At a Glance
Many transformation efforts fail to meet expectations or produce suboptimal results.
Transformational leaders inspire their people to perform beyond expectations, leading to improved task performance and collaborative behaviour among employees.
A key component of successful transformation is the establishment of a guiding coalition, enlisting opinion leaders and first movers.
Despite intense market pressures, most organisations struggle to transform effectively in response to complex and rapid changes. Genuine stories of successful transformation represent only about one-third of all implementations.
Various studies suggest that many transformation efforts fall short of expectations or deliver suboptimal results. Some even fail outright. A common factor contributing to these failures is ineffective leadership in the early stages of transformation.
Transformations involve significant changes in strategy, operations, and culture. To change the culture and drive growth, senior executives must effectively communicate various aspects of the transformation initiative to all stakeholders, according to HBR.
Transformational leaders can change employee behaviours
Transformational leadership, a style that uses four behaviours – idealised influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualised consideration – can help an organisation achieve its desired results. These central behaviours motivate employees to achieve in-role task requests and exceed expectations.
For example, leaders who demonstrate behaviours such as idealised influence (where followers recognise the value, confidence, and power of the leader) and inspirational motivation (where leaders articulate visions to inspire subordinates to achieve desired goals) are able to better engage their followers to accomplish significant results. These engaged employees are more likely to perform their tasks well and are more likely to collaborate and help their work colleagues.
Laying the groundwork: A transformational leader’s guide
Transformational leaders inspire and motivate their teams by setting clear, shared goals that resonate with a deeper purpose. To lead a successful transformation, these leaders first lay a strong foundation. Here’s how:
- Define the stakes: Clearly explain the potential benefits and risks associated with the transformation.
- Highlight the costs of inaction: Emphasise the negative consequences of avoiding change and the opportunities that may be lost.
- Focus on the future: Describe a vivid picture of the desired outcomes and how they will positively impact the organisation and its people.
- Create a sense of urgency: Apply both internal and external pressure to accelerate the transformation process.
- Challenge the status quo: Promote a mindset of continuous improvement and disrupt complacency to foster adaptability.
- Build a united front: Engage all stakeholders, not just your direct reports to ensure buy-in, alignment, and collective effort.
Building a guiding coalition to drive transformation
Transformation is a massive exercise that requires a top-down, organisation-wide approach. A key component of successful transformation is the establishment of a guiding coalition. Ideally, the right guiding coalition should be made up of the right people, well organised, and has a constant presence to those affected by the change. Coalition members are influential stakeholders and opinion leaders from different functions and hierarchical levels, who are typically “first-movers” and less resistant to change.
Senior executives cannot drive the transformation alone. The coalition can provide a broader and more holistic perspective, collective intelligence and increased capacity to accelerate the transformation effort. In addition, a guiding coalition can help drive the momentum of a transformation by changing people’s behaviour and mindset, rather than simply relying on existing static systems or processes.
Achieve successful transformation through employee engagement
Achieve successful transformation through employee engagement
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When forming a guiding coalition, CEOs need to balance membership by considering these four principles:
- Few vs Many: Instead of having a select few changemakers to simply follow orders, the involvement of many changemakers can actively reinforce change and transformation at the frontline, at all levels. Transformational leaders can increase employees’ commitment and work engagement to accomplish significant outcomes. This leadership style, defined by vision and inspiration, is critical for driving successful change initiatives.
- Have To vs Want To: Employees who feel included in the meaningful transformation opportunities will create change by looking beyond their self-interest or normal responsibilities.
- Management and leadership: Effective leadership is critical to seizing opportunities. In addition to communicating vision, action, and innovation, strong managerial processes are equally important to ensure seamless execution.
- Head and heart:Â Human motivation is not driven by logic alone. A deep sense of purpose and meaning can inspire individuals to achieve extraordinary results. Transformations that resonate with people on an emotional level can lead to extraordinary results.
Once a like-minded coalition is established, the transformational leader should prioritise daily huddles with key stakeholders to maintain momentum and alignment. Clear and consistent communication of the transformation’s key messages is essential at every interaction. In addition, the CEO should actively engage with employees through Management by Walking About (MBWA) to foster open dialogue and build trust.
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For transformation to be successful, it needs to be embedded at every level of the organisation. In addition to strong leadership, your organisation must ensure that other functions such as HR, Finance, and Procurement are equipped to handle increased workloads and meet tight deadlines.
Transformational leadership is essential for the successful implementation and adoption of change, addressing the common failures of transformation efforts. Transformational leaders inspire employees to exceed expectations by using different management styles. Another vital strategy is forming a guiding coalition of influential stakeholders from various levels to collectively drive change and shift mindsets. Combining logical and emotional appeals helps to enhance employee engagement and collaboration.
For transformations to succeed, change must be embedded at all organisational levels, ensuring readiness across functions and maintaining consistent communication and trust throughout the process.
Engaging Renoir Consulting to implement your transformation programme helps you to maximise the value of your transformation efforts. Our methodologies to affect and track behavioural change have been perfected for 25+ years. We believe that the outcome of detailed transformation programs should be the full adoption of new ways of working, from the bottom up to the top.
We help you implement your transformation programme to meet your goals head on. Let’s talk.Â
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