Page 210 - Just Promoted A 12 Month Road Map for Success in Your New Leadership Role

From Resistance to Renewal 195

The real challenge for newly appointed leaders is to act on the belief that
there is hope and power within the organization to renew itself. Both Dick and
Andrew found their support from among those who wanted the organization
to be more successful, stable, and secure. Robert and Rosemary saw things
that needed to be done, and they did them. Every organization has those who
recognize the need to change and to strengthen the organization. They are
essential if the culture is to change. In renewal, the new leader can serve as a
visionary, a unifier, and a catalyst of people to improve their organization, their
team, and the culture that supports these structures.

WHY PEOPLE RESIST ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
The following forces that resist change need to be understood so that you can
counter their negative effect on the developing culture. We will discuss ways
to reverse these forces later in this chapter.

1. Lack of involvement and ownership in problem solving the organization’s
position. Many new leaders are reluctant to involve their people in organiza-
tional change. Certainly, to ask them to participate will cede to them some
authority and power. Linda, determined to change her organization’s work
procedures and to improve the standards for performance and the quality of
the work in an efficient way, rewrote the procedures over a three-week period
and presented them to her group at a department meeting. There was an
uproar. People were upset that she had revised them on her own, and they
were even more upset when they read them. Some fought her. Others said
that since she wanted to figure out the solutions, she could have all the prob-
lems as well.
The people who hold the organization’s critical positions in management
and the workforce must feel a sense of ownership for the organization’s new
ideas. They must participate in developing and implementing important ideas.
Their input must receive consideration. Everyone must feel heard if he or she
tries to contribute.

2. Failure to identify the issues to be addressed and specific action steps to
be taken. A most difficult part of addressing change is to move from the iden-
tification of a problem (what’s wrong) to the identification of a solution and
the action steps, including timetables and milestones for improvement.