1. Lesson 6
Leading Lasting Change
Introduction
Business leaders take people from A to B. Such movement requires change. We cannot
experience new realities without changing. We therefore cannot speak of leadership without
speaking of change, because leaders are managers of change. It is crucial for potential leaders to
learn the art of being a change agent. Many people are looking to leaders today in the hope that
the leaders will bring change. Effective leaders have learnt the art of transformation, and
particularly how to deal with people during times of transition. Many leaders lose their
credibility because they fail to carry their followers through times of change.
“Nothing endures but change”.
Hericlitus
“History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking
obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged”.
BC Forbes
“Simply doing more of what worked in the past…will be too incremental. More than that, it will
be too slow. The winner of the future will be those that can develop a culture that allows them to
move faster, communicate more clearly and involve everyone in a focused effort to serve more
demanding customers”.
Jack Welch – General Electric
I. What are some of the major forces that cause change?
Forces for change can be put into two categories; external and internal:
A. There are external forces for change
1. Demographic – age, education, skills, gender, immigration
2. Technological advancement – automation
3. Market changes – mergers and acquisitions, domestic and international competition,
recession
4. Social and political pressures – war, values, leadership pressures
B. There are internal forces for change
1. HR problems
2. Management decisions
II. What are the different types of change?
Change can move from one area to another as shown in the diagram below:
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2. Adaptive change
Innovative change
Radically innovative change
As we progress from adaptive change to radically innovative change there is also an increase
in
• the degree of complexity, cost and uncertainty
• potential for resistance to change
List personal examples of these three types of change
III. What are some key assumptions to have when carrying out change strategies?
A. The changing process involves learning something new, as well as discontinuing current
attitudes;
B. People are the hub of change so it is about people changing;
C. Resistance to change is found even when the goals are highly desirable;
D. For effective change to take place, the new behaviours need to be reinforced;
E. Many changes today are radically innovative and as a result, there is greater potential for
resistance to change.
IV. What are the components of Leading Change
A. Management and awareness of existing corporate norms and politics.
B. Inquiring, calculated risk-taking willing to challenge the status quo
C. Creation of guiding coalition for change
D. Multi-dimensional Systems thinking
E. Designing, Monitoring, and Evaluating the change process
F. Being Decisive and Tough-Minded
G. Determination and resilience
H. Empathy and understanding of psycho-social change processes.
It is important to know what our strengths and weakness are with regards to the various
components of change management. Each of these components requires unique ways of
processing information.
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3. V. Why do people often resist change?
A. Low-self-esteem.
• Fear of change often stems from a low self-esteem, where individuals doubt their ability
to cope with the change.
B. Identity issues.
• Individuals will resist change if their personal identity is closely tied to the status quo;
• Change is enjoyable to some who have no stake in the status quo
• Loss of status or job security
C. Fear of the unknown.
• Fear of the unknown can keep us from taking promotions or resigning.
• A key to coping with change is to try out the new before giving up the old. Pilot projects
as opposed to wholesale change, are often good because of this approach.
D. Poor change management by change agents.
• For example, change agents have often made the mistake of thinking humans are just
rational and therefore they often forget the emotional aspects of change. As a result they
often place too much emphasis on trying to improve their communication of the rational
aspect.
• Lack of warning or tact
• Poor timing
• Culture of mistrust
• Personality of change agent
E. Negative previous experiences of change.
Managing change therefore involves an understanding of cultural change, which was discussed
in an earlier lesson.
F. The impact of change on relationships and current social networks.
G. Peer Pressure
H. Different predispositions to change.
People handle change differently based on their predispositions. We need to be aware of the
strengths and weaknesses of our tendencies.
1. Analytics/Cool Blues
• needs to be convinced that the change makes sense in order to go along with it
• looks for a logical basis for the change, become baffled by non-logical factors (e.g.
politics)
• needs time to think about the change and the impact
• will be adaptable to the change as long as personal principles are not threatened
• uncomfortable and unwilling to take risks
• will be challenged by the overwhelming hurdles the change may present
2. Amiables/Earth Green
• will be open to change that is aligned with their own values
• will be very resistant if deeply held (and often unexpressed) values are threatened or
compromised
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4. • will focus on the actual details of the change and not be attracted to the “what could be”
scenarios
• will be reflective, open, and willing to listen to all points of view
• will be concerned about impact on people during the change
• will want the process of change to be people-friendly and inclusive
3. Expressives/Sunshine Yellow
• will be very willing to try new approaches
• often the initiators of change
• will want the change to benefit people, and will devise change processes to pull people
together
• may not have a good sense of their own energy commitments during change, and can
become overloaded
• will be aware of and responsive to others’ needs during the change
• will want to have a sense of being in control and moving forward during the change
4. Drivers/Fiery Red
• will be prone to introduce change when in a position of control, but can be less
comfortable with change when not in control of the process or outcome
• will have strongly held views of what ought to happen, which will usually be based on
previous experience of what has worked in the past
• capable of dealing with multiple factors and complex change situations
• will manage change rationally by using planning tools
• will seek to impose a structure, striving to eliminate any ambiguity
• will support change if there is a convincing rationale or tangible benefit, but may not be
inclined to support change when there is no visible problem they can see.
Often our predisposition towards change is due to factors based on life experiences. (E.g. how a
child learns to deal with change or ambiguity).
List various changes you have had to go through during the last ten years. Categorise
them into adaptive, innovative and radical change.
• How did you cope with each of these transitions? (Include how you felt)
• Do you generally deal well with change? If not, why?
• Does the way you deal with change vary according to the situation?
• What would make you deal with change better?
• Think of a time when you have had to lead a change process. This can either be at
home or at work. How did you help the people to cope with the transition? What
strategies did you use?
VI. How do we learn cope with change?
A. We cope with change by co-operating with God’s process. (Rom 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18)
B. We cope with change by trusting that God takes us from glory to glory.
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5. C. We cope with change by building our capacity in adaptability and resilience.
Adaptability and Resilience Radar Graph
Activity: Identify your highest and lowest points and discuss.
Andy Lothian
D. We cope with change when the reason for our change becomes larger than our
resistance of change.
Vision x Next Step x Motivation > Resistance to change
– Gleicher’s model (cited in ‘Organizational Transitions’ by Beckhard, R. & Harris, R., 1987)
E. We cope with change through education and communication.
F. We cope with change through participation and involvement in the change process.
When change strategies are being considered, the correct timing is necessary for its
implementation.
Organisational change is less successful when leaders fail
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6. 1. To tell employees about the process of change.
2. Provide generous information about the change.
3. Inform employees about the reasons for the change.
4. Have meetings to address them and respond to questions concerning the changes.
VII. Why Change Does Lasting Change often not Occur?
Expert on leadership and change, John Kotter (1988), has outlined eight reasons why change
strategies often fail:
A. low sense of urgency for change.
B. lack of a guiding coalition responsible for the change.
C. lack of vision to guide the process.
D. lack of communication of the vision.
E. lack of removal of obstacles to change (political dynamics within the organisation).
F. lack of short-term wins.
G. declaring victory too soon.
H. lack of reinforcement the change.
It is important to note that change strategies work, but they need to operate on multiple levels,
having both short-term and long-term results.
References
Kotter, J.P. (1988). The leadership factor. New York: Free Press.
Kotter, J.P. (1990) A force for change: how effective leadership differs from management. New
York: The free Press
Bennis, W. (2000). Managing The Dream. Reflections on Leadership and Change. Addison-
Wesley Publishers.
Andrew Lothian (Insights Learning & Development) – Radar Graph; Insights into behavioural
preferences for change.
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