Week 4 Leadership and Interpersonal Skills

What is the central focus of leading change?

How leadership operates under conditions of change across multiple levels (individual, team, organisation, ecosystem), recognising that change is the core context shaping leadership decisions.

Why is change considered the context of leadership?

Leadership cannot be separated from context, and in modern organisations constant change defines that context, shaping behaviour, decisions, and effectiveness.

How has modern leadership become more complex?

It is digital, recorded, observable, and transparent, meaning leader actions are scrutinised, archived, and can rapidly impact trust and reputation.

Why does transparency increase leadership risk during change?

Communication leaves a lasting footprint, stakeholder memory is long, and mistakes can quickly damage trust and credibility.

Why is organisational change necessary?

To maintain competitive advantage, respond to environmental pressures, and achieve marginal gains that accumulate into long-term performance improvements.

What are the key drivers of organisational change?

Competitive pressure, economic crisis, technological disruption, reputational issues, societal expectations, and political/legal shifts.

What is leadership as science vs leadership as art in change?

Science is structured and model-based, while art is emotional and contextual; change amplifies the importance of art due to unpredictability and human complexity.

Why must leaders integrate art and science in change?

Frameworks provide structure, but human reactions, culture, and politics require judgement, adaptability, and interpersonal skill.

What is the difference between leadership and management in change (Kotter, 1990)?

Leadership creates vision, alignment, and motivation for change, while management provides structure, planning, and control to implement it.

What is change management?

A structured process of moving from a current state to a desired future state while managing resistance and embedding sustainable outcomes.

What are the five stages of change management (Hayes, 2010)?

Recognise need for change, diagnose current state, plan and prepare, implement with monitoring, and sustain through reinforcement.

What is the organisation as a system in change?

It includes formal subsystems (structure, strategy), informal subsystems (culture, politics), and external environment, all of which must be addressed for effective change.

Why do many change initiatives fail at a systems level?

They focus on visible structural changes but ignore informal elements like culture, trust, and political dynamics that drive real behaviour.

What are internal sites of organisational change?

Culture, structure, leadership, systems, processes, technology, strategy, and human resources.

At what levels can organisational change occur?

Individual, group, departmental, organisation-wide, and inter-organisational levels (e.g. supply chains).

What is proactive vs reactionary change?

Proactive change is anticipatory and continuous, while reactionary change occurs in response to crisis or external pressure.

What conditions are required for successful proactive change?

Psychological safety, a learning culture, and tolerance for failure to allow experimentation and continuous improvement.

What are the three main perspectives on change?

Developmental (incremental improvement), transitional (structured movement to a new state), and transformational (radical, high-risk change).

What is the difference between gradual and punctuated change?

Gradual change is continuous and evolutionary, while punctuated change involves sudden shifts triggered by crises or external shocks.

What is planned vs emergent change?

Planned change is structured and top-down, while emergent change is adaptive, ongoing, and often develops through everyday decisions.

What is Lewin’s Change Model?

A three-stage process: unfreeze (create readiness), change (implement new systems), and refreeze (embed and sustain new behaviours).

What is Force Field Analysis in change?

A framework identifying driving forces pushing for change and resisting forces opposing it, with leadership aiming to strengthen drivers and reduce resistance.

What are Kotter’s 8 steps for leading change?

Establish urgency, build a coalition, develop vision, communicate vision, empower action, create short-term wins, sustain momentum, and anchor change in culture.

Why do transformation efforts fail (Kotter, 1995)?

Common reasons include lack of urgency, weak leadership coalition, unclear vision, poor communication, unremoved barriers, no short-term wins, premature celebration, and failure to embed change.

What is the difference between change and transition (Bridges, 1991)?

Change is external and structural, while transition is the internal psychological process individuals go through to adapt to change.

Master: What are the key theories and models in Leading Change?

Lewin’s Change Model (Unfreeze–Change–Refreeze); Force Field Analysis (driving vs resisting forces); Kotter’s 8-Step Model (urgency, coalition, vision, communication, empowerment, short-term wins, sustain, anchor); Kotter’s Failure Model (8 common reasons change fails); Hayes’ Change Process (recognise, diagnose, plan, implement, sustain); Bridges’ Transition Model (Ending, Neutral Zone, New Beginning); Planned vs Emergent Change (Weick); Developmental, Transitional, Transformational Change (Senior); Gradual vs Punctuated Change; Proactive vs Reactionary Change; Directive vs Collaborative Change Approaches; Organisation as a System (formal, informal, external); Leadership vs Management (Kotter).