Leading Change: Top Ten Missteps
This entry was posted on 12/1/2006 5:23 PM and is filed under Change Management,Performance Management,Leadership.
Over my 27 years of consulting, I have witnessed several leadership behaviors that have ensured the failure of change efforts. The following mistakes will certainly derail your organizational change:
- Disregard your company culture entirely and mandate change.
- Delegate responsibility for the change to the Human Resources department.
- Hire consultants and make them accountable for the success of the change efforts.
- Engage consultants to assist you and ignore any advice that they offer.
- Allow the grapevine to serve as the primary vehicle for communications.
- Measure progress by assuming that no news is good news
- Allow your favorite employees to do things the old way if it suits them better.
- Send mixed messages about your support for the change by dragging your feet or engaging in inconsistent actions.
- Ask for input from the employees and then ignore it.
- Position the change as a program rather than a process.
For more colorful illustrations of leaders who have made these mistakes read our article, Getting Ready to Get Ready for Change. Other resources : Change Initiative Tool Kit; Leading Change.
