The role of leaders in change and transformation

If we want to make companies more future-ready, it is important to create real change capability. Companies need two things for this: leaders with change management skills and a clear view of the current corporate reality and internal processes.

Put an end to processes that only exist on paper!

In a rapidly changing business world, we can no longer afford pretenses, shortcuts or informal side processes! It takes an honest look and processes that are accepted, that are really practiced. Because only on this basis can we work together reliably AND, if necessary, make timely adjustments that further develop the company as a whole in the right direction.

For this to succeed, we need managers with an eye for the key accelerators or also preventers of change. We need to identify where work-arounds or fake process adjustments occurred and why. We are in direct contact with operational teams and responsible for leveraging their time and skills to create effective change.
But do we have time for this?

Change und Transformation kommen immer „on top“ zum Tagesgeschäft, mit dem wir ja bereits ausgelastet waren. Veränderungen also jedes Mal als „Extraprojekt“ laufen zu lassen, ist nicht die beste Lösung. Vielmehr kommt es darauf an, unsere täglichen Routinen und unsere Art der Führung so zu gestalten, dass Change auf natürliche Weise integrierbar ist.

Transformations bring additional tasks and our teams have a lot of questions as soon as change is in the air. We are confronted with different expectations at the same time. Let's take a look at the expectations placed on us in detail!

What companies expect from their managers

Companies expect their managers to make an active contribution to the company's strategic adjustments. Currently, agile and modern work methods, digitalization, technological advancement, sustainability, integration and employee engagement are the key drivers of transformation programs in companies. Overall, these trends reflect the growing recognition that organizational development must be adaptive, responsive, and focused on creating sustainable value for all stakeholders.

As leaders, we are confronted with different expectations at the same time: we are expected to support the redesign of processes and methods, to engage our teams on the change and new goals, to answer as many questions as possible, to catch initial emotions, to know possible effects on individual employees, to act as role models, to know and exemplify new practices... and all this while doing our regular work.

It's no wonder that some managers feel overburdened.
The question is: What exactly is the role of a manager in transformation? What does a team need from its leader that no one else can provide? And how do I prepare myself as a manager for this?

The 4 core tasks of leaders in transformation

Communication: Managers are responsible for communicating change to their team members. They play a critical role in ensuring that employees understand the reasons for the change, the goals of the change, and how the change will affect them. Effective communication is key to ensuring that employees are engaged in the change process and understand their role in it.

Leadership: Leaders are responsible for managing the change process within their teams. They are responsible for creating a vision for the change, developing a plan to achieve the change, and ensuring that the change is successfully implemented. Effective leadership is critical to ensuring that the change is embraced and that employees are motivated to support it.

Assistance: Managers are responsible for supporting their employees during the change process. They play a critical role in addressing employees' concerns, guiding them, providing resources and helping them manage the change. Effective support is key to ensuring that employees feel valued and are able to successfully manage the transition.

Influence: Leaders have a huge impact on their team members. They can set the tone for how employees perceive the change, how they engage with it, and how successful the change will be. Effective managers can use their influence to motivate employees and ensure that the change is embraced and successfully implemented.

Leaders are of crucial importance in any kind of change! The way they communicate changes, involve themselves and the team in the change process, and support the employees in their respective adaptation process decides decisively on the success or failure of a transformation, on the ease or also the hurdles that an organization has to deal with in the change process.

As a manager, how can I best prepare myself for these tasks?

In my experience, these 4 points have the greatest positive effect:

1. Differentiate between your own and the teams needs!
   When it comes to change and transformation, managers often find themselves in a dilemma. On the one hand, they need an overview themselves first in order to sound out the significance for themselves and their area. At the same time, they want to and should enable their employees to do the same. Often, the change has a significant impact on the manager herself, but not necessarily on the team. It is therefore important to consider one's own and the team's needs separately.
   
   Fragen, die sich für die Selbstreflexion eignen, helfen auch in der Arbeit mit dem Team: Was konkret wissen wir und was ist noch unklar? Was soll durch die Veränderung bewirkt werden? Warum ist diese Veränderung wichtig? Inwiefern ist das für mich relevant? Erwarte ich dadurch Vor-oder Nachteile? Welcher aktive Beitrag wird dabei von mir/uns erwartet? Wie kann ich mich einbringen und Einfluss nehmen?
   
