Leadership and Organizational Change

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Several competencies appear to play a role in successful leadership and organizational change. Such competencies are effective for leaders while driving change in their organizations. According to Gruban (2003), the competence is an ability to frame knowledge, skills and abilities and manage them properly such us vision, goal-setting, interpersonal skills, self-knowledge and technical competence (essentials of the business in which the leader works).

Table 1 highlights the role of the most effective and helpful competencies of leaders that lead to fruitful and successful organizational change as change is highly dependent on the leaders’ capabilities. A leader should have solid cognitive and functional skills granting him/her the ability to cope with different settings. Good social competencies play a role in creating interpersonal relationships and team building whereby the leader becomes a reference to his/her subordinates and motivates them to accomplish better. This, as a conclusion, will move the leader-follower relationship to a higher level, enforcing strong cooperation which will increase consumer satisfaction in accepting and believing change. Although people resist radical changes in the organization, it is only the leader’s ability to overcome quite the same way as the doctor is required to solve a medical dilemma (Pagon, Banutai & Bizjak, 2008)

It is of great value to differentiate between incremental and radical / transformational changes in any organization. According to Reardon & Rowe (1998), incremental changes are usually less difficult to handle as they are introduced in small doses and employees are already familiar with such changes which occur over a short period of time and have minimum threat on existing power structures. Introducing new computer software that increases efficiency is an example of incremental change. Radical changes on the contrary are more difficult to adopt as they involve changes in the structure and culture (Reardon & Rowe , 1998).Such changes are prone to resistance and here comes the role of the leader to be aware of such resistance and create a change in the mindset of employees and management to adopt his/her style. They also point out that undergoing radical changes not only requires specific competencies by the leader but also necessitates the presence of specific leadership styles and processes represented by risk taking action plans to be undertaken and maintained to achieve the change (Reardon & Rowe , 1998).

Table (2) highlights the different leadership styles necessary at each stage of change. As seen in the table, there are four leadership styles: Commanding style, Logical style, inspirational style and supportive style. According to Reardon & Rowe 1998, a commanding leader focuses on the results and makes changes rapidly. A logical leader focuses on innovation and convinces his/her subordinates by careful explanation and does changes carefully. An inspirational leader is someone who seizes the opportunities and creates an environment of trust and usually makes changes radically. Finally, a supportive leader focuses on the ease of work and engages his/her subordinates and slowly achieves change (Reardon & Rowe, 1998)

Discussion and Conclusion:

In today’s globalized world with remarkable technological advances, it is becoming very difficult for organizations to create an edge towards its competitors. Maintaining the status quo no longer meets the fast pace of today’s world. Change has become necessary nowadays and each organization should adapt towards this change. It is no longer about meeting the requirements of all stakeholders but also forecasting their future expectations as a guarantee towards growth and development. This gets us to the urgent need of visionary transformational leaders who are the main agents of change in organizations. Mistakes are inevitable but the repetition of mistakes should be avoided. In case needed, counseling and coaching programs should be implemented to cover the gaps available in each department which can avoid the repetition of any mistake that can arise. A leader should motivate his/her employees towards the achievement of a particular goal through the implementation of reward systems and yearly bonuses to increase their efficiency. Therefore, it is the duty of a successful leader to bring up new strategies which can increase people interconnections; confidence and passion towards their job. Having said that, a transformational leader is highly needed who focuses on the need for change and technological advances but also highly takes into consideration to human relations. This is very important as radical change takes time and is perceived with resistance. Therefore, a transformational leader is needed to engage his/her subordinates in the change process to defy any resistance and implant the ideas of innovation and reform in the organization.

Last but not least, we should not neglect that change is a process that not only involves the leader but also the situation and the followers. For instance, the geographical location of the organization, the nature of work of employees plays a major role. In addition, the social, political, economic and security situations can also affect change and the ability of the leader to take the risks.

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