back
to index
iLEAD Moving you forward
Quick Link Bar
   



Transformational Leadership: Managing and Leading Change


Leading Change as a Core Competency

"The rate of learning by individuals, teams, and the company as a whole must meet or exceed the pace of change in the external environment." (Michelle Darling)

Given the level of competitiveness and the pace of change today, leading change has become a core leadership competency, and the ability for organisations to learn, grow, adapt, and change has become a core organisational capability.

Transformational leaders are able to identify the need for major organisational change, and then get people involved in making the change happen. Using a variety of skills from the other leadership approaches, they are able to lead & manage change initiatives of all sizes. They are usually very good at selling their ideas, building powerful support networks, organizing various experts around critical projects, and keeping them focused and energized until the transformation is complete. These leaders know how to take action; get things done; initiate and complete projects effectively; and deliver results. Transformational leaders make things happen.

At iLEAD, we believe that all of your supervisors, managers, and executives should constantly drive positive & proactive change. They should continually seek to improve the organisation and look for new opportunities. They must develop a skill for seeking new ideas from everywhere & everyone, and implementing them. It is crucial for your managers to be continually raising the bar.

iLEAD offers both leadership development and management consulting in the area of transformational leadership. We can teach your supervisors and managers how to initiate and lead change, and we can help your organisation plan and implement a major change program.

Rather than saddling you with a single approach to change management, our unique approach introduces you to five major change management models and then teaches you how to mix and match the models according to your unique needs, the nature of the change you wish to implement, the unique strengths of the managers on your change team, and the team or organisational culture in which you are working.

We also help you understand how important it is to deal with the people side of change. We supply you with the tools you need to help your employees prepare for and make the most of change.

Please find below a summary of what we believe are the four key aspects of successful change programs.


Four Key Aspects of Successful Change Programs:
Core competencies for change management & project management


Successful Change Programs (42k)
   

 

Are You Prepared for Change?

Source: Michael Kane, Vancouver Sun.

"An amazing invention, but who would ever want to use one?"
U.S. President Rutherford Hayes, after participating in a trial telephone call in 1876

"Everything that can be invented has been invented."
Duell commissioner of the U.S. Office of Patents, urging President McKinley to abolish his office, 1899

"Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote."
U.S. President Grover Cleveland, 1905

"There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom."
Robert Millikan, Nobel Prize winner in physics, 1920

"Who the hell wants actors to talk."
Harry Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927

"I think there is a world market for about five computers."
Thomas J. Watson, IBM chair, 1943

"Television won't hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon tire of staring at a box every night."
Darryl Zanuck, head of 20the Century Fox, 1946

"640K is enough for anyone."
Bill Gates, Microsoft chair, 1981

"There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home."
Ken Olson, president, Digital Equipment, 1977

"80% of the technology you and I will use in 10 years hasn't been invented yet."
Jim Harris, author of The Learning Paradox

 

Our Radically Changing World

Source: Price Pritchett, The Employee Handbook of New Work Habits for a Radically Changing World: 13 Ground Rules for Job Success in the Information Age (Dallas: Pritchett & Associates, 1-800-992-5922).

  • In 1991, for the first time ever, companies spent more money on computing and communications gear than the combined monies spent on industrial, mining, farm, and construction equipment.

  • In 1950, 73% of U.S. employees worked in production or manufacturing. Now less than 15% do.

  • Already, an estimated two-thirds of U.S. employees work in the services sector, and "knowledge" is becoming our most important "product."

  • Less than half of the workforce in the industrial world will be holding conventional full-time jobs in organisations by the beginning of the 21st century. Those full-timers or insiders will be the new minority.

  • There has been more information produced in the last 30 years than during the previous 5,000. The information supply available to us doubles every 5 years.

  • The first practical industrial robot was introduced during the 1960's. By 1982 there were approximately 32,000 robots being used in the U.S. Today there are over 20,000,000.

  • Today's average consumer wears more computing power on their wrist than existed in the entire world before 1961.

  • Computer power is now 8,000 times less expensive than it was 30 years ago. If we had similar progress in automotive technology, today you could buy a Lexus for about $2. It would travel at the speed of sound, and go about 600 miles on a thimble of gas.

  • Look at the roster of the 100 largest U.S. companies at the beginning of the 1900's. You'll find that only 16 are still in existence.

