Managing change and the leader’s role in being a catalyst for change.

“Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no

leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous skillful leaders seize the

opportunity to change things for the better.”

Harry Truman

Leaders have always had a central role in shaping organizations, political institutions

and some cases, social and economic reform. The natural ability of a leader is

consisting into the interaction that takes place between his / her leadership role and

the people that are willing to follow his / her decisions. The ability to influence and the

trust are the most essential elements that are creating the right expectations for

change to happen. These elements are creating a two-way interaction that makes the

leader focusing on the changes and the followers focusing on the leader’s directions.

In this note I will provide my point of view on managing change and the leader’s role in

being a catalyst for change. I will start by making some consideration of psychological

and emotional behaviors, then I will try to explain how to approach changes and I’ll

conclude describing the leader’s role in “real lasting changes”

The leader has the ability to make changes visible and understandable. As pointed out

by Levi (Levine, 2002) , “leaders have the power to misinform and to manipulate, but

they also have the power to inspire change”. This statement makes us thinking that

there are not only structural activities (related to organizational structures) involved

during the change, but also psychological and emotional behaviors. This is mainly

because when changes are announced in a company different people react

differently. Employees may like the proposed changes, resist them, or completely hate

them. Some other may also be neutral to the changes.

A. Maslow has spent most of his time focusing on humanistic psychology that focus on

the hierarchy of human needs and, in this respect, it is easy to understand why some

people like or resist the changes. Each of us is moving is the scale of needs constantly in

his life. This is because situations around us are changing and we may need or forced to

change. If you consider for a second a person that is divorcing or losing a relative in a

car accident or simply the earthquake that has destroyed the house. People also love

their routines and habits, and if changes are forcing employees to drive for 2 hours to

the get to the job, the resistance to the change will be very hard.

How to approach changes?

Leaders are constantly trying to make changes happening but not always they do

succeed in the form and shape that was initially planned. Changes are based on

strategic choices and commitments involving resource and projects. Not always the

perfect implementation takes place and the change then turn to be a stressful activity.

Changes definitely are not happening alone. The leadership position helps the whole

community of people to choosing the direction and provides the right motivation. To

be successful the “real lasting change” must be done with the help of catalyst leaders.

Literally, the word 'catalyst' means anything which creates a situation in which change

can occur. The catalyst leader is the engine that motivates others. When faced with

uncertainty and the changes are shifting the scope and direction people like to share

their opinions with trustworthy leaders.

The Leader’s role

Leaders are able to influence groups towards goals using the right balance of authority.

Capable leaders are able to interact two-way with their subordinates. In contingency

theory (Fiedler, 1981) Fiedler is stating that effective groups depends on proper match

between a leader’s style of interacting with other people in the organization and the

degree to which the situation gives control to the leader. This statement is helping in

defining how important is the match between the groups of people in any given

organization and its leadership. Moreover, changes must happen in specific

circumstances (situation) that present the leader the ability to influence the group. In

contrast to the Fiedler’s contingency model, the path-goal theory of Robert House

(House, 1971) states that the four leadership styles are fluid, and that leaders can adopt

any of the four depending on what the situation demands. Basically leaders are flexible

and that they can change their style, as situations require.

In my opinion, real lasting changes requires specific leadership ability and the perfect

circumstances.

Stephen Robbins (Robbins, 2004), when referring to contingency theory is taking up an

example of Linda Watchner’s rise and fall in leading the changes in Warnaco. The

example illustrates the relationship between leadership style and situational influence.

Watchner’s production-oriented leadership behavior was effective in leading

Warnaco’s changes when the company was well performing in a robust economy. But

when Warnaco’s business slumped her leadership became a liability.

Managing Changes

Each of us is confronted everyday with important decisions to make. As stated by A.

Robin (Robins, 1998) we 1. decide what we focus on, 2. we decide what it means, 3. we

decide what action to take. These sets of action are constantly happening to each of

us and in any situation. Changes require a constant decisional process based on the

above assumptions. Naturally our decisions are also affected by the psychological state

and mood. We are heavily affected by external factors that can greatly modify our

judgments and decisional process. Physical appearance and body language can also

play an effective or disruptive role in our decisional process. When then in a leadership

position, those elements I just mentioned are extremely important and they can prevent

or influence subordinates with correct decision and ethical behavior. Leaders capable

of executing changes are able to match recourses and responsibilities.

According to Robert Simon (Simons, 2005) a leader shall be able to execute four

managerial tasks: controlling, influencing, supporting and be accountable for his/her

decisions. In this sequence of activities the leader will be able to guide the organization

through the uncertainties that changes require. Managing changes is all about be in

touch with the people, understanding their challenges and hopes and design the right

structure around them. Managing changes in friendly, professional and ethical

manner, is about using the right attitude to help an organization and their people to

change for the rest of their life.

Cosimo Gualano

Bibliography

Fiedler, F. (1981). Leader Attitudes and Group Effectiveness. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing

Group.

House, R. (1971). Path Goal theory . 6 Ohio State Studies and the Managerial grid.

Levine, W. a. (2002). “Tropics, Germs and Crops: How Endowments Influence Economic

Development”. Easterly.

Robbins, S. P. (2004). ”Organizational behavior” 11th edition . San Diego University – Upper

saddle river NJ.

Robins, A. (1998). Lessons in Mastery USA. Simon & Schuster - Nightingale-Con.

Simons, R. (2005). Designing High-Performance Jobs . Harvard Business School .