Leading change through innovation

CHANGE MANAGEMENT SERIES:

Effective change management is essential for organisations and innovative leaders play an important role in leading the way for long-term business success

Change management is increasingly becoming crucial for sustaining a business in the current competitive business market. However, the actual process is still difficult for companies and the people that represent them.

The study Organizational Change by Boston VA Health Care System, elaborates on the importance of organisational change on long-term success and survival of the organisation and that companies need to adapt rapidly to the changing environment in order to survive.

There are several factors that can influence and impact a successful organisational change and one major factor is good leadership. In their book Organizational Change, authors Senior and Fleming discuss the role of leadership and claim that a leader is a change agent who can take initiative and bring change for organisation.

However, what kind of leader is needed for a successful organisational change? Studies show that vision and innovation are crucial for a leader to lead a company successfully through the change process and achieve the desired outcome.

Also, leaders nowadays need not only understand their companies and work efficiently, but also suggest change and stick to a clear vision by approaching it innovatively. In the article, Principles of Innovative Leadership, the authors stated that “Leadership is a state of mind not a position”. In an environment of great risks, uncertainty and movement, they leaders need to cope with the new conditions quickly and innovatively.

So what does it take for leaders to be innovative and why are some better than others? Jeff Dyer and Hal Gregersen in collaboration with Forbes, did an assessment for ranking the world’s most innovative companies based upon an innovation premium. Their initial analysis showed that innovative companies focus on what they refer to as the 3 Ps (People, Process, Philosophies). Depending on how well companies leverage the 3 Ps directly affected their innovativeness.

When referring to people, the analysis stated that leadership is crucial. In their initial assessment on disruptive innovators, they found out ‘five skills’ that represented innovators. Innovators ask critical questions that challenge the current situation; innovators observe the world carefully in order to come up with new ways of acting; innovators network with people that have different perspectives than them; innovators experiment new ideas ; and innovators trigger new associations by connecting ideas and producing new creative solutions. The assessment concluded that the leaders of the most innovative companies scored very high percentages on these criteria.

Furthermore, the authors concluded that being innovative and inspiring innovation is crucial for companies to survive. A great leader needs a great innovative team to support him so they could excel at reaching the company’s goals.

Thus, change is an essential process that requires innovative leadership. This is how they can sustain an innovative premium company and how they can make change continuous.

By Alba Bregasi