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CHAPTER 15: LEADING CHANGE 459
and authority they need to pursue the vision. Leaders at one company
striving to improve collaboration, for example, found employees’ energy
flagging after they had achieved a short-term win that improved on-time
and complete shipments from 50 percent to 99 percent. They decided to
invest significant time and money in reconfiguring the plant to increase
interaction of production and office personnel, thereby creating a feeling
of community that reinforced and continued the change effort in a highly
visible way. 17
8. Stage 8 is where leaders make the changes stick. The transformation
18
isn’t over until the changes have well-established roots. Leaders instill new
values, attitudes, and behaviors so that employees view the changes not as
something new but as a normal and integral part of how the organization
operates. They use many of the ideas we discussed in Chapter 14 for
changing organizational culture, such as tapping into people’s emotions,
telling vivid stories about the new organization and why it is successful,
selecting and socializing employees to fit the desired culture, and acting
on the espoused values so that people know what leaders care about and
reward. Leaders celebrate and promote people who act according to the
new values. This stage also requires developing a means to ensure
leadership development and succession so that the new values
Answer the questions in Leader’s Self-
and behaviors are carried forward to the next generation of Action Memo
leadership. Insight 15.2 on page 460 to see if you have
Stages in the change process generally overlap, but each is what it takes to initiate changes and follow
important for successful change to occur. When dealing with the 8-stage model of change.
a major change effort, leaders can use the eight-stage change
process to provide a strong foundation for success.

Leading Everyday Change

Sometimes leaders see that significant changes need to be made but they are con-

strained by various circumstances from initiating bold changes or they recognize
that aggressive moves would provoke strong resistance. In addition, the nature
of leadership means influencing others in many small ways on a regular basis.

Good leaders work daily to gradually shift attitudes, assumptions, and behaviors
toward a desired future. When individual leaders throughout the organization are
involved in daily change efforts, they have a powerful cumulative effect. 19
Leaders can learn strategies for everyday change that will have signifi cant
constructive impact as everyday conversations and small actions spread to oth-
ers throughout the organization. Exhibit 15.3 illustrates a range of incremental
change strategies that leaders can use. The strategies range from the individual
leader working alone to effect gradual change to working directly with others in
20
a more directed and extensive change effort. Each of the strategies is described
below:
• Creative self-expression. This is the least conspicuous way to promote
change and involves a single leader acting in a way that others will notice
and that reflects the values or behaviors he or she wishes to instill in
followers. Creative self-expression quietly unsettles others’ expectations
and routines, whether it be a leader who wears casual pants and sweaters
in an organization where most people wear suits, or a leader who shifts
working hours to balance work and family life. One manager, for example,
shifted his work hours so he could always be home by 6:00 p.m. and