Strong guiding coalition is needed to support and drive change
Article by:
Andre Peters of Gulf Bank in Kuwait
We discussed the importance of managing change and creating a sense of urgency in order to create momentum for change in the first two articles of this series. We now turn to leadership. John C. Maxwell, well known leadership guru, states that ''everything rises and falls on leadership''. Because major change is so difficult to accomplish, a powerful force is required to sustain the process. A strong guiding coalition is needed to drive the change, one with the right composition, level of trust and shared objectives. The leadership must have credibility and should work well together as a team. The kind of leadership needed is transformational leadership. Transformational leadership is where leaders are agents of change. These leaders develop a vision for the organization, inspire and collectively bond the employees to that vision and gives them a ‘’can do’’ attitude that makes the vision achievable.
Leaders need to shape a realistic and attractive future involving all employees. Leaders need to energetically model the future by communicating and ‘’being’’ the vision. Leaders need to understand the dynamics of change management and need to apply the principles that make change effective. This involves displaying honesty and integrity, whilst ensuring stability and promoting change. Figure 1 below illustrates the fact that leaders have to balance various factors during change, because the external environment never stops changing.
Transformational leadership, which focuses on a vision for change, is needed, driven actively and visibly by senior management functioning as a team. Not only should the change be driven by senior managers, but also by all levels of management that strive to make the change work, balancing their own personal and business objectives. Middle management, specifically, needs to also be involved in these initiatives with trust existing between all levels of management, which is visibly noticed by all employees .