Change waits for no leader and the skills required for leading day-to-day operations are very different to change leadership
One of the key change questions all leaders should be able to answer:
"Do you have a change vision?
One of the first tasks for leaders of change is to develop a change vision, it must inspire the employees and be aligned to the organisation’s strategy, vision and beliefs. The change vision needs to be achievable and compelling, something that the employees can picture and relate to, and a journey they will join you on. Creating the change vision, like all good things, takes time to create. It requires input from key stakeholders and usually requires external input, as well as neutral facilitation.
What is Change Leadership Alignment? Change leadership alignment ensures that the organisational leaders are an aligned leadership team before they start their organisation's change implementation. This means they understand the organisation's change history, they have the same change vision, they are aligned on their strategic objectives, they are a high performing team and they have the change leadership skills to lead the change, transformation or improvement that their organisation is facing.
Why is Change Leadership Alignment important? Change leadership alignment is important because the skills required for leading day-to-day operations are very different to change leadership. Without aligning and preparing the leadership for their change journey, it is highly doubtful they will successfully implement organisational change to ensure a return on investment, achieve full employee change adoption, and sustainable change.
What are the key steps of Change Leadership Alignment? Change leadership alignment has five key steps:
1. An assessment of previous change history to establish what went well and what needs to improve.
2. 1:1 Interviews with the leadership team to establish barriers and enablers to change success.
3. A strategic alignment exercise to ensure the leaders are aligned on the organisation's change priorities.
4. Develop a high performing team so the leaders can deliver the change together.
5. Develop Leadership of Change® capability, the knowledge, and skills to lead employees through the change.
When does Change Leadership Alignment start? Change leadership alignment starts on day zero of any organisation's change journey. Unless the leadership team are aligned and committed, the change is unlikely to provide the targeted return on investment (ROI).
What are the key responsibilities of Change Leadership? There are three critical leadership responsibilities to implement successful organisational change:
· Articulate the vision
· Model the new way
· Intervene to ensure sustainable change
“Organisational change leadership is about effectively and proactively articulating the vision, modelling the new way and intervening to ensure sustainable change”
Corporate thinking about change management has evolved in recent years and it is considered as a core competence by some leading organisations. Varying degrees of change capability, low employee adoption, lack of sustainability and low benefits realisation have become the drivers to develop corporate change capability. Change capability starts with the top leadership team, they understand previous change history and the barriers to success so they align strategically as a high performing team and then develop the skills and knowledge to successfully deliver future organisational change.
The full question set:
"Do you understand the organisation's change history? Do you have a change vision? Are you aligned on your strategic objectives? Are you a high performing team? Does your team have change leadership skills to lead the change or improvement that your organisation is facing?"
This blog was featured by Thinkers360 Dec 2021: The Year’s Most Popular Articles from Thinkers360 Thought Leaders
More on Change Leadership Alignment: https://www.peterfgallagher.com/change-leadership-alignment
Peter consults, speaks, and writes on the Leadership of Change®.
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Peter F Gallagher is a Change Management Global Thought Leader, Guru, Expert, International Speaker, Author and Leadership Alignment Coach.
Listed #1 by leadersHum Top 40 Change Management Gurus You Should Follow in 2022 (Mar 2022).
Ranked #1 Change Management Global Thought Leader: Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Change Management (May 2021 & 2020) by Thinkers360.
Ranked #2 Business Strategy Global Thought Leader: Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Change Management (Dec 2020) by Thinkers360.
Ranked #2 Leadership Global Thought Leader: Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Change Management (Aug 2020) by Thinkers360.
Business Book Ranking
Change Management Behaviour - Leadership of Change® Volume 6, listed among the 50 Books from Thinkers360 Thought Leaders to read in 2022.
Change Management Adoption- Leadership of Change® Volume 5, listed among year-to-date’s (Jul 2021) most popular books on business and technology from Thinkers360 member thought leaders.
Change Management Handbook - Leadership of Change® Volume 3, listed among the 50 Business and Technology Books from Thinkers360 Thought Leaders to read in 2021.
Change Management Pocket Guide - Leadership of Change® Volume 2, ranked within the top 50 Business and Technology Books (Jan 2020) from Thinkers360 Thought Leaders.