9/9: Change Leadership is not Change Mangement

Change management is improved process enablement focusing on statistics and measurements to improve products and services to increase customer satisfaction.

Change leadership focuses on the culture and the people responsible for effecting the change. Creating a climate conducive and accepting of change is one of the most crucial and significant roles of a true leader.

True leaders create this climate in a variety of ways, and perhaps one of the most significant is through the creation of harmony throughout the enterprise with the understanding that the road to excellence and success is often contentious. Having been a change agent responsible for leading change, and having been led by others who wished to institute changes I questioned, I have observed that the root of all dysfunction is discord. I have equally observed that the basis for sustained success is harmony.

This harmony comes through a clear articulation of the value of the change for the entire enterprise. Change is translatable into growth, success, and excellence, and the true leader focuses on these outcomes of change in every communication. If every person responsible for every process affected by the change understands the change, and to some degree owns the change, harmony replaces discord, dysfunction is eliminated, and excellence and success are imminent.