   The earlier we have this dialogue and the more open it is, the more time we give our teams to process the information and ask relevant questions. Questions that are relevant to our team give us a concrete indication of what hurdles our team suspects and what they may be depending on for their commitment. It is important that we, as leaders, do not initially judge the team's situation or the questions that arise. All questions are valid and relevant. What is important is that we recognize the need behind the question and deal with it respectfully. So what are my needs as a leader in relation to this change and what are the needs of the team?
   How we as leaders manage that the possible impact on ourselves does not affect the way we inform our team, we maintain the objectivity and neutrality that is so important. This neutrality gives us the necessary openness for the actual needs of our teams. On this basis, we can lead our teams constructively and offer more options for dealing with the upcoming change.
   
2. Promote trust!
   Trust in the leader creates bonding and reduces uncertainty. Openly addressing the team's needs in relation to the change builds trust and creates a protected framework in which the individual team members feel in good hands despite the impending change. Managment thought leader Stephen R. Covey describes 13 behaviours which create trusting connections and further strengthen the trust that has already been placed in them. From my point of view, the essential points are: listening to others and taking their suggestions seriously, communicating honestly and transparently, clarifying expectations and taking responsibility. Such behaviour is not always easy and is very much appreciated for that very reason.
3. Be your teams coach, not their boss!
   Especially in uncertain and dynamic moments, we as leaders walk a fine line between "providing security" and "patronising". If we make all decisions ourselves, we deprive our employees of the opportunity to evaluate the situation and react themselves. This process is often necessary in order to be sure that we have made the best possible decision. If our staff are not part of this process, they are automatically the "victims" of our decisions. Nobody likes to be a victim. Top-down decisions in the change process often lead to a bad gut feeling, frustration and resistance. Therefore, it is important that we as leaders involve our teams in the process! We describe the situation and guide our staff through the decision-making process using reflective questions. In addition to decision-making, this kind of participation has another positive effect: we create acceptance! Acceptance for the procedure and the individual measures and an understanding of the interrelationships leads to the necessary willingness to implement. In this way, we reduce additional communication events, technical disputes and personal, emotional adjustment effects to a minimum.

What specifically do my employees need from me in order to be able to implement the change?

According to the Gallup study from 2020 the essential things people need to deal well with uncertainty are: trust, cohesion, stability and hope. It is important to approach the change together! Stability gives us everything that does NOT change in this context. Take a concrete look with your teams at what will definitely remain stable and you will find that these things clearly predominate. The change thus seems more clearly defined and feasible. On this basis, a spirit of optimism can arise. And that is exactly what we need hope for, the attractive perspective for the future, the reason why we should definitely do it!

Certainly there are good reasons for change on the part of the company. However, it is up to the manager to put this into a relevant context for the employees and to make it personally important for everyone. We do well to first appreciate the previous approach and value it as the right way from "the past's" point of view before we infer the current need for change. After all, we are also leading those who have already worked on the previous solution and we do not want to belittle them in any way. In addition to the need for adaptation, the common outlook into the future is particularly important.

An attractive perspective for the future attracts the team and motivates them to align their own activities with this goal. The day-to-day demands must not fall behind.
The aim is to achieve too much in too short a time. As leaders, we have the task of setting priorities and assessing efforts correctly so that the right energy is put into working on the right issues. And sometimes it is also our task to demand this orientation and clarity so that something can really change, which either leads to everything being done half-heartedly or to the organisation being completely overloaded and individuals being harmed. Energy always flows to where the attention is.

Conclusion:

Leaders are key players in any change and transformation. Their commitment and ability to safely lead and accompany people in uncertain times determine the energy that emerges in their teams for or against change.
Leaders who want to support their teams in transformation limit external pressure and focus on dialogue and co-creation. They communicate clearly and regularly on the current situation, the potential impact on their team and the different opportunities that arise, and help their teams to lower their stress levels. Teams that felt well informed trust their leader and are more likely to engage in transformation.