Leading Through Change
Part 2
‘Change is the only constant’
Heraclitus, Greek philosopher
Common borders. Common Solutions.
What Leaders Really Do?
“They don’t make plans; they don’t
solve problems, they don’t even
organise people. What leaders
really do is prepare organisations
for change and help them cope as
they struggle through it.”
Professor John Kotter,
Harvard Business School
‘Leading Change’, 1995
Common borders. Common Solutions.
Successful Leadership - Characteristics
 Leadership is about coping with change while
management is about coping with complexity
 Setting a direction versus planning and
budgeting
 Aligning people versus organising and staffing
 Motivating people versus controlling and
problem solving
 Creating a culture of leadership
Common borders. Common Solutions.
Common borders. Common Solutions.
Eight Step Process of
Successful Change
1. Create a sense of urgency
2. Form a powerful coalition
3. Create a vision for change
4. Communicate the vision
5. Remove obstacles and empower others to
act
6. Create short-term wins
7. Build on the change
8. Create a new culture
Common borders. Common Solutions.
Our
iceberg is
melting?
Something
has to be
done.
Stop
Complaining
and start to
THINK!
What will
happened
to me?
Step 1: Create a Sense of Urgency
Common borders. Common Solutions.
Oh
Boy…Oh
Boy…
Step One: Create a Sense of Urgency
What you can do:
 Identify potential threats, and develop
scenarios showing what could happen in
the future
 Examine opportunities that should be, or
could be, exploited
 Start honest discussions and give convincing
reasons to get people talking and thinking
 Request support from outside stakeholders
and industry people to strengthen your
argument
Common borders. Common Solutions.
A team of 5--including Louise, Alice, Fred,
Buddy, and Professor--is to think of a
solution.
Step 2: Form a Powerful Coalition
Step Two: Form a Powerful Coalition
What you can do:
 Identify the true leaders in your organisation,
as well as your key stakeholders
 Ask for an emotional commitment from
these key people
 Work on team building within your change
coalition
 Ensure that you have a good mix of people
from different departments and different
levels within your company
Common borders. Common Solutions.
The idea is not new. We
had done it before. That
was our founder of the
colony when he moved to
our home today.
“Leaders who know what they are doing will "aim for the heart." They
will connect to the deepest values of their people and inspire them to
greatness. They will make the business case come alive with human
experience, engage the senses, create messages that are simple and
imaginative, and call people to aspire”. Professor John Kotter
Step 3 : Develop a Vision for Change
Step Three: Create a Vision for Change
What you can do:
 Determine the values that are central to the
change
 Develop a short summary that captures
what you “see” as the future of your
organisation
 Create a strategy to execute that vision
 Ensure that your change coalition can
describe the vision in five minutes or less
 Practice your “vision speech” often
Common borders. Common Solutions.
Step 4 : Communicate the Vision
Common borders. Common Solutions.
Step Four: Communicate the Vision
What you can do:
Talk often about your change vision
Address peoples’ concerns and anxieties,
openly and honestly
Apply your vision to all aspects of
operations – from training to performance
reviews
Lead by example.
Common borders. Common Solutions.
Son…What about your
nightmare? Are you still
scared?
Oh, they are gone. I’m going
to help the colony. My
teacher said no matter we
were small or big, we could
all help, Dad!
I will help fishing and
spare for the scout. I
will help with the
promotion campaign.
Step 5: Remove Obstacles and
Empower Others to Act
We will celebrate
the “Tribute to Our
Heroes Day” when
they return.
Step Five: Remove Obstacles and
Empower Others to Act
What you can do:
 Identify a change leader whose main roles are to
deliver the change
 Look at your organisational structure, job
descriptions and performance, and compensation
systems to ensure they are in line with your vision
 Recognise and reward people for making change
happen
 Identify people who are resisting the change, and
help them see what’s needed
 Take action to quickly remove barriers
Common borders. Common Solutions.
Lesson 6 : Create Short Term Win
Step Six: Create Short-Term Wins
What you can do:
 Look for sure-fire projects that you can implement
without help from any strong critics of the change
 Don’t choose early targets that are expensive. You
want to be able to justify the investment in each
project.
 Thoroughly analyse the potential pros and cons of
your targets. If you don’t succeed with an early goal,
it can hurt your entire change initiative.
 Reward the people who help you meet the targets
Common borders. Common Solutions.
The next day, wasting
no time, the second
group of scouts were
out to find the right
iceberg which will be a
safe home, have tall
snow wall to protect
from icy storm, close
to fishing sites, and
locate on a route with
enough for small ice
bergs or ice plateaus
along the way so the
young and old can rest
while migrating.
Lesson 7 : Build
on the change
Common borders. Common Solutions.
Step Seven: Build on the Change
What you can do:
After every win, analyse what went right,
and what needs improving
Set goals to continue building on the
momentum you have achieved
Keep ideas fresh by bringing in new change
agents and leaders for your change
coalition
Common borders. Common Solutions.
Now even they found a perfect iceberg, they
still keep moving, Nomadic become their
culture
Step 8: Create a New Culture
Step Eight: Create a New Culture
What you can do:
 Talk about progress every chance you get. Tell
success stories about the change process.
 Include the change ideas and values when hiring and
training new staff.
 Publicly recognise key members of your original
change coalition, and make sure the rest of the staff
– new and old – remembers their contributions.
 Create plans to replace key leaders of change as they
move on. This will help ensure that their legacy is
not lost or forgotten.
Common borders. Common Solutions.
Mistakes That Lead to Failure
Writing a memo instead of lighting a fire
Talking too much and saying too little
Declaring victory before the war is over
Looking for villains in all the wrong places
Common borders. Common Solutions.
The Moral of the Story Implications for Successful Leadership
 Leadership is an intellectual as well as an
emotional process
 Opportunities/ideas about change can arise
from any part of the organisation
 The success of change management
programmes depends on making the process
inclusive
 Leading through change depends on creating
new culture
Common borders. Common Solutions.