I have spoken to a number of people recently where the term ‘change management’ has been mentioned. I found the image above on Google and it is consistent with a number of such images.
In my 10 year corporate life at DuPont I was on the receiving end of three change programmes. They were much the same thing, new name, new consultants, and none of them delivered the results. All were process lead and while culture and leadership got a mention no fundamental behavioural changes were noticeable amongst the leadership teams so nothing really changed.
When I write and speak on integrating innovation and leadership I differentiate between managing processes and leading people.
Change management is really the project managing of a process of change, that could be just a system process change or it might include culture and behaviour as well. Nevertheless, the management part is just administering the progress of a project.
Change Leadership is what really needs to be in place. There is nothing new here, ‘walking the talk’ and ‘winning hearts and minds’ is core to all successful organisational change projects as without this you have only superficial change, not deep change that releases the talents of the people to perform.
The trouble is leadership requires hard work and constant attention. We are all human beings who get tired, emotional, and distracted by immediate operational needs and it is a challenge to maintain focus on being a great leader at times
I think a good start would be to get the label right. If you want something to do what it says on the tin, then what it says on the tin needs to be correct.
Let us start talking about ‘Change Leadership’ programmes. It puts the responsibility, the focus and the core need where it belongs. Get that right and what follows will be so much easier, so will innovation.
Author
Jonne Ceserani
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