Video – How did this team leader at CM handle change?

In this episode of the Kanaal Z series Leadership in Action (in Dutch), Violetta Jitormirskaya, Marketing Team Lead at CM, shares her experience of navigating a major change process. “In my mind, the change felt manageable and concrete—until, of course, reality set in.”

Violetta Jitormirskaya, Marketing Team Lead: “My biggest challenge in my leadership role right now is the recent change we’ve been through. It was a major restructuring. Change took place both at the level of individual roles within teams and in how the teams themselves were reshaped entirely.”

Ronald Beernaert, HR Director: “Like all organisations, we’re also facing a changing context—stakeholders expect different things from us, there’s digitalisation and operational challenges. It’s our leaders who are essentially our first change agents, and they need to ensure that we receive enough bottom-up feedback to make the right adjustments. That’s why we invest in this group, as they need to be resilient to effectively carry the change forward.”

Gerrit Sarens, Leadership Expert: “In a change process, it’s crucial for leaders to fully stand behind the change. Does that mean you have to support 100% of every aspect of it? Not necessarily. In our mentoring programmes, we often use the principle: 80% aligned is still 100% committed.”

Violetta Jitormirskaya: “For me, the biggest challenge during the change was the speed at which everything had to happen. The organisation doesn't stand still, so you need to move forward, and you know that. But at the same time, it’s not something that comes naturally to you—because you really want to get to know your people, understand what excites them. So that conflicted with how I naturally approach things.”

Gerrit Sarens: “When a change is announced, there are always a lot of emotions. And as a leader, it’s important to make time and space for that. But that often goes against the instincts of many leaders, who just want to help or immediately solve the emotional response. Sometimes, though, you just need to let it be. That often helps more in the long term than trying to fix things right away.”

Violetta Jitormirskaya: “In my head, the change felt achievable and concrete—until you find yourself in reality and realise: not everyone is on board yet, not everyone’s on the train—some people are still queuing up with their luggage.”

Gerrit Sarens: “In other words, create realistic expectations about how fast the change process will unfold. In practice, I often see disappointment emerge quite quickly because the initial timeline was far too ambitious, and we underestimated how long people need to process the change. That leads to frustration and disappointment, which is very harmful to the success of your transformation.”

Violetta Jitormirskaya: “CM supported me in two key ways. My manager played a crucial role. At a moment when I was really struggling, I called him and said: ‘I feel like my internal compass is under pressure.’ And he said, ‘I’m really glad you’re telling me this. In fact, I’m glad it’s tough for you.’ And I thought—oh. But then he said, ‘That means you really care.’ And that gave me a sense of calm: okay, it’s normal to feel all this. The second thing was—of course I wasn’t the only leader involved in the change. There were three others, and by sharing our struggles, we had the sense: we’re not in this alone.”

Ronald Beernaert: “Our vision is that everyone should be given opportunities. That’s why we invest in a differentiated HR policy—we genuinely invest in employees’ development and potential. And we also foster a culture of internal mobility, to give as many people as possible opportunities within the organisation.”

Violetta Jitormirskaya: “What I’ve also learned now is that sometimes you have to do things that don’t match your leadership style. But if you’re honest with your team and tell them you’re doing something that doesn’t feel entirely authentic for you—that really helps a lot.”