 |  Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience, 4/e Richard L Hughes,
Center for Creative Leadership
Robert C Ginnett,
Center for Creative Leadership
Gordon J Curphy,
The Blandin Foundation
Leadership and Change
Chapter 13 Summary| This chapter began by revisiting the topic of leadership and management. Management skills are
important to ensure compliance with existing systems, processes, and procedures; they are used
to help preserve the status quo, improve consistency and efficiency, and maintain control.
Leadership skills are needed when changes need to be made to existing systems and processes;
they are used to create new systems and drive organizational change. The chapter then reviewed
two major approaches to organizational change. Although independent lines of research were
used to develop the rational and emotional approaches to change, in reality these approaches
have several important similarities. With the rational approach, leaders increase follower
dissatisfaction by pointing out problems with the status quo, systematically identifying areas of
needed change, developing a vision of the future, and developing and implementing a change
plan. In the emotional approach, leaders develop and articulate a vision of the future, heighten
the emotions of followers, and empower followers to act on their vision. Charismatic leaders are
also more likely to emerge during times of uncertainty or crisis, and may actually manufacture a
crisis to improve the odds that followers will become committed to their vision of the future. The
rational approach puts more emphasis on analytic, planning, and management skills whereas the
emotional approach puts more emphasis on leadership skills, leader-follower relationships, and
the presence of a crisis to drive organizational change. This chapter described the steps
leadership practitioners must take if they wish to drive organizational change. There is ample
evidence to suggest that either the rational or emotional approach can result in organizational
change, but the effectiveness of the change may depend on which approach leadership
practitioners are most comfortable with and the skill in which they can carry it out. |
|
2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education