What is Change Leadership? Definition, Real-Life Examples and Key Strategies

Change leadership is the process of easing the transition as a business or organization adopts new workflows, policies, products and services. Much of change leadership is centered around your staff and making sure they get what they need to transition more easily.

Why Is Change Leadership Important?

Change is necessary for growing and evolving businesses, but that doesn’t mean your entire team will be excited about it. Part of a change leader’s role is supporting your team and ensuring they have what they need to minimize stress and confusion during change. A change leader may also be responsible for:

• Organizing plans: Change leaders are often tasked with understanding how change will affect the people involved and making plans to help them feel comfortable with any differences.
• Solving problems: Growing pains are a natural part of business evolution. Change leaders should be prepared to solve functional and interpersonal issues that may arise during the transition.
• Encouraging staff: As a leader, your staff looks to you to decide how excited they are about these new aspects of their job. If you’re excited about the future, it’s more likely they will be, too. By welcoming change with open arms, you can help them feel more secure in their position with reassurance that they aren’t going anywhere but up.

Change Leadership in Action

Businesses like Apple and Amazon have made major shifts in operations since they started. Apple started manufacturing computers. Now, it manufactures phones, music players, tablets and more, effectively becoming one of the world’s most successful ventures under change leader Steve Jobs. Amazon did much the same under Jeff Bezos, growing from a bookstore into a store that delivers millions of different items every day.

When done well, the right change leader can make your business skyrocket and usher you and your staff into greater success.

Top Techniques for Effective Change Leadership

Change leadership will look different for every leader, but certain techniques and tips apply regardless of your scenario. Use these strategies as a starting point.

Use the Three C’s to Connect With Staff

One of the most common techniques leaders use to lead their team through change is the three C’s:

• Communicate: Communication is key in every aspect of business, and this is no different. As part of leadership, change leaders are responsible for being open with their employees every step of the way. Prepare them for what’s to come and be ready to answer questions and ease concerns.
• Collaborate: The best leaders listen as much as they lead. Invite your team members to collaborate and compromise on proposed changes so that you can reach the right solutions for everyone. This gives you the chance to see new perspectives and garner ideas that may work even better than the ones previously implemented.
• Commit: Finally, when you have an idea of where you’re going, commit to it fully and see it through. Stay positive even when you face challenges, and everyone following your lead will embrace your excitement.

Set Compelling Goals

When you have goals that excite your team, their commitment is much easier to achieve. Be sure to make connections between the change initiative and the goals each team member has set for themselves within their role—this encourages personal growth. For example, support of the change initiative can lead to improved efficiency and productivity, which motivates your team to maintain their dedication.

Be Empathetic to Employees’ Concerns

Throughout every development, change leaders should be prepared to field questions and address pain points from anyone. If you make it clear you’re in this together, your team will be more likely to trust and respect future decisions.

Lead Through Change With The Center for Leadership Studies

With the right skills and strategies, change leadership can become a natural extension of the important work you already do. At The Center for Leadership Studies (CLS), we’ve watched professionals from various industries discover the power of quality leadership and learn how to thrive while helping their staff grow by engaging in courses like Situational Change Leadership™.

This course helps leaders help others by providing them with critical change leadership skills they can tailor to meet their team’s precise needs. We invite you to learn more about our unique framework today—contact us to ask your most important questions.