment and Evolve
Intentional change happens in the real world, not the workshop. This phase is about testing new leadership behaviours, evaluating results, and iterating.
Example: Empowerment over Control
Your vision may include being a leader who builds autonomous teams. Your new behaviour? Reducing check-ins and increasing delegation. Your experiment? Run a project where you act as a coach, not a manager.
Debrief Questions
What felt aligned with your Ideal Self?
Where did resistance show up?
What feedback or outcomes did you observe?
Use these insights to refine your approach - not as failures, but as essential data for learning.
Step 5: Build a Network That Supports Change
No transformation journey is solo. Relationships that are psychologically safe, honest, and energising help anchor new behaviours and buffer setbacks.
Your Growth Network Might Include:
An executive coach for structured support and challenge
Peer advisors or mastermind groups
Mentors who provide strategic perspective
Team members who can reflect your leadership impact
These relationships activate the PEA state - increasing your capacity for self-reflection, learning, and renewal.
Leading Others Through Intentional Change
As a senior leader, ICT isn’t just a personal development tool - it’s a strategic framework for developing yourself and others.
Embed ICT Principles in Leadership Conversations
Start with their vision - not your agenda.
Frame feedback in the context of their aspirations.
Model psychological safety by showing your own development journey.
Avoid over-identifying with their success. Support without owning their path.
When leaders coach from a place of purpose and possibility, they spark deeper motivation and trust across the organization.
Final Word: Intentional Growth Is Strategic Leadership
If you want to lead in a world of rapid change, intentional growth must become part of your leadership operating system. Intentional Change Theory offers the method, neuroscience offers the why, and your vision offers the fuel.
This is not about fixing weaknesses - it’s about evolving into a more effective, values-driven version of yourself.
Start with a compelling vision. Ground it in honest self-awareness. Build habits that reflect your values. And surround yourself with people who help you stay the course.
References and further reading material
Boyatzis, R.E., (2006). An overview of intentional change from a complexity perspective. Journal of management development, 25(7), pp.607-623.
Boyatzis, R.E. and Jack, A.I., (2018). The neuroscience of coaching. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 70(1), p.11.
Boyatzis, R., Smith, M.L. and Van Oosten, E., (2019). Helping people change: Coaching with compassion for lifelong learning and growth. Harvard Business Press.
Taylor, S.N., Passarelli, A.M. and Van Oosten, E.B., (2019). Leadership coach effectiveness as fostering self-determined, sustained change. The Leadership Quarterly, 30(6), p.101-313.
