From the NSW Police to Toyota: Kerrie Smit’s 5 Rules for Smarter Change Leadership
What does spending over thirty years leading high-stakes business transformations for companies like Lion, the NSW Police Force, Commonwealth Bank, and Toyota teach you?
In our latest Women in Leadership series, we sat down with Kerrie Smit, Founder, CEO, and Change Director at change management agency Agencia Change to find out. In that time, Kerrie has mastered the art of bridging the gap between technical delivery and human adoption.
The 2026 talent market will be one in which agility and skills-based leadership are paramount. For this, Kerrie shares her perspective on mastering ambiguity, the power of being "coachable," and why your career should be viewed as a portfolio rather than a ladder. Here’s what she’s learned:
Change Leadership Insight #1: Getting Comfortable With Ambiguity is a Must
“Success in change management is a delicate balance: realising there is a textbook, and knowing exactly when to pull away from it”, shares Kerrie. True success lies in the balance between methodology and the ability to pivot: "Being good with ambiguity is often management speak for 'we are not in alignment.'”
In her experience, successful change management often also requires you to be comfortable working in the grey areas of a transformation: “There are times when I’ve had to push for that alignment and times I’ve had to live with a lack of unity."
Change Leadership Insight #2 Translate Transformation Into Human Terms
Whether in the rigid structures of government or the fast-paced FMCG sector, the ability to translate complex technical shifts into human terms is what Kerrie has found ensures a transformation actually "sticks": “Being people-focused and collaborative is not a soft skill—it is a strategic requirement and a process that can be learned.”
For this, Kerrie applies a diagnostic approach: “I don’t just implement a plan; I review and reinforce benefits until the change actually sticks. Working across cultures taught me that leadership is 10% what you say and 90% how you listen.” She adds: “In a foreign environment, you quickly learn that influence isn't about authority; it’s about finding the common human denominator in interactions.”
Change Leadership Insight #3: The Most Effective Leaders are “Coachable”
One of the most profound shifts in Kerrie’s career came from a simple piece of advice: Be coachable. While early-career professionals often focus on proving their value and climbing the ranks, Kerrie argues that the most impactful leaders are those who remain quietly observant and open to growth.
This mindset was the catalyst for founding Agencia Change. Kerrie believes that for any organisational change to be sustainable, leaders must first model self-change: “You cannot lead a team through transformation if you aren't willing to be the most coachable person in the room. I am not afraid to take a big step and learn while doing which encourages others around me to do the same.”
Change Leadership Insight #4: Use Data to De-Personalise Resistance
One of Kerries’ most challenging roles was as the Program Change Lead for the NSW Police Force, which required “a multi-faceted change strategy in a high-pressure, culturally complex environment.” These environments require more than just a vision – they require the right tools.
Kerrie’s approach was to make progress visible and measurable: “We built a change maturity dashboard. By doing so, we effectively de-personalised the resistance. It turned a cultural battle into a data-driven conversation about readiness.”
Change Leadership Insight #5: Your Career is a Portfolio, Not a Ladder
Reflecting on a career that spans corporate giants like Toyota and Unisys to creative freelancing to starting her own business, Kerrie’s advice to the next generation of leaders is clear: Career pivots will teach you more about business modelling, resource allocation and negotiation than any single corporate role ever could. She explains: “I would tell my younger self not to fear the pivots.”
Kerrie sees these 'gaps' as often where the real growth happens. She would tell her younger self that a career isn't a ladder—it’s a portfolio: “Don't be afraid of the gaps or the pivots; those are exactly the experiences that develop the problem-solving and influencing skills that make a leader truly exceptional later”.
About Kerrie Smit
Kerrie Smit is the Founder, CEO, and Change Director of Agencia Change. With a career spanning over 30 years, she has led high-stakes business transformations for major organisations including Lion, the NSW Police Force, Commonwealth Bank, and Toyota.
Kerrie is a professional member of the Australian Institute of Project Management and the Change Management Institute. She specialises in bridging the gap between complex technical delivery and human-centric adoption, helping both individuals and organisations navigate the capabilities in modern change.
