Change Process Authority and Leadership Have an Essay

Change Process

Authority and leadership have an enormous influence on an organization that is going through change.

The strong authority figures that embrace transformation leadership styles of management within an organization are very likely to be successful in bringing along the rest of the organization. By reviewing plans and goals carefully and fully with staff and other executives, the transformational leader can take the organization well past the old concept of status quo and infuse a "broad shared vision of the future" instead (McKnight, 2013, p. 103). In the peer-reviewed Journal of Leadership, Accountability & Ethics, the author asserts that the transformational leader can provide an enormous source of support through identifying the exact steps an organization will need in order to successfully transition through changes in the goals of the organization.

The transformational leader will be "…creative and inclusionary," McKnight explains (103), and will be totally open for "personal and organization continuous learning" as the change components are encountered. The leader -- and this paper suggests that the transformational kind of leader is most apt to enjoy success when guiding an organization through change -- must show his or her authority through: a) the building of consensus with staff; b) uniting the company behind achievable plans and goals that the employees believe in and are willing to work towards; c) maintaining sustainability and accountability; d) charismatic interactions with employees; e) strong "human value systems" that help to motive others; and f) connecting the organization with "the external community that it serves" (McKnight, 104).

The authority figure that hopes to move an organization through dramatic change must have the ability, as McKnight explains on page 104, to "…create a collective vision, act in a sense of oneness, be…authentic and engaged," and also that leader must "loosen authority and control" at the right moments to the point of getting down on the level that his or her community of workers are. The idea that change can take place in an organization when the company's strongest leaders adhere to a hierarchy (totem pole) mentality is wrong, McKnight insists.A strong authority figure is absolutely imperative in a situation in which change is being implemented, and work activities are being assigned in the new configuration, McKnight explains. The transformational leader will set "high performance expectations" and that leader will be certain to "reward behaviors that are directed towards the vision…" that the leader has outlined (McKnight, 105). Once clear responsibilities and priorities have been set through "extensive communication" with staff and executives, McKnight asserts, the freedom to improvise must be granted to the workers (105).

Moreover, if the change is "punctuated," meaning there needs to be a rapid, urgent change, there are additional responsibilities that fall into the lap of the transformational leader. These responsibilities actually manifest themselves as "external pressures," McKnight puts forward on page 106. The first external pressure that must be successfully dealt with is the "reconfiguration" of the "value stream" which is being repositioned in the organization; secondly, the leader must assist in redefining the "driving force" of the organization, which is basically developing a new mission or goal or strategy (McKnight, 106). And the third external pressure in a punctuated change is to actually "redefine the value proposition to the existing or the new customer"; this means the leadership must guide activities within the organization to meet new market challenges and to identify and please a new customer base (McKnight, 106).

TWO: Why do people resist change? How can managers overcome that resistance?

Psychologists explain that "…human resistance to change is a perfectly natural process," according to a peer-reviewed piece in the Annals of the University of Oradea, Economic Science Series (Mariana,….....