Chief Change Officer
#137 Jason Bloomfield: Leading the Transformation of 19th-Century Giants into 21st-Century Icons
Wed, 8 Jan 2025
Get ready for a conversation that goes beyond boardrooms! Jason Bloomfield, Global Head of Change and Experience Design at Ericsson, brings over 20 years of experience from roles at M&G PLC, Prudential Financial, and MetLife. From navigating M&A integrations to reshaping direct-to-consumer strategies, he’s seen it all in organizational transformation. In this episode, Jason shares deeply personal moments—like how his parents’ separation shaped his resilience—and how he transforms challenges into opportunities. Whether you’re facing change at work or in life, Jason’s insights will resonate and inspire. Key Highlights of Our Interview: 0:36—It's All About Giving Back 4:02—From Upper Middle Class to Crash Course in Adulting: Why Unwanted Life Experiences Can Be Your Best Teachers “I was in the middle of high school, where focus on study really needs to ramp up. Instead, I was learning home economics by necessity and dealing with my parents’ rapidly deteriorating relationship.” 14:04—Building Resilient Relationships: Navigating Anxiety and Fear During Mergers & Acquisitions 17:26—Being human: How is it possible to scale empathy to 100,000 people across 180 countries? 24:44—Navigating Company Pride: When Heritage Turns into Hurdles “It’s quite a thing to come into a company that has 140, 150 years behind it. Pride can at times obscure a line of sight on the way forward.” 31:11—Asking the Right Questions: The Surprising Reasons Retirees Didn’t Want to Go Paperless “We thought retirees were less digitally comfortable, but it turns out it was a trust issue—without something physical, they feared companies might alter their records behind the scenes. Connect with us: Host: Vince Chan | Guest: Jason Bloomfield ______________________ --Chief Change Officer-- Change Ambitiously. Outgrow Yourself. Open a World of Deep Human Intelligence for Growth Progressives, Visionary Underdogs, Transformation Gurus & Bold Hearts. 6 Million+ All-Time Downloads. Reaching 80+ Countries Daily. Global Top 3% Podcast. Top 10 US Business. Top 1 US Careers. >>>100,000+ subscribers are outgrowing. Act Today.<<< --Chief Change Officer--Change Ambitiously. Outgrow Yourself.Open a World of Expansive Human Intelligencefor Transformation Gurus, Black Sheep,Unsung Visionaries & Bold Hearts.EdTech Leadership Awards 2025 Finalist.18 Million+ All-Time Downloads.80+ Countries Reached Daily.Global Top 1.5% Podcast.Top 10 US Business.Top 1 US Careers.>>>170,000+ are outgrowing. Act Today.<<<
Chapter 1: What inspired Jason Bloomfield to join the podcast?
Hi, everyone. Welcome to our show, Chief Change Officer. I'm Vince Chan, your ambitious human host. Our show is a modernist community for change progressives in organizational and human transformation from around the world. I got approached by book authors, leadership coaches, business consultants, and venture founders quite often.
They come with business purposes and goals, eager to share their ideas on books, practices, and venture ideas. I talk to each and every one of them taking it as an opportunity to make a new friend, get educated, and be inspired. But in this episode, the guest Jason Bloomfield came to me out of the blue one day. He isn't a book author, leadership coach, business consultant, or venture founder.
He is a change maker in organizational transformation. When I asked Jason why he wanted to be on my show, his response was, it's about giving back. Vince, you're also giving back by setting up and running the show. I'm just joining you in the effort. Take this episode as a love letter from Jason to you on how to navigate personal and organizational change. From the disruption in his life,
caused by his parents' separation in the U.S., to his multiple roles across different long-standing urbanizations, resolving conflicts, bridging gaps, and aligning interests through M&A integration, tech disruption, and cultural alignment. You'll hear stories and examples straight from Jason's first-hand experiences. Get ready to hear how Jason has navigated change and made it work.