  • Now consider Fortune magazine's first list (published in 1956) of America's 500 biggest companies. Only 29 out of the 100 firms topping that first "Fortune 500" could still be found in the top 100 by 1992. During the 1980's, a total of 230 companies (46%) disappeared from the "Fortune 500."

Conclusion: This is a totally new world. We are operating in a totally new game, with new players and new challenges. This new world requires a new kind of leadership:

fast, flexible, resourceful, savvy, strategic --
and at every level of the company.

No one person is capable of seeing everything -- of seeing every problem, every challenge, and every opportunity. Leaders today must draw on the experience, smarts, capabilities, initiative, and energy of all employees -- and keep it all focused on achieving the mission, vision, and strategy.


Resources 
  • Abrahamson, Eric, "Change without Pain," Harvard Business Review (July-August 2000): 75-79.
  • Beer, Michael and Nitin Nohria, "Cracking the Code of Change," Harvard Business Review (May-June 2000): 133-141.
  • Breen, Bill and Cheryl Dahle, "Filed Guide for Change," Fast Company (December 1999): 384-405.
  • Bridges, William. Managing Transitions (Addison Wesely, 1991).
  • Collins, James C. and Jerry I. Porras. Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (HarperBusiness, 1997).
  • Fishman, Charles, "Change," Fast Company (April:May 1997): 64-75.
  • Gary Hamel, "Waking Up IBM: How a Gang of Unlikely Rebels Transformed Big Blue," HBR (July-August 2000): 137-146.
  • Heifetz, Ron. Leadership Without Easy Answers (Belknap Press, Harvard University Press, 1994).
  • Johnson, Spencer. Who Moved My Cheese? (Putnam 1998).
  • Kotter, John P. Leading Change (Harvard Business School Press 1996). "Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail," Harvard Business Review (March-April 1995): 11-20.
  • Larkin, T.J. & Sandar Larkin, "Reaching & Changing Frontline Employees," Harvard Business Review (May-June 1996).
  • O'Toole, James. Leading Change, Overcoming the Ideology of Comfort and the Tyranny of Custom (Jossey-Bass 1995).
  • Mintzberg, Henry, Bruce Ahlstrand, & Joseph Lampel. Strategy Safari (Free Press 1998): 324-347.
  • Pritchett, Price, "Overcome Resistance," Executive Excellence (Feb. 1997): 13-14.
  • ___ . Firing up Commitment During Organisational Change: A Handbook for Managers (Dallas: Pritchett & Assoc. 1996).
  • Quinn, Robert E. Deep Change: Discovering the Leader Within (Jossey-Bass, 1996).
  • Ransdell, Eric, "IBM's Grassroots Revival," Fast Company (October:November 1997): 182-199.
  • Schaffer, Robert H. & Harvey A. Thomson, "Successful Change Programs Begin with Results," Harvard Business Review (Jan.-Feb., 1992): 79-89.
  • Schaffer, Robert H. High Impact Consulting: How Clients and Consultants Can Leverage Rapid Results into Long-Term Gains (Jossey-Bass 1997).
  • ___ . The Breakthrough Strategy: Using Short Term Successes to Build the High Performance Organisation (Harper, 1988).
  • Schaffer, Robert H. and Harvey A. Thomson, "Successful Change Programs Begin with Results," Harvard Business Review (Jan.-Feb., 1992): 80-89.
  • Sheff, David, "Levi's Changes Everything, " Fast Company: The Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 (1997): 24-31.
  • Strebel, Paul, "Why Do Employees Resist Change?", Harvard Business Review (May-June 1996): 86-92.
  • Tichy, Noel, "Bob Knowling's Change Manual," Fast Company (April:May 1997): 76-82.
  • Tichy & Sherman. Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will (Harper Business 1994).
  • Ulrich, Dave. Human Resource Champions (Harvard Business School Press, 1997), chapter six, "Becoming a Change Agent."
  • "Communicating Change: A Dozen Tips from the Experts," Harvard Management Communication Letter, Vol. 2, no. 8 (Aug. 1999).

 

Related iLEAD Programs

  • For more information on our "Transformation Leadership" workshop or our consultation in the area of managing and leading change: +61 (0)2 8704 4699, info@ilead.com.au.











       Workshops | Consulting | Strategic Thinking | Research | About iLEAD | Contact Us | Home
      © 2001-2004. iLEAD (Aust) Pty. Limited. All Rights Reserved.