Role of Leadership…. Abasyn Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 5 No.

Role of Leadership in Change Management Process

Sidra Ajmal1
M. Zuhair Farooq2
Noman Sajid3
Dr. Sajid Awan4

Abstract

The paper aims to explore the role of leadership in change

management process. The research is based on extensive
review of literature, in order to find out the leadership
factors that facilitate change in an organization. The
research reveals that that basic leadership and
management practices are associated with the core
competencies of an organization to achieve desired
outcomes. Many organizations are applying change
management practices to achieve organizational success
for long time survival. In our study we only focused on
Change-A planned activity, Leaders as a change agent,
Change as a process, Change management, and
Leadership style/leaders for change management.

Key words: Leadership, Change Management, Planned Change

1
Sidra Ajmal, MS- Scholar, SZABIST Islamabad
2
M. Zuhair Farooq, Hamdard Islamabad
3
Noman Sajid, MS- Scholar, SZABIST Islamabad
4
Dr. Sajid Awan, MS Co-Ordinator, SZABIST, Islamabad

Change is an ongoing natural process. For a successful

organization, change is meant to be implemented at three different
levels, i.e., individual, group and organization. At every level of
change, leadership plays different role as it’s the virtual duty of a
leader to manage the people and make their efforts to be at their
best in favor of change for an organization. Change management is

Sidra, Zuhair, Noman & Dr. Sajid 111

Role of Leadership…. Abasyn Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 5 No. 2

an essential area of concentration for the healthy growth of any

business, it is important even for the survival of any organization
in today’s business world. Successful change in any organization
is impossible without the active participation of management.

Every living creature is reluctant to change, whether it’s a

planned change or accidental change. Respondents of change are
affected by both external factors (outside the organization) and
internal factors (inside the organization); study reveals that internal
factors are actually the management style and leadership that
influence the process of change (Chirimbu, 2011). (Smith, 2005)
considered the inherent conundrum of organizational change: that
people, the human resources of organizations, are both an essential
factor in organizational change and, at times, the biggest obstacles
to achieving change. Therefore, it is concluded that important
element for a successful change in any organization is
“Leadership”. Leaders are known as “Champions of Change”- as it
is the top management of any organization who keep the process of
change going on and maintaining the operational reliability of the
organization (Nadler & Nadler, 1998).

Problem Statement

Most of the organizations are forced to construct changes in

order to survive for a longer period of time. They are required to
respond rapidly to the local, national and global uprising of new
technology and competition, if they want to survive. Everyone
knows that change is not going to take place at once. In fact, few
organizations meet their stated objectives (Anderson, 2011).
Change management has highly focused on people, identity and
the patterns of human interaction. Lack of leadership concentration
on the complexity of change, poorly developed strategy and
structures, last but not least attention towards people behavior
towards change make the process of change management
ineffective. For an effective change management process, it is

Sidra, Zuhair, Noman & Dr. Sajid 112

Role of Leadership…. Abasyn Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 5 No. 2

required by the leaders to pay notice towards identity formation of

the people in an organization (Karp & Helgo, 2008).

Aims of the Study

The aim of the study is to provide a clear understanding of

how leadership facilitates the process of change in an organization
and also the change management process.

Research Objectives

 To explore the importance of leadership in an organization.

 To identify leadership qualities for an effective process of
change.
 To illustrate the significance of leadership for change
management.

Research Questions

How leadership facilitates the process of change and

change management in an organization?

Delimitations of the Study

Many organizations are applying change management

practices to achieve organizational success for long time survival.
In our study we only focused on Change-A planned activity,
Leaders as a change agent, Change as a process, Change
management, and Leadership style/leaders for change
management.

Literature review

Change is becoming a way of life for organizations,

employees and managers alike (Leanna & Barry, 2000). With
organizational change occurring at a more rapid pace than ever
before (Wanberg & Banas, 2000), the ability to identify, cope with,

Sidra, Zuhair, Noman & Dr. Sajid 113

Role of Leadership…. Abasyn Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 5 No. 2

and capitalize on organizational change is becoming a requirement

of effective managers.

