CHANGE LEADERSHIP

Introduction

• The management of change is often directly linked to the role of a strategic leader.
• Leadership is the process of influencing an organization in its efforts towards achieving an aim or goal
• Change agents or change champions provide the leadership role.
• The leader‘s roles include creating vision, empowering people, building teamwork, and communicating the vision.
• The qualities of an effective leader can be summarized as being visionary, skilled, competent, delegative, motivative, analytical, persistent, enduring and flexible.

Leadership competencies

1. A leader is a man who has the ability to get other people to do what they don‘t want to do and like it.
2. Changes in organizations are more and more common and appear at faster pace and employees are expected to be even more adaptable.
3. Leaders play an important role in setting an example for all those values, behaviours and considerations expected from employees.
4. Leaders have to ensure that changes in an organization are accepted and implemented in a way resulting not only in better job performance but also in general understanding and satisfaction of all.
5. Leadership competencies for successful change management can be categorized as:

• Cognitive,
• Functional, and
• Social abilities and skills

1. Cognitive competencies Include divergent thinking, critical thinking, creativity, problem solving, strategic thinking, analytical skills, and numerical abilities
2. Functional competencies include language and communication skills, technological skills (IT, media etc.), multicultural competencies (knowledge of a general and other cultures, foreign languages, etc.), learning abilities and personal development, career planning skills, managerial skills, and decision skills.
3. Personal and social competencies include self-direction, interpersonal skills, teamwork skills, compassion, integrity, mobilizing skills, personal and social values, and ethical dimensions.