Leading Organizational Change

Change means that tomorrow will be different from today. Change calls for leadership. While managers administer what already is, leaders move people to create that which does not yet exist. To borrow a concept from the book Finite And Infinite Games by James P. Carse, managers play within the boundaries, leaders play with the boundaries.

There is no leader without followers. The power in the leader/follower relationship is with the latter. If no one chooses to follow, then you are not a leader but merely a dreamer.

This makes the primary challenge of leading organizational change that of getting people to follow you from the known into the unknown. To get people to let go of what is and reach for the not yet.

Individuals join any group to either satisfy needs, express their values, or both. To lead, you must get people to follow. You get people to follow by giving them a reason to do so. You do this by showing people how their participation in creating the proposed change will satisfy specific personal needs and give them an opportunity to express their values. The question you must answer for each person is, “Why should I support this change?” You must answer from the perspective of the questioner.

© Mitchell R. Alegre

© Copyright 2003-2008. Mitchell R. Alegre. All rights reserved.