Change - A Planned Activity

According to Ajay (2002), change is an illogical and

emotional process. Being a leader of change, one has to focus more
on human aspects of change as individuals are the main actors in
sphere of intellectual capital. Organizational change is a
multifaceted and long term task. A change management is actually
a vital plan in designing how the organization is to move from its
current state to a desired future state. Organizational change is a
planned activity as it serves as a linkage between the different parts
of a change process, setup priorities and timelines, assigning
responsibilities, establishing mechanisms for review and revision
where necessary. For an effective change management process, it
is required to be properly planned. Effective planning for change
must begin well before changes are to take effect and consultation
should be done (Smith, 2006).

For successful completition of any change management

plan, it needs to be properly planned and fully budgeted. Along
with these important constraints, leadership is also a spirit for the
manager to capture employee back into work and to produce
maximum benefits from change. This concludes that leaders are
more affective than managers during the process of change
(Bejestani, 2011).

Change as a process

Change as a process was being firstly conceptualized by

Lewin in 1947. He segmented the change as a process with three
phases: (1) unfreezing—it is about readiness to change means it
involves getting a point of an understanding that change is
necessary and to be prepare for leaving the current state of comfort
for the sake of future benefits; (2) moving—At this stage, people
have to move forward to adopt a new changed setup. People are
Sidra, Zuhair, Noman & Dr. Sajid 114
Role of Leadership…. Abasyn Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 5 No. 2

most fearful from this stage of change process as they have to

leave their current comfort zone; and (3) refreezing—At last,
change is accepted as a new norm in an organization and now the
change is a part of routine process. Lewin also suggested that
although common sense might bend toward increasing powerful
forces to persuade change, in many illustrations this might arouse
an equal and opposite increase in resisting forces, the net effect
being no change and greater tension than before.

An awareness of the need for change is the beginning of the

whole change process. A complete assessment of the current
situation is necessary to begin the process of implementing any
kind of change in an organization unfortunately this kind of
assessment may take longer time than management have
(Armstrong, 2003). Galpin (1996) has proposed the strategic steps
leaders necessitated to make use of the efficient change process.
These steps were:

 Defining the need to change: At the initial step, it is

required to identify the need of change after the assessment
of current situation.

 Developing a vision of the result of change: For an

effective change process, it is required to develop some
clear vision about the outcomes or consequence of the
change in an organization.

 Leveraging teams to design, test, and implement changes:

To derive the best possible desired outcome, it is necessary
to empower teams that can design, test and implement
strategies through which change effectiveness can be
assured.

 Addressing the cultural aspects of the organization that will

help and sustain change: The process of change must have
to incorporate with the culture of an organization as it will
facilitate change to strike up with the future challenges
Sidra, Zuhair, Noman & Dr. Sajid 115
Role of Leadership…. Abasyn Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 5 No. 2

 Developing the essential attributes and skills needed to lead

the change effort: Last but not the least, for successful
completition of change process, certain attributes and skills
are considered necessary to be developed.

Leaders as Change Agent

Leader means someone who has the authority or power to

control a group of people and get it organized for a particular task
or goal. Leader has a clear vision for the welfare of his
organization and development of his organization. Leadership is
that quality of leader by which he leads the team or his group
(Bass, 1985). Leadership has six basic personality traits named as;
self confidence, ambition, drive and tenacity, realism,
psychological openness, appetite for learning, creativity, fairness,
dedication. To involve other members of team in decision making
is also the part of leadership

Senge (1990) illustrates three foundation characteristics for

a person to be in a leadership role in the modern day organizations
and they are of an architect, a teacher, and a steward. These three
qualities assist in clarifying mission, vision and values; identifying
strategies, structure and policies; generating efficient learning
processes; and facilitating subordinates to develop their mental
model continuously and think systematically. A well developed
leader Steve Job’s leadership style revolves around main two
concerns; (i) Persistence is the key, (ii) Innovation brings
leadership. Steve Jobs believes that persistence is the key towards
the successfulness of any leader. His attitude towards his work,
related Job’s leadership style as task oriented leadership. Whereas
his second belief indicates that his leadership style is also
comprised of people oriented leadership. Innovation brings
leadership means that the leader engages his team to be an
important part of decision making. This developed attitude of the
leaders creates a sense of belongingness in the members of team

Sidra, Zuhair, Noman & Dr. Sajid 116

Role of Leadership…. Abasyn Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 5 No. 2

and motivates them towards their assigned work or duty, which

ultimately increases the efficiency of the work.

