How to Navigate Power and Politics | Eliza Turnbull

In this conversation, Eliza Turnbull - strategy, sustainability and culture specialist, founder of Kindred Collective and co-founder of Rewa Solutions — shares what years of working at the intersection of stakeholder engagement, culture design and human-centred strategy have taught her about why well-intentioned initiatives fail. Known for her work helping organisations navigate complex change, Eliza brings a rare combination of marketing rigour, philosophical grounding, and hard-won practitioner experience. She doesn't theorise about power and politics in organisations — she's lived them, including a product launch at Bupa London that was stopped cold by stakeholders nobody had thought to map. We get into why influence rarely lives where the org chart says it does, how consulting and genuine engagement are completely different activities, and what it actually takes to build a culture where innovation can survive contact with reality. We also dig into the parking attendant who held up an entire event, the professional services firm project that took two years instead of six months and why culture will trump your strategy, your process, and your best intentions every single time. Takeaways - Why the people most likely to derail your initiative are the ones you forgot to include — not the ones who disagreed - How to run a stakeholder mapping exercise that surfaces invisible power before it surfaces itself - The difference between high power and high interest — and why conflating them is one of the most common strategic mistakes - Why consulting and engaging are not the same activity — and what happens when you confuse them - How the professional services project that failed on delivery became the one that actually worked - What culture really means — and why it has nothing to do with the values on your wall - Why culture change takes 12 to 18 months of consistent daily practice, not a workshop If you enjoyed this episode, please like and subscribe, share it with someone who's been blindsided by a stakeholder they didn't see coming, and leave a review. I read every single one. Follow Eliza: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizaturnbull/ Work with Eliza: https://www.rewa.nz Follow Vaughan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vaughanbroderick/ X: https://x.com/theVBroderick Website: https://vaughanbroderick.com/ Get Innovation in Action book: https://innovationinactionbook.com/ #stakeholdermanagement #innovationculture #culturalchange #organisationaldesign #humancentreddesign #designthinking #innovation #strategyconsulting #changemanagement #leadershipdevelopment