Leaders are a disruptive force for good; they don’t leave things the way they found them but blaze a trail of change in ardent pursuit of excellence at an organization-wide level. They push the envelope bringing about both personal and organizational change. So suggests an article on Insights®, which addresses the leadership of organizational change and probes the challenges involved as well as the leadership action necessary to bring the process to a successful conclusion.
The challenges surround the complex nature of the undertaking which involves both external and internal components. The external component comprises concrete aspects such as actions to be taken or certain events occurring, and the internal component involves adaptation to change and a range of emotional reactions that are stimulated by the change process. The emotional effect on employees typically drags on after implementation of the change. This is due to the rapidity with which the change occurs in contrast to the slowness with which employees adapt to it.
Change leaders can use strategies to manage the process successfully. One strategy is to first embrace the process themselves and adopt a positive attitude towards it so they can lead by example in order to influence employees positively. This involves exercising emotional control and motivating employees to embrace and adapt to the change also. Secondly, they must demonstrate the values of the organization through their leadership behavior. Leadership behavior has the greatest impact on the culture of the organization. The stressful change process will severely test leadership behavior and expose the leader’s strength of character.
Leaders must also exhibit order and control and be transparent to employees about the rationale for the change. They must communicate with employees and be available to assist those who require assistance. Additionally, they must promote learning and growth and be compassionate towards those who are struggling with accepting the change. Being compassionate requires empathy and the ability to listen deeply to employees’ concerns.
eCornell’s certificate program in Change Management is designed to help you manage the change process successfully from conception to implementation.
eCornell courses are approved by SkillsFuture Singapore for SkillsFuture Credit as well as by HRDF Malaysia under its SBL Scheme.