Keywords Empowerment, Language, Leadership, Organizational change, Resistance, Teamwork
Abstract Resistance to change is a centerpiece in the traditional change agenda. The author argues that resistance to change is not a basic part of our make-up and he uses the example of his grandfather’s l ife to provide examples of the many dramatic changes that have successfully impacted on people’s l ives during the twentieth centur y. The author outl ines the leadership inadequacies that result in change initiatives being rejected. Central to these leadership problems are a lack of vision, l imited integ r ity, lack of coura ge, inappropr iate langua ge, l imited understanding of true empowerment, and only a passing commitment to leadership as service. The argument concludes that while many modern leaders have been trained in the what and the how of change, the real problem lies in the fact that the why and the who gains remains largely mute.

William (Bill) Burdett was born in 1896 in a small village in Northamptonshire, England. Like many of his generation, he fought in, what has been referred to ever since as, The Great War. Indeed, well in to his 80s, he could describe with vivid detail the Battle of Jutland and the scuttling of the German fleet at Scapa Flow – events that came alive as he described, not what the history books said, but what he personally witnessed.
And though he was not blessed with an unusual level of talent, or even with an extra stroke of luck, this simple man, born the son of a farm laborer and trained as a blacksmith, was remarkable in that he was, in every sense of the word, a gentleman. I can attest to that personally because he was my grandfather.
Even were he not a special kind of person, Bill’s life was still extraordinary.
Remarkable, because of one dominating factor: he was a true citizen of the twentieth century.
Born into a