Chapter 2: How did personal challenges shape Jason's resilience?
Good morning, Jason. Welcome to our show.
Thank you, Vince. It's great to be here with you and your listeners. You can tell by the accent. I'm not born and raised in the UK, actually born and raised in the suburbs of New York, Long Island, in fact. And about seven years ago now, my wife and family and I, we moved to the UK, specifically in England. And what we're finding here is it's very helpful to have a common language, asterisk.
Things are spelled differently. Some words are used in different ways. Football, for example, meaning a very different thing in America than what it does mean here today in the U.K.
Yes, football versus soccer.
Yes, indeed.
While you are now based in the U.K., Tell us a bit about your experience growing up in New York. What was it like for you as a kid? And what kind of things were you into back then?
Certainly. So growing up in the suburbs of New York out in Long Island, I really enjoyed the neighborhood we were in and the friends that we made. And we were, I'd say, upper middle class, if you will. And things were going along quite nicely until, and rather inconveniently, my teenage years, where focus on study really needs to ramp up.
And instead, what was happening was the relationship between my parents had really violently and rapidly deteriorated to the point where they were looking to try to have my sibling and I take a side. And really, they were so unable to actually care for themselves, much less my sibling and I. And so in a very rapid process,
fashion, my entire lifestyle changed where I then had to find a place for myself and my sibling, have my sibling live with me. And I was the one with an active income. It was a crash course for sure in life and home economics. really necessity as the mother of invention. And those dire challenging circumstances, socially, economically, really created resilience and has enabled me to
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Chapter 3: What lessons did Jason learn from navigating M&A integrations?
And I think one thing for sure, if anyone listening is going through a similar situation where you're having a high level of conflict and distraction amongst others, Do know that it will take time, but at the end, you will find things to smile about again.
So in your early years, you experienced what I call a major disruption beyond your control. While you mentioned that, in hindsight, you can appreciate how it helped you become more resilient to change and gave you a deeper appreciation for life. I'm curious, how did you manage to help yourself and your siblings settle down and rebuild everything from the ground up?
it was a very non-linear journey is the simplest way to describe it but really my first work experience was a paid internship through school it was what's a regional family-owned business it brought together Two passions of mine, which was business and the other is being technology. And it really helped to awaken those two passions.
Chapter 4: How can empathy be scaled in a global organization?
And having done some really great work that I'm proud of, building out offices. The first acquisition I ever did was actually with this family regional business, helping them take on another business. But quickly what I wanted to then do was to get some more broadened horizons, some differentiated experiences. And so there was a multinational company that was advertising an open role.
And I thought, you know what, I want to make that move. I want to try to get a nationally recognized business. Turns out, years later, a globally recognized brand on the resume, or the CV as we call it here.
And that leap, and I started as an hourly wage person, connecting in cables from the person's laptop to the wall and setting up their voicemail on their phones and loading software by floppy disks. I'm aging myself now. to then getting the attention in a positive way of the corporate office that was based in New York. And so then they asked would I welcome joining the home office?
And it was at 1 Madison Avenue. It doesn't get any more New York than that. And from there, Hard work translated into additional roles and responsibilities. And so after a few years, this kid from the suburbs, who never left the U.S. at all, actually found myself being nominated to work on a global acquisition and an integration of a multi-billion dollar business.
located in 13 different countries, and I was in country, on the ground, working across 17 different work streams. And so all of a sudden, I'm learning things that I'd never imagined I'd learn. Tax. product, marketing, email. And when you have a street date, a date where the transaction needs to close and everything needs to be ready, that's an immovable object.
And that's where you discover the power of constraint. It's a counterintuitive phrase, but really when you've got constraints, it forces things to happen and move. And thinking back on that experience by far and away, and to this very day, the hardest work, most stressful, and yet the most gratifying experience.