For an effective change, the study reveals that charismatic

leadership and trust in top management both are important. They
are strongly correlated (positively) with change implementing
behavior, monitoring of anticipators, management level, and
department connection (Michaelis, Stegmaier & Sonntag, 2009).
According to Noer (1997), the leader, as a person, is the most
important tool for change. The leader's spirit, insight, wisdom,
compassion, values, and learning skills are all important facets in
the capabilities to lead others to embrace change and redesign. The
leader who prompts change within a firm is often subject to
approximate thought (Nadler & Nadler, 1998). It is the
leadership’s behavior that makes the change situations more
effective (Higgs & Rowland, 2005).

In response to today’s socioeconomic environment for

successful organizational development, the key defined by Darling
& Heller (2009) is embodied in the managerial leaders’ attitudes,
and the commensurate thoughts and feelings communicated
(vibrated) to the universe, both inside and outside of their
organizations. Study further reveals that leaders must have to
understand the reasons for the failure of change in any
organization. They have to develop capabilities to be a successful
change agent (Manikandan, 2010).

Change Management

Change management is an essential area of concentration

for healthy growth of any business, it is important even for the
survival of any organization in today’s business world. Change
management has highly focused on people, identity and the
patterns of human interaction. Change management will be the
core competency of the business leaders in twenty-first century.
Therefore being visionary change agents, leaders will be required

Sidra, Zuhair, Noman & Dr. Sajid 117

Role of Leadership…. Abasyn Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 5 No. 2

to be more skillful and motivational. Discontinuous changes make

worst affect on the capabilities of leadership (Nadler, Shaw &
Walton, 1995).

Even after implementation of change, the duty of leader

does not end. Change is the one constant, one can easily anticipate.
But in business, it’s vital that organizations build up a change
management approach through which they can rely on to diminish
both expected and unexpected changes. That way, they can meet
any challenges head-on and not be derailed by whatever changes
come their way (Gans, 2011). Nickols (2010), states that there are
four basic definitions for change management. These four
definitions are:

 The task of managing change: Firstly the definition of

change management referred to the term, ‘the task of
managing change’. Managing change can be illustrated
firstly as making of changes in a planned and managed
way, secondly to manage the response to changes on which
organization have some control. It also includes managing
impact of change on people.

 An area of professional practice: Change management is an

area of professional practice where organization is
managing the general process of change that is laid claim to
by professional change agents.

 A body of knowledge: Change management is a body of

knowledge that consists of the models, methods and
techniques, tools, skills and other forms of knowledge that
go into making up any change practice

 A control mechanism: Change management is about

controlling and monitoring the standards, requirements,
processes and procedures through which effective change
can be bought in the routine system of any organization.

Sidra, Zuhair, Noman & Dr. Sajid 118

Role of Leadership…. Abasyn Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 5 No. 2

Leadership Style

Important element for a successful change in any

organization is “Leadership” - leaders are the role model
personalities in any community. There are different styles of
leadership explained by theorists, and every style has its own
impact on change management. Lowder (2009) have discussed
Leadership Model for Change Management, he concludes that
Transformational leadership focuses on organizational
development where as servant leadership have concern about the
development of followers. In today’s dynamic business
environment, for developing best follower ship and change
management dealing – Transformational Leadership model is best.

