Making change last: leadership is the key

Abstract

Purpose

Multiple models of organizational change provide guidance, goals and strategic steps for organizations to complete initiatives effectively. The purpose of this paper was to discuss the impact of transformational leadership as it relates to organizational change in the twenty-first century and propose a consolidated approach to planned organizational change useful for practitioners.

Design/methodology/approach

Practitioners and researchers can benefit by a strategy to apply models of change to organizational initiatives. It is proposed that models by Kotter (2012), Bridges (2017) and Lewin (1951) can be consolidated into a comprehensive approach to achieve successful organizational change. Transformational leadership is a critical component which bonds such models together and guides the leader’s role in the process.

Findings

Kotter, Bridges and Lewin’s approaches all share similar beliefs about the effectiveness of a transformational leader. First, people and process aspects of change take center stage. Second, urgency needs to unsettle or awaken the need for change. Third, people want to be part of the change process. By involving others, engagement, empowerment and buy-in all increase. Fourth, change will only last if it is embedded into the structures and systems which make up the organization’s culture.

Originality/value

The value of the consolidated approach to change proposed in this paper is that it meets leaders at their level of skill and experience, as it offers options depending on the needs of the organization and extent (depth) of the change required.

Citation

Page, L. and Schoder, J. (2019), "Making change last: leadership is the key", Journal of Business Strategy, Vol. 40 No. 2, pp. 32-41. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBS-01-2018-0003