TOP 100 MAGAZINE

Dr. Wilbert T. Wilkinson
Advancing a New Approach to Sustainable Transformation​

​​

Dr. Wilbert T. Wilkinson, Ed.D., founder and managing principal of Wilkinson Strategic Advisors, LLC, believes sustainable transformation depends as much on people as strategy. His perspective draws on decades of military leadership, management consulting, federal service, enterprise transformation, and executive advisory experience, including leading large-scale transformation and modernization initiatives within the U.S. Department of Defense.

​

During his doctoral studies in leadership and organizational innovation at Marymount University, Wilkinson investigated a critical question: Why do organizational change initiatives often fail to achieve sustainable transformation? His mixed-methods research, Achieving Sustainable Transformation: Key Factors in People-Centric Change Management, examined the human and organizational factors influencing whether change takes hold and endures.

 

The research reinforced the importance of people-centered change while leading Wilkinson to examine a broader limitation in how organizational change has traditionally been approached. Many established methodologies are structured as linear or stage-based processes that guide organizations from a current state to a defined future state. But organizations do not stop changing when that future state is reached.

 

That realization reframed the challenge. Sustainable transformation requires more than successfully implementing a change initiative; organizations must develop the capacity to continue adapting afterward. Leaders must learn from results, measure progress, reinforce effective practices, respond to evolving conditions, and adjust as new challenges and opportunities emerge. Change, therefore, cannot be confined to a finite project with a predetermined endpoint.

 

That inquiry led to the development of Wilkinson's ASCEND™ Enterprise Transformation Framework and its circular methodology, designed around a clear objective: sustainable transformation. Rather than simply repeating a change process, ASCEND™ recognizes transformation as an ongoing organizational capability requiring adaptation, learning, measurement, reinforcement, and renewal.

 

Through Wilkinson Strategic Advisors, founded in 2023, Wilkinson brings together his research, methodology, and leadership experience to advise public-sector, nonprofit, and mission-driven organizations. The firm's work encompasses executive advisory and organizational transformation, leadership development and change management, and thought leadership and enterprise innovation. Wilkinson also supports executives and change practitioners through coaching, professional development, and people-centered change strategies.

 

A retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel decorated for valor and distinguished service, Wilkinson brings a lifelong commitment to leadership, trust, adaptability, and service to his work. Today, his focus extends beyond helping organizations implement change. Through ASCEND™ and Wilkinson Strategic Advisors, he seeks to equip leaders and organizations with the enduring capacity to learn, adapt, measure progress, reinforce it, and sustain transformation. He is also developing a forthcoming book, targeted for publication in 2027, that will further explore the human foundations of sustainable transformation and translate his research and practitioner experience into practical guidance for leaders navigating continuous organizational change.

​

 

 

Dr. Wilbert T. Wilkinson
Owner: Wilkinson Strategic Advisors, LLC 
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/wilbert-wilkinson-ed-d-ma-5463256