Magic in The Room #4: Intentional Change Theory (ICT)

March 13, 2020

In this week’s episode, Luke, Hannah, and Chris talk about moving from A to B. They offer an exploration of Richard Boyatzis’ work on intentional change and Leon Festinger’s concept of cognitive dissonance.

How many times have you tried to change something about yourself or your life and quickly find yourself slipping back into old habits? Achieving manageable and meaningful change is never easy. For example, we have all asked ourselves at some stage, what do I need to change? Should I change the belief, or should I change my behavior?

It can then turn into further questions about what’s the belief and what’s the wish. For example, do I wish to be 200 lbs? Or do I believe that I have the power to be the person that can meet that goal? These deep-seated beliefs reveal a few things about our self-image that are and often what is lurking underneath.

The intentional change theory was developed by Richard Boyatzis, Ph.D., and outlined five common-sense steps to enable anyone to make a lasting change within one’s self. In today’s episode, we discuss this theory and try to understand how we move from A to B in the most intentional way.

We also explore Leon Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory that suggests that we have an inner drive to hold our attitudes and behavior in harmony and avoid dissonance. But how should we tackle the inconsistency between our attitudes or behaviors? What must change to eliminate the dissonance?

We explore different ways of driving change and moving away from just letting life happen to you. We debate how taking incremental action through the practice of new skills can become a habit that reinforces a new belief around intentional change. But our success will always be correlated to our level of intent.

From a leadership point of view, Luke, Hannah, and Chris also discuss how you can reinforce and celebrate these positive behaviors when people are beginning to show them and creating a culture where it’s okay to experiment.

If you want to create this kind of environment where you’re able to go from point A to point B and have your entire team and an organization with you, it has to be okay to try new things and to have them not succeed the first time, right? Otherwise, how will we learn? The only way we learn is to try something different.

Most people would agree that you can only improve what you can measure. Introducing new ideas and improvements incrementally while monitoring along with the way will help leaders determine what worked well and what didn’t to make data-driven decisions.

After listening to this podcast episode, we invite you to share your experiences and insights on the intentional change theory (ICT) by commenting below.

Magic in the Room #197: Leadership Lessons for 2026

By Sarah Whitfield • February 18, 2026
In this episode of Magic in the Room, Luke, Hannah, and Chris explore the lessons, transitions, and leadership insights they’re carrying forward into 2026, emphasizing the importance of narrowing focus, letting go of resistance, and aligning with natural rhythms to create meaningful momentum. They discuss how personal and professional growth often emerges through periods of chaos and transition, highlighting themes such as intentionality, subtraction as a multiplier, and the courage required to release control, certainty, and outdated habits. Drawing on their work with purpose-driven organizations, they explain how leadership transformation begins internally, noting that organizational change is inseparable from personal development and mindset shifts. They also explore how embracing disturbance, addressing root causes instead of symptoms, and cultivating hope rather than cynicism can unlock resilience, stronger culture, and long-term performance.

Magic in the Room #196: Leading with Hope in a Cynical World

January 12, 2026
In this episode of Magic in the Room, Luke, Hannah, and Chris delve into the timely topic of hope versus cynicism in leadership, particularly in a world rife with uncertainty and negativity. The discussion focuses on whether hope alone is sufficient for transformational leadership or if, in environments steeped in cynicism, leaders must amplify their energy and intentionality, sometimes matching the intensity of cynics to move organizations forward. They examine the "hope recipe," which involves envisioning a better future, creating a pathway, and having agency. They also discuss the difficulty of maintaining agency when systems, culture, or fatigue threaten to sap it. They differentiate between strategically "letting go" and simply "giving up," emphasizing the importance of support, accountability, and self-awareness as antidotes to cynicism. 
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