In our experience of working with many organizations, we discovered that some of the biggest frustrations and challenges often faced when implementing new ideas or changes was a lack of change leadership as a competency across board from the individual contributor to management.
And this can only happen when we are all empowered and equipped with the change leadership competencies and mindset to nimbly and ably navigate change within our sphere of influence. However, that is no longer the case, the ability to lead and respond to change is now a core competency required of every leader, innovator, manager, project manager, change practitioner or team member aspiring to make significant impact in their role and organization.
The following definition encapsulates this shift in paradigm, as well as the top skills required by change leaders:. Change Leadership is the ability to influence and inspire action in others, and respond with vision and agility during periods of growth, disruption or uncertainty to bring about the needed change.
Change leadership requires the need to be visionary and forward thinking, and the ability to be agile and responsive to our constantly and rapidly changing business environment. Change management tends to be more associated—at least, when it works well—with smaller changes. If you look around the world right now and just talk to people, it's not just semantics. Everybody talks about managing change and change management, because that's what they do. If you look at all of the tools, they're trying to push things along, but it's trying to minimize disruptions, i.
It's trying to make sure change is done efficiently in the sense of you don't go over budget—another control piece.
It's done with little change management groups inside corporations, sometimes external consultants that are good at that, training in change management.
It's done with task forces that are basically given the whole goal of push this thing along, but keep it under control. It's done with various kinds of relationships that are given names like "executive sponsors," where the executive sponsor watches over this thing to make sure that it proceeds in an orderly way. And change leadership is just fundamentally different—it's an engine.
It's more about urgency. It's more about masses of people who want to make something happen. It's more about big visions. It's more about empowering lots and lots of people. By providing these supports proactively, leaders can maximize the chances of success. Change leaders know that successfully achieving the vision requires maintaining momentum and avoiding backtracking wherever possible. By routinely providing updates, implementing retention strategies , making adjustments, and reiterating the vision on an ongoing basis, the organizational change initiative stays top of mind.
Some change leaders even find that conducting surveys periodically helps them to keep their finger on the pulse of employee mindsets and commitment so they can proactively overcome challenges and friction in the process.
Especially in the case of long-term change initiatives, maintaining momentum after the kickoff is crucial to success. Companies that pursue and embrace change are well positioned to continue to evolve and grow, while those that resist change are at risk of stagnation — or even extinction.
Pursuing and embracing change takes more than a change management approach. When companies simply manage change as it comes, they are constantly attempting to avoid threats. But when leaders can adopt a change leadership approach, change becomes an opportunity to thrive. Since that time, he has held a number of posts within the company, primarily in the areas of Operations, Finance, Legal, and IT. Founded in , Eagle's Flight has earned its reputation as a global leader in the development and delivery of business-relevant, experiential learning programs that achieve specific training objectives and lasting behavior changes.
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