Change management will be the core competency of the

business leaders in twenty-first century. Therefore being visionary
change agents, leaders will be required to more skillful and
motivational. Discontinuous changes make worst affect on the
capabilities of leadership (Nadler, Shaw & Walton, 1995).
Leadership style and employees’ trust in top management are
highly positively related to behavior involved in implementation of
innovations, for controlling individual differences and department
affiliation (Michaelis, Stegmaier & Stonntag, 2009). Nadler &
Tushman (1990) state that it’s only “Charismatic leader” that has
specialized quality to mobilize and sustain activity within an
organization through specific personal actions combined with
perceived personal characteristics.

At third phase of “Change Management Life Cycle” leaders

are the one who have to lead any change. They have to help the
person to develop skills that facilitates them to cope up with the
changes. Successful change leaders have to pay attention towards
the launch, implementation and sustaining of the particular change
effort (Herold & Fedop, n.d).

Sidra, Zuhair, Noman & Dr. Sajid 119

Role of Leadership…. Abasyn Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 5 No. 2

Change management is a process that includes various

skills i.e., leadership development (ability of top management to
get trust of internal customers in them), marketing and sales ability
(to make awareness about the consequences of change) and
communication skill (gather support for the decision to change
(Kaminski, 2000). Lack of any of these skills may have bad impact
on the effectiveness of change management process in an
organization.

According to Ajayi (2002), the change leader needs

following capabilities:

 Superhuman determination to make the change happen;

 Persistence;
 Stamina;
 A sufficient mandate that stems from personal change; and
 First-rate intelligence.

With out strong leadership, effective organizational change

won’t ever be possible. Managing change in an effective manner
requires change leaders that can lead a team which have courage to
drive change properly in an existing system. As change is a
transformation process, therefore the agents of change (leaders and
management) must have to drive a supportive response for change
from the stakeholders (Kotter, 2007). Absence of clear
understanding of change accomplishment methods and the
incapability to adjust one’s management style or organizational
functions are quoted as hurdles to success (Bossidy & Charan,
2002; Gilley, 2005).

The literature reveals that basic leadership and management

practices are associated with the core competencies of an
organization to achieve desired outcomes (Goonan & Stoltz, 2004).
Leadership is an important essence for change management
process as by definition, change requires new system creation and
then institutionalizing the new innovative approaches. Primarily,

Sidra, Zuhair, Noman & Dr. Sajid 120

Role of Leadership…. Abasyn Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 5 No. 2

the transformational leadership is considered as leadership style

having capabilities to increment change fully in an organization
(Eisenbach, Watson & Pillai, 1999).

Visionary transformers are required to bring quality-led

strategic change (Nwankwo & Richardson, 1996). In today’s
modern era of technological advancement, every organization is
struggling to get an edge over its competitor and to do so
organizations are required to be more adaptive towards change. To
meet up with the challenges of twentieth century, organizations are
required to be converted into learning organizations at first stage,
in order to become world class organization. For transformation of
a traditional organization into a learning organization, the
fundamental required essence is leadership. That can clarify the
vision and mission of the organization, assist the employees to
complete their targets and help them to get settled in new
innovative and learning environment (Singh, 2011).

Leader as Change Agent Framework

Sidra, Zuhair, Noman & Dr. Sajid 121

Role of Leadership…. Abasyn Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 5 No. 2

References
Ajayi, O. (2002). Leading change. USA: Capstone Publishing.
Anderson, A. (2011). Engaging resistance: How ordinary people
successfully champion change. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford
University Press.
Armstrong, M. (2003). A handbook of human resource
management practice. London: Kogan Page
Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond
expectations. New York: Free Pr.
Bejestani, H, S. (2011). Improving Project Change Management
Using Leadership Spirit.
Bossidy, L., & Charan, R. (2002). Execution: The discipline of
getting things done. New York: Crown
Chirimbu, S. (2011). Management and Organizational Change.
Retrieved from: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1735866
Darling, J, R & Heller, V, L. (2009). Organization Development in
an Era of Socioeconomic Change: A Focus on The Key to
Successful Management Leadership. Organization
Development Journal, 27(2), 9-26.
Eisenbach, R., Watson, K., & Pillai, R. (1999). Transformational
leadership in the context of organizational change. Journal
of Organizational Change Management, 12(2), 80 – 89.
Galpin, T. J. (1996). The human side of change: A practical guide
to organization redesign. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Publishers
Gans, K. (2011). Should you change your thinking about Change
Management? Strategic Finance, October 2011, 48-50.
Gilley, A. (2005). The manager as change leader. Westport, CT:
Praeger
Goonan, J, K., & Stoltz, K, P. (2004). Leadership and Management
Principles for Outcomes-Oriented Organizations. Medical
Care, 42(4), 31-38.
Herold, D, M & Fedor, D, B. (n.d). Leading change management,
leadership strategies that really work. Standford Business
Books
Sidra, Zuhair, Noman & Dr. Sajid 122
Role of Leadership…. Abasyn Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 5 No. 2

