Change Affects Team Leaders Less

"Leader carry a lot of pressure and responsibility, but have the security of being in control of the speed, and scope of change"

The Harvard Business Review highlights a number of reasons for the low success rate of corporate change and one of them is:-

“Although each company’s particular circumstances account for some of the problems, the widespread difficulties have one common root: Managers and employees view change differently, both groups know that vision and leadership drive successful change, but too few leaders recognise the ways in which individuals commit to change”

Senior team leaders can sometimes forget that there is a great deal of difference between the senior leader who instigates change and the person who has to respond to change. The change instigator/leader carries lots of pressure and responsibility, but significantly has the security of being in control of the speed, scope and implication of the change.

I remember being in one particularly robust elders meeting when I said, “Look, this change is affecting all of us including me”. One of my elders responded ‘there is one major difference; you are in charge of the change and that makes it a lot different on how it impacts you.

Senior leaders can sometimes get very irritated and shift the blame to members of their team when some of the people they are leading respond negatively, immaturely and occasionally with hostility to the change. I want to draw out in later blogs how Jesus responded to what is wrongly seen as a “less than mature” reaction to change.

Change Affects Team Leaders Less

The Harvard Business Review highlights a number of reasons for the low success rate of corporate change and one of them is:-