Leadership has been described as a seduction. A counterbalance to this seduction is more open acknowledgement and discussion about the dark side of leading change. I highlight how academics encouraged coercive persuasion, manipulation and aggression in the development of leadership. Rather than practices to be avoided, these developments were seen as beneficial even integral to what was being prescribed.
I recently enjoyed talking with Jane and James as part of their World of Work podcast series. It was good to take a break from gardening and my joy of composting and engage with another of my passions - organizational change. We talked about the scope of organizational change, my attraction to the field and …
We need to question the persuasive narrative that organizational change tends to fail. This post introduces Notebook No.1 and its chapter content questioning currently favoured change failure framing.
Post in 31 words - This post introduces the second Notebook and its chapters. The shift from change management to change leadership begs a question why? We seem to place faith in leading change, but why? An introduction to the Notebook Series is available here I have worked at Brighton since October 1987. During a …
Continue reading "How they constructed change leadership (Notebook No.2)"
Abstract Professor John Kotter (1995) claimed in Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail to have identified eight leadership errors which resulted in transformation failures. He followed this up in 1996 with his best-selling book Leading Change, prescribing an eight step model for leading transformations encouraging change leaders to create a sense of urgency, build powerful …
Continue reading "Leading changes: Why transformation explanations fail"
Senior people refer to ‘leadership’ when what they are really talking about is ‘command.’
Creating urgency has become synonymous with leading change to the detriment of individuals, organizations, and societies.
Woodland Decay 