Higgs, M & Rowland, D. (2005). All changes Great and small:

Exploring Approaches to change and its Leadership.
Journal of Change Management, 5(2), 121-151.
Kaminski, J. (2000). Leadership and Change Management:
Navigating the Turbulent Frontier. Retrieved from:
http://www.nursing-
informatics.com/N4111/changemant.pdf
Karp, T & Helgo, T, I, T. (2008). From Change Management to
Change Leadership: Embracing Chaotic Change in Public
Service Organizations. Journal of Change Management,
8(1), 85-96.
Kotter, P, J., 2007. Leading Change - Why transformation efforts
fail. Harvard Business Review, January 2007, 92-107.
Leana, R, C & Barry, B. (2000). Stability and Change as
Simultaneous Experiences in Organizational Life. The
Academy of Management Review, 25(4), 753-759.
Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/259203
Lewin, K (1947).Change Management Model. Retrieved from:
http://www.change-management-
coach.com/kurt_lewin.html
Lowder, T, M. (2009). The Best Leadership Model for
Organizational Change Management: Transformational
Verses Servant Leadership. Retrieved from:
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1418796
Manikandah, P. (2010). Change Management- Where Do Leaders
Make Difference? Advances in Management, 3(9), 5-7.
Michaelis, B., Stegmaier, R., & Sonntag, R. (2009). Affective
Commitment to Change and Innovation Implementation
Behavior: The Role of Charismatic Leadership and
Employees’ Trust in Top Management. Journal of Change
Management, 9(4), 399-417.
Nadler, D., & Nadler, M. B. (1998). Champions of change: How
CEOs and their companies are mastering the skills of
radical change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers

Sidra, Zuhair, Noman & Dr. Sajid 123

Role of Leadership…. Abasyn Journal of Social Sciences Vol. 5 No. 2

Nadler, D., Shaw, R. B., & Walton, A. E. (1995).Discontinuous

change: Leading organizational transformation. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Nadler, D, A & Tushman, M, L. (1990). Beyond the Charismatic
Leader: Leadership and Organizational Change. California
Management Review, 32(2), 77-97.
Nickols, F. (2010). Change Management 101: A premier.
Retrieved from: http://www.nickols.us/change.pdf
Noer, D. M. (1997). Breaking free: A prescription for personal and
organizational change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Nwankwo, S., & Richardson, B. (1996). Quality management
through visionary leadership. Managing Service Quality,
6(4), 44 – 47.
Senge, M, P. (1990). The Leader's New Work: Building Learning
Organizations. Sloan Management Review, Fall 1990, 7-23
Singh, K, S. (2011). Leadership & Organizational Learning in
Knowledge Management Practices in Global
Organizations. The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations,
47(2), 353-365.
Smith, I. (2005). Achieving readiness for organizational change.
Library Management, 26(6/7), 408-412.
Smith, I. (2006). Continuing professional development and
workplace learning. Library Management, 27(4/5), 300-
306.
Wanberf, R, C & Banas, T, J. (2000). Predictors and outcomes of
openness to changes in a reorganizing workplace. Journal
of Applied psychology, 85(1), 132-142.

Sidra, Zuhair, Noman & Dr. Sajid 124