You'd think, given that ‘change' is the new business ‘normality', we'd stop talking about it as something special. But it continues to fascinate - making good profits for consultants and authors alike. 

Why is leading change so hard? 

Perhaps because we tend to see it as something special, on top of business-as-usual. How many of us are currently doing two jobs - ‘leading change' and ‘the day job'?

In his bestseller ‘Leading Change', John Kotter lists several key ‘missings' in creating change that sticks:

• not enough dissatisfaction with progress - too complacent
• ineffective change leadership coalition
• too little communication of the vision
• premature declaration of victory
• limited institutionalisation - change not anchored in the corporate culture.

Leaders are exhausted

All great points. But if leaders are exhausted, it's no wonder they are unable to lead change effectively.

Imagine. The ‘change job' is now ‘the job'. Then turn up the volume - and imagine leading the change because it matters to you personally. More, not only are you committed, but colleagues share the same commitment.

‘Day job' versus ‘change job'

There seems to be two choices:

• option 1: leading change is my ‘day job' - and the job of my colleagues. Change isn't a series of one-off projects, but business as usual
• option 2: change efforts must be scaled down so we don't overload everyone with more than they can do in the time available.

Option 1 requires good preparation for leaders - to re-think their leadership job. Option 2, on the other hand, isn't a ‘bad' option. Often change initiatives are created with too large a corporate brush and overload everyone as a result. De-scoping in those situations gives more chance of success by fitting the change to the leaders' capacity.

Capacity, coalitions and strategy

Scope is a key question in preparing for change: ‘What capacity does this organisation have to take on the proposed changes - and deliver