We did things like a reverse acquisition, which is a phrase I'd never even heard of until that point in time. And to this day, one of the big lessons from that, which carry forward to change and change management, is really building resilient relationships. And even though you can imagine if you're being acquired, you're going to have some natural fears and anxieties. Is my job safe?
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Chapter 5: What role does company heritage play in transformation?
what's going to be happening to my position in the company, etc. And so it's easy to be at arm's length and to be distrustful. But through transparency and finding common ground and emphasizing the common ground, talking more about what's in common than what's different, we built resilient relationships. And we had some very opposed views on things like branding, for example.
The local businesses were very proud of what they built, especially in places like Poland. And yet, exchanging candid ideas, actually, to this day, I'm still in connection with many of the people who we worked with on the side of the company being acquired, and I was the acquirer. We're still having contact today, and I think that just speaks volumes to the power of relationships.
But thinking about the school and the like, for me, I was the first in our family to go to college. And it was not because, actually, that's what my parents were nudging. They were actually nudging quite the opposite. They were really suggesting a quick, fast, locational track, which has some merits, to be sure. It has some pros.
It didn't align, though, with my passions around both business and technology. So I wanted to go to college. And I remember growing up listening to my parents or uncles and aunts when they would come over, everyone hating their job. just hating their job, talking about night shifts and not liking their manager. There needs to be a different way.
So either definition of insanity, do the same thing, but somehow expecting a different outcome. I was not going to do the same thing as them and expect a different outcome. I was going to try something different. And what that outcome might be, who knew? But I definitely wanted to give it a go.
And so after that, I did have to pause college studies, though, for some time so that I could care for the family. And then once they got to a point of self-sufficiency, I was able to resume. And it was really difficult balancing the needs of the family with what at the time was, I was very, I would say, work obsessed. And either because it was just a level of achievement that I was
inspired to reach for, or maybe it was an escape from the personal circumstances and challenges that were going on. Which of the two, maybe both, maybe neither, I really can't say, but I can say this, that it really forced me to rethink about things.
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Chapter 6: Why do retirees struggle with going paperless?
where there were times I would happily be working until 2 a.m., not because anyone asked me to, just I was consumed and passionate and driven to get things done, to move at pace. But I've since had to learn through a number of changes over life to recalibrate that in a much healthier way and recognizing that's not a luxury, that's a necessity. You have to invest in yourself.
Think of the analogy around when you travel on an airplane during the flight safety briefing. What do they say about cabin pressure and putting the mask on? Put it on yourself first before helping others.
And that concept is really important because if you're not there, if you burn yourself out, if you're not living and acting in a sustainable way, the people who count on you and the people who you care about, they won't be able to be helped by you. You need to put your mask on first. There are times where you do need to be, I'll use the word, selfish.
You need to focus on yourself so that you can be able to support and care for those who depend on you and for those who you love.
You've mentioned the word resilience quite a bit. First, in relation to your personal life and your parents' divorce. And second, regarding the M&A integration you were involved in. Now, with corporate restructuring, M&As, and costs cutting all around us, I'm curious, looking back at your early days, where you were driving M&As, integration, and navigating conflicts,
How has those early challenges helped you become more successful or perhaps, as you put it, more resilient in guiding your team, your organization through its own transformation?
The big thing, Vince, with transformation, I would say it's part instinctive and also through learning. It's something I've come to understand as a really powerful instrument, and that's empathy. And empathy comes from a number of ways, but particularly one mechanism that I employ is active listening. Not listening, active listening.
What it does is it helps you feel the shoes of the person or people across the desk, across the counter, across a video call to understand what he or she is thinking, to understand what he or she is feeling. What are their hopes? What are their aspirations? What are their fears? What are their concerns? What are their anxieties? And when you build that empathy,
what you're able to then do is to build a resilient relationship. And it starts because active listening not only allows you to hear and understand the other person, it sends a signal. It sends a signal to the other person or people just by listening, that you care.
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