Leading Change: The Leader’s Role
By Ms. Sumedha Dutta

The world of human resource management is in constant flux. Competition, consumer choice, diversified product choice, improved technology, unrestricted trade territories etc., have contributed significantly to the necessity of bringing about change in the organization and embracing it as an ongoing process. Globalization and liberalization have further fueled the necessity for change. Orientation to change within organization starts from the top and percolates downwards, while interplay of many elements is involved in the smooth succession. During the change programs, the most important determinant of “getting through the swamp”, is the ability of leadership to…well, lead. It has been observed that the nature of the change is secondary to the perceptions that employees have regarding the ability, competence, and credibility of senior and middle management. If you are to manage change effectively, you need to be aware of the three distinct times zones where leadership is important. We can refer to these as: Preparing for the Journey, Slogging through the Swamp, and After Arrival. We will look more carefully at each of these.

The Role of Leadership:
In an organization where there is faith in the abilities of formal leaders, employees will look towards the leaders for a number of things. During drastic change times, employees will expect effective and sensible planning, confident and effective decision-making, and regular, timely and complete communication. Also during these times of change, employees will perceive leadership as supportive, concerned and committed to their welfare, while at the same time recognizing that tough decisions need to be made. In specific terms a climate of trust between leader and the rest of the team needs to be inculcated in an organization. The existence of this trust brings hope