Leadership and Management: Approaches for Change Implementation

This essay delves into the critical distinction between leadership and management in the context of implementing change projects. It examines the roles of managers, who focus on planning and organization, and leaders, who inspire and motivate. The essay references Kotter's (2001) view that leaders formulate strategies while managers set procedures and highlights key differences between the two roles, such as risk assessment and vision communication. It then explores Kotter's eight-step change model (1996), outlining steps for successful change management. Furthermore, the essay emphasizes the importance of the manager-employee relationship and the various roles managers play during change, including mentor, communicator, and advocate. The concept of collective leadership is introduced, highlighting its benefits in fostering communication and shared accountability. The essay also addresses the challenges of managing change in pluralistic organizations, such as those involving unions, and stresses the need for supervisors to effectively communicate the necessity of change. This analysis provides valuable insights into how different leadership styles and approaches influence the successful implementation of change initiatives.

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Title: Leadership and Management
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Change can either be managed or led. Which approach in your opinion is
more likely to result in the successful implementation of change projects?
According to Kotter (2001) the manager handles tasks such as planning, budgeting,
organizing, and the leaders inspire and motivate people (Bohoris & Vorria, n.d.). The leader
formulates strategies whereas the manager sets the procedure. Kotterman (2006) provided a
comparison table that highlights several differences between leadership and management, such
as the manager’s job is to control the processes, identify the problems, and solve those problems.
The leaders, however, are responsible for encouraging the employees to make through the
difficult times and overcome the barriers to change. One significant difference is that the
manager always takes the low-risk decision, but it is not so in case of a leader. The manager can
plan the change, but the incorporation of the change projects is the duty of the leader. It is his
area to communicate the vision to people and motivate them to follow it.
Kotter in 1996, presented an eight-step change model or successful change management. In
his book Accelerate, he identified the steps that can be taken to ensure that the change process is
implemented successfully. The steps are listed below-

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1. Creating a sense of urgency
2. Building a guiding coalition
3. Forming strategic visions
4. Enlisting the volunteers
5. Taking action, removing barriers
6. Short-term wins
7. Sustaining the acceleration
8. Implementing changes

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Source- www.staff.napier.ac.uk
Managers play a crucial role in the process of change management. They lead teams and
the way in which employees are led can be a great determinant of the success/failure of the
process. In times like these, managers in a way act like leaders (Bohoris & Vorria, n.d.). The
manager-employee relationship is a vital element that works in this process. In times of change,
manager plays many roles, i.e. mentor, communicator, liaison, advocate, and resistance handler.
In various situations he has switched to different roles just to ensure that change is implemented
in a cooperative manner.
The change management requires the contribution of not just the leader, but the entire
organization. In collective leadership, the process is smooth because the power is distributed

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within the organization. In this type of leadership, the flow of communication is better and each
individual has a role to play. The level of accountability is shared and the success is a result of
many perspectives and skills (Wilson, 2018).
In case of pluralistic organization, the source of power are multiple. Thus, unions have a special
role to play. This setting is one of the most conflicting and managing change is not an easy task.
Thus to successfully implement the change is it crucial that supervisors understand the need for
change and convey the same to the union. Since the union has a say in the organization, it has the
power to motivate the employees in accepting and cooperating with the process.

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References
Bohoris, G., & Vorria, E. Leadership vs Management. A Business Excellence / Performance
Management View, 2-5. Retrieved from
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/fdb2/895311daae34b71919e5b39b561c9d4bc145.pdf
Kotter, J. (2001). What leaders really do. Organizational Dynamics, 28(2), 90-91.
Kotterman, J. (2006). Leadership vs Management: What's the difference?. Journal Of Quality
And Participation, 29(2), 6-12.
Wilson, R. (2018). Collective Leadership – The What, Why, And How. Retrieved 2 September
2019, from https://growingorganisations.com/collective-leadership-what-why-how/