What a Difference a Day Makes — When Leaders Start Behaving the Future

“What a difference a day made

Twenty-four little hours

Brought the sun and the flowers

Where there used to be rain…”

— Dinah Washington (1959); also covered by Jamie Cullum

Change is no longer the challenge.

Believability is.

Every organisation has a strategy. Most have a vision. A few even have a purpose statement that’s been through legal, branding, and three rounds of design.

But ask people what they see — and they’ll tell you what they don’t.

• They don’t see their leaders modelling it.

• They don’t see their managers making time for it.

• And they don’t see themselves in it.

Because even the best PowerPoint can’t fix what behaviour breaks.

One small signal, one big shift

A single behaviour can change everything.

I’ve seen a CEO stop the entire boardroom to ask: “What do our factory staff need to understand from this?”

I’ve seen a CHRO refuse to hire a top candidate because they didn’t match the values in how they treated the receptionist.

And I’ve seen a frontline supervisor break a 20-year habit just by sitting down and listening — properly — to someone she had dismissed for years.

One act. One day. Big difference.

Culture isn’t built in cascades. It’s built in cues.

We tend to overestimate how much people listen to leaders’ words — and underestimate how much they watch leaders’ behaviour.

This isn’t just opinion. It’s social learning theory in action (Bandura, 1977). People don’t learn from what we say; they learn from what we repeat.

The result?

• Cultures that are strong in vision but weak in visibility.

• Cultures where values live on office walls — but die in daily meetings.

A recent article in Le Monde (June 2025) reported that over 60% of European employees say they no longer believe what their leadership team says — not because it’s false, but because it’s inconsistent.

Not toxic. Just tired.

The illusion of readiness

Why do so many transformation efforts stall?

• It’s not resistance.

• It’s not change fatigue.

• It’s the illusion of readiness

Companies invest in frameworks and programs — but forget to behave their strategy.

The Prosci ADKAR model warns us that without consistent reinforcement, change collapses under the weight of daily pressure.

Acertare’s Change Barometer adds that transformation only sticks when leaders show the way visibly and early — or people assume nothing’s really changing at all.

Even AI transformation is running into this trap.

A recent Deloitte study (2025) found that 71% of organisations investing in AI still haven’t changed how they make decisions — or who gets to make them. That’s not transformation. That’s expensive stagnation (Deloitte, 2025).

Why behaviour always beats strategy

The SAT model I use with clients is simple:

Simplify. Align. Transform.

But it only works when leaders start with themselves.

• Simplify the noise around culture.

• Align your own behaviours first.

• Only then can transformation happen — visibly and meaningfully.

Culture is continuous. It’s not built in launches. It’s built in the moment you pause to ask a better question. The moment you stop saying “we” and start showing “me.”

I’ve learned this again and again: the difference between an empty rollout and a culture shift is often just one person — choosing to behave the future.

Final thought

People don’t remember the slide.

They remember the signal.

So… what signal will your team remember tomorrow?

The Author

Ilja Rijnen MSc is a global HR transformation leader, executive coach, and the founder of Talent Transformer. With over 20 years of experience across EMEA, APAC, and North America, Ilja specializes in culture renovation, leadership behavior, and strategic learning. He is the author of Design for Reality: How Behavior Beats Strategy (Every Time), and creator of the SAT model: Simplify. Align. Transform.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are my own and do not represent the views of any current or former employer. All case examples are anonymized or composited unless otherwise stated, and sources are publicly available.

References

• Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. Prentice-Hall.

• Deloitte. (2025). The State of AI Transformation: Culture, Adoption, and Blind Spots.

• Le Monde. (2025, June). Leadership Crise de Confiance: 6 Européens sur 10 n’y croient plus.

• Prosci. (2024). ADKAR: A Model for Change in Business, Government, and Our Community.

• Acertare. (2023). The Change Barometer: What Moves and What Doesn’t in Culture Work.

• Rijnen, I. (expected late 2025). Design for Reality: How Behavior Beats Strategy (Every Time). Talent Transformer Press (forthcoming).