Why change management is not change leadership - Doing the right things rather than doing the things right

Many change managers know exactly how their project should run and what the processes of the future should look like. Often, not only they are surprised, but also those affected, including the managers, about why the supposedly simple and logical things are not being implemented and so many questions and resistance evolve. The answer is obvious: To be successful in change, it is less about the what and more about the how. Here are 7 success factors for effective change:

• Do your homework, analyze holistically, prepare methods and content for your change leadership.
• Clarify the need and have a good rationale.
• Formulate a clear vision with added value for those affected.
• Involve the people who need to deal with the change, avoid expert solutions.
• Communicate a lot, explain, listen, support, and show empathy.
• Ensure empowerment, clear up contradictions, remove obstacles.
• Do not be afraid to take personnel decisions in consistent leadership.

In order to increase your change readiness, make sure that the people driving the change are primarily change leaders. Many change agents start clumsy approaches and do not recognize their own learning needs to become coaches and personnel developers. But that is exactly what is needed to achieve change. Not someone to tell you what to do and what not to do. But someone to help you to do what is necessary and to avoid the superfluous.

If you want to ponder that more, we recommend our seminar at the Academy of German Media (in German). For self-study, we refer to the standard work by Klaus Doppler & Christoph Lauterburg: Change Management - Den Unternehmenswandel gestalten (Shaping Corporate Change, German). Frankfurt: Campus.