T H U N D E R B IR D S C H O OL OF GLOB A L MA N A GE ME N T

Change Management: Leading Others Through Times of Change

Dr. Laura Polk

September 2019
 Leadership In Practice
● Leaders are obligated to their teams, administration and
communities

● Different types of leadership take form based on personality &

environment
● Servant → Asks what they can do for others
● Transformational → Inspires others to act
● Democratic → Distributes work & opportunities fairly
● Transactional → Process driven

● Leaders develop behaviors based on circumstances, best

practices & experience

● As a leader develops, their individual leadership practices may

change – especially during times of change
 Change Management 101

What is Change Management?

A company’s ability to adapt based on current

demands to stay in business
 The Need for Change Management:
Factors Impacting Organizations

External Internal

• Technology (4IR) • Company objectives

• Market conditions • Personnel decisions

• Customer needs • Costs to deliver goods &

services
 CHANGE is hard…

Uncertainty
Lack of Communication
Erratic Behavior
Poor Decision Quality
 How Great Leaders Manage Change
Communication Actions & Behaviors

• Discuss the “why” • Be transparent & candid

• Over Communicate • Face to face, email,

team meetings
• Celebrate wins
• Create milestones as a
team and celebrate
them together
 Scenario: Leading People Through Change

Steve is a mid-level manager at toy

manufacturing company. He
receives information regarding a
“restructuring” of the company and
his team from the CEO. Steve will
lose 2 of his 5 team members and
have to train the remaining 3 on
new processes to support new toy
development. How should he
handle this situation?
 Practical Application : Leading through
Change
Steve’s Communication Actions & Behaviors

• Discuss the “why” • Tell remaining employees about

changes to personnel
• Over Communicate
• Hold a team meeting and discuss
• Celebrate wins training requirements

• Create milestones and mechanism

for tracking
 CHANGE is…

LESS SCARY when you take ownership & drive

Questions?