Effective leaders of change must be visionaries. A true visionary can see things not just as they are, but as they could be and should be, and they can compel others to see the vision too. A visionary can articulate the vision to others in such vivid detail that it appears feasible and reasonable to make it a reality. Whether a vision is homegrown or the result of outside forces and factors, it is the leader’s responsibility and imperative to construct a future reality that is realistic yet inspiring. Think of visionaries who were able to compel others with their ideas of what the future could be, such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Steve Jobs, or Coco Chanel.

The key to vision work is belief. Not only must the leader believe in what they are “selling” to others, but followers must believe it as well. For others to believe in the vision, they must have buy in. What about the vision impacts and benefits their way of being? How does the vision affect the world as they see it? Some leaders miss the mark by not considering the value, or lack thereof, that the vision as stated has for followers. Effective leaders are in tune with their followers, or they at least listen with empathy so they are informed as to how their vision relates to others. The belief in the vision by followers is integral to the success of change.

The first followers and early adopters are the best assets to the leader when driving change. These team members believe in the vision and in the leader to achieve the vision, so they become champions of change that can echo the vision and help drive change throughout the organization. These key team members can ultimately be more instrumental in the success of the change than the leader themselves. A leader must identify these key players in the organization and bring them on board, leverage their influence in the organization, and listen to them as they relay information back from other members of the organization. Here’s a classic video of the power of the first follower.

The vision must come with a sense of urgency. This sense of urgency can be in the form of a moral imperative, a response to a preordained timeline, or a desire to make an impact in the now as opposed to posterity. Most people respond to intense deadlines with stress and frustration, so urgency must be created positively. This can be achieved through excitement, incentives, and sharing of small quick wins. A leader who is present, excited, enthusiastic, confident, and speaks vividly and often about the vision can generate this sense of urgency that followers will buy into.

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Change is inevitable. It is our responses to change that dictate happiness and success, but governing our personal responses to change may be easier said than done.  Many of the factors surrounding change may be outside of our control. Leaders, on the other hand, have a key role and responsibility to lead change in their organizations and teams in a way that sets everyone up for success. Effective leaders are aware that change is difficult and that intentional strategy for leading change is a necessary component of good leadership. This blog series will focus on perspectives and strategies that leaders can adopt to effectively manage change.

Why Change?

Impetus for change can come from external forces. External forces are beyond one’s control and the change must happen regardless of feelings about the change or resistance. Here are a few examples of external forces driving change:

• During the pandemic, the spread of the disease and laws enacted to decrease the impact of the pandemic affected people’s ability to congregate in person resulting in remote work and distance learning and required implementation of public safety protocols such as wearing masks and social distancing.
• Technology advances and deprecation of old technology requires people to learn and adjust to new technology. For example, most landline telephones have been replaced by voice over IP (VoIP) applications.
• Enactment or retraction of laws can affect policies and procedures. For example, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned the legality of affirmative action policies in college admissions.
• Environmental concerns or events can drive change. After Hurricane Katrina, the government and many industries implemented reform to respond to the devastating natural disaster in hopes of improving future responses to natural disasters.

In contrast, internal forces that drive change stem from individuals or groups seeing a need for change and desiring to implement it. A CEO may have a new vision for their company that results in changes throughout the organization. Because this change is internal to the company and the changes are made at the behest of leadership, it is considered an internal change, even if employees of the company feel as if they have little to no control in respect to the change.

Strategy for Leading Change

Developing a strategy for leading change may look different depending on whether the driver of the change is internal or external. However, it is in a leader’s best interest to leverage models for change management to help facilitate changes in their teams or organization. There is no one-size-fits-all model for change management. Kotter’s 8-step change model is a great model for leading change from internal forces. The ADKAR model is a great addition for creating structure in the implementation of other change models.  A savvy leader will use a blend of models or leverage different models under different circumstances.
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In this blog series, common strategies among the various change models will be highlighted to help leaders identify areas of improvement and opportunities for increased strategy when leading change.