The Role of Leadership in Implementing Organizational Change (Essay Sample)

The Role Of Leadership In Implementing Organizational Change Name Course The leaders who bring change in an organization are like rare birds. A leader can be in an organization for so long but still not bring any considerable change. Managing the human aspects of an organization and actually bringing about change is central to the success of the change leader. The effort to implement change can be focused on a department or it can be focused on the whole institution (Jeff, 2002). The reason for all failures in any organization can always be traced back to lack of good management skills and lack of change management skills by the leader in question. Another that might make the leader not to bring about the desired changes in the organization does not understand the organizational culture and the human relations in the organization. As much as the leader might want to bring about change, the existing culture might just be a hindrance to the implementation of changes. Before a leader implements change in the organization, it is important that he or she answers some of these questions. These are; Culture alignment Is there need for change in the organization? Is the change leader ready to be committed to the change for a longtime? Has the leader adapted to the process for change to be able to fit in the organization’s culture? Has the leader disarmed the culture keepers so that there will be minimal resistance once the changes are underway? Human relations Are there any change agents and missionaries in the organization? Are there enough resources and shifted responsibilities in the organization for each member to be able to bring just a little change? Will there be a need to include new recruits along the way? Or the existing staff will be reliable for the change with just a little training? Problem definition Has the leader clearly defined and stated the problems or the objectives of change? Does the diagnostic review support the proposed change initiative? Does everyone have a clear picture of the outcome of the proposed change and what will bring about the successful completion of the proposed change? Project management Has there been put in place a process for bringing the change leader into the project to see how far and how committed the team is? Has there been formed a formal process just in case there are issues that cannot be solved at the project level? This solving of issues is mostly done by the management level. Is everything clear on how the change leader is supposed to be monitoring the project? May be by the use of reports, target deadlines, the communication and how he intends to remove the barriers that might come up along the way. Has it been understood that there might be a barrier that might not be easy to solve and the project might be stopped from that instance? If all these questions can be answered, then the change leader is ready to go and he might as well start on the project. The role of the change leader is to make sure that; His leadership style is aligned with the organizational culture. So many leaders are yet to understand that employees in any organization will resist change no matter how small it is. It is the responsibility of the leader to assure the employees that the change is for their own good. This will also help them to reduce the undue stress that they might have started to suffer from. It is easier for a leader to change his leadership style than it is for the organization to adapt to the changes that are about to be brought (Julie, et al, 2010). Culture keepers are good and valuable in times of maintenance but there needs to be a status quo on the behavior in the event that there is expected to be change. The whole thing might be a tough message for the change leader to deliver but with the help of change missionaries and change agents, it will be just a walk in the park. He does not overuse the change missionaries Change missionaries are those people who are willing to step away from the status quo while adding more effort towards a good cause to help the organization. These people are known as missionaries because they believe that whatever they are doing will one day better their organization. The only problem is that leaders are always misusing this group of people thus making them suffer from burnouts. The outcome of the burnout is that these people eventually become ineffective in managing the change initiatives and the ongoing operations too. He protects his agents of change Change agents are those people who have made it their job initiate action so that the change that is badly needed in the organization is brought about. These people thrive in an environment where change is the only thing. This puts them at odds especially in an organization that believes in retaining the culture that they found there. The leader must b willing to guide these change agents because their skills do not allow relate well with the other employees. Change agents don’t always get along with the other people because some people are just plain jealous of how fast they rise on the corporate ladder(Lipit, Langseth & Mossop, 1986) Again, we all know that people are resistant to change and the fact that these change agents are receptive to change makes them an enemy of the people. As it happens with the missionaries of change, change agents are also a misused lot in the organization. If not taken good care of, they might be just the downfall of the change implementation in the organization. To protect against the burnout of change agents, the change leaders are supposed to make an agenda of personal responsibility in initiating change. The leaders also need to make it clear that those people who obstruct change will be reassigned and replaced by those people who support change and those who understand the change agenda. He defines the problem Misunderstanding the culture is one thing that makes the leaders not to implement change in the organization. The other thing that hampers change in an organization is the unwillingness of the leaders to go to the root of the problem and defining it well. Strategic plans that are as a result of weak diagnosis will never work, with the reverse being true. Placing efforts in the right direction is as important as having the right resources. So, it is important that the problem is defined well so that at the end of the day, the right resources will b...