By Dawn-Marie Turner, PhD, CMC

Organizations have ranked change management as the fourth most important competency for leadership development.¹ Unfortunately for those looking to build their organization’s change capability, there is not much literature available to help them identify which skills to develop.

My colleague, Dr. Karen Somerville, has been exploring this subject for a couple of years, and she has identified 11 organizational change skills that are necessary for successful change. Dr. Somerville is an Assistant Professor at Hamline University and member of the International Council on Organizational Change.

11 Organizational Change Skills Every Leader Needs

Dr. Somerville’s research indicates that a successful change leader must be able to:

1. Manage the change process
2. Reduce conflicts and resistance during change
3. Build coalitions and networks
4. Develop a desirable vision and translate it into action
5. Secure and manage the necessary resources
6. Communicate effectively
7. Create and sustain interpersonal and social relationships to inspire, motivate, influence, and help with concerns
8. Lead with confidence, emotional intelligence and resiliency in the face of setbacks
9. Negotiate to address and influence the power and political dynamics of the organization as it moves through the transition
10. Analyze the internal and external factors needed for change, and their effect on the change initiative
11. Build and maintain trusting relationships before, during and after the change

You probably already have many of these skills in your organization. However, one critical skill is often missing: Many leaders perceive themselves as change novices, and lack the knowledge, skills, and expertise to respond to their new change responsibilities.²

According to Michael Beer and Nitin Nohria of Harvard Business School, if organizations are to succeed in today’s complex environment, leaders must have a greater understanding of organizational change and its processes.³ Most leaders concur: One study of 30 private and public organizations found 92% of leaders agreed that “all managers require a good understanding of change management principles.” ⁴

Build Your Internal Skills

These 11 change management skills can help you build a foundation for increasing your leaders’ organizational change competency. Here are four tips to help you add them into your competency model and build your organization’s change capability:

1. Conduct a change skills inventory to identify your leaders’ change knowledge and skill gaps.
2. Build your leaders’ knowledge of the change process, enhance their skills, and provide tools.
3. Integrate organizational change skills into leadership development programs and performance expectations.
4. Supplement existing internal change knowledge and skills with the appropriate external support.

 

References are available on request. 




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Living and Leading Change - A comprehensive change leadership program to help you build your organization's change competency