What if your organisation kept driving strategy forward, even when you or your team weren’t in the room? You step away for a week, and progress continues, led by teams who are pulling, not waiting to be pushed.
That’s the beauty of a flywheel: it keeps turning, even when you lift your foot off the pedal. (I’m grateful for this on my spin bike!)
Last week, we explored how to generate momentum across siloes using cross-functional teams. This week, let’s focus on building a strategy flywheel from the view of a central coordination function.
Your functions led by a Chief Transformation Officer, VP of Strategy, VP Enterprise PMO, or Chief AI Officer are central to implementing AI-enabled strategies and digital transformation. Key to the success of these internal leaders is a shift from a command-and-control mindset to a momentum-builder role.
A Transformation Leader Using a PULL Approach
Here’s how one Transformation Leader I worked with made that shift (details changed for privacy reasons). Sue’s strategy was solid. Her communications were engaging. But progress was slow and she was frustrated.
Together, we restructured her implementation approach from PUSH to PULL. Instead of involving all business units in the change process, we narrowed her team’s initial focus to the units where the executive in charge was already eager to engage (where PULL momentum was already there).
Within weeks, the energy changed. Leaders in other parts of the business saw the early results, and began asking how they could get involved. Sue no longer had to push; people were pulling. The flywheel had started.
Sue’s success is a great example of what it takes to build a strategy flywheel from a central role.
Influencing behaviour is key
If you’re leading a strategic initiative across your organisation, you will need to influence behaviour. Authorisation from your official role (your positional power) is insufficient. However, if you can influence people that THIS is something that THEY want, you will build momentum, you will stand out and achieve spectacular success in your role.
3 Tips for a Transformation Lead to Build Momentum
The 3 tips that correspond to the 3 components of the flywheel diagram:
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Business Strategy: Choose your strategic message carefully. A clear message of your strategic goals, supported by leadership, that resonates with your culture is GOLD. Craft your message carefully. Test it out (with a coach, peer or AI).
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Change Management: Make participation demand-driven. Treat involvement as an opt-in, at least early on. Your team’s capacity is limited, so prioritise those business units who believe in the strategy and are eager to participate. Scarcity builds interest. People prefer having autonomy to choose where, when or whether they participate. Offer a choice to people, and watch your momentum build.
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Project governance: Ensure governance supports, not hinders, delivery. It sounds obvious, but so often I hear business units complaining about the central function (Chief Transformation Officer, PMO, Shared Services or any central coordination mechanism). They describe it as “bureaucratic”. They are cynical about the central “support” . Yet the governance function should feel like an enabler, not a restrictor. For more, see here.
A strategy flywheel gains strength not from force, but from how people engage with it. When you as the Transformation Lead provides clarity, autonomy, and the right support, then momentum builds. And it keeps building, with or without you pushing.
This is true for any central role that is leading strategic organisation-wide initiatives, whether you’re embarking on a Marketing Refresh, AI Innovation, or a Culture Project . You can deliver astounding results, way beyond expectations, if you have buy-in from a critical mass of people.
“Large-scale change efforts achieve 24% more of their planned value when a dedicated Chief Transformation Officer oversees them.”
Pete Clifton-Smith, APAC General Manager, Movemeon (based on 2025 research by Bain and Movemeon, in discussion with Fortune 500 executives)
Always remember to adjust your approach to suit your culture. Here’s an approach for grinch-like stakeholders in risk-averse cultures.
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About Lisa Carlin
Lisa Carlin is a Strategy Execution Specialist. She works with business leaders to go from strategy to plan to result, in tough environments. Her clients love having her expertise and guidance to navigate their workplace culture and use AI to achieve success.
Lisa is author of the globally acclaimed newsletter, Turbocharge Weekly, read by 8,000 business leaders.
Lisa’s career includes roles at McKinsey and Accenture, then running her own business since 1999. Over this time she has delivered over 50 implementations with a 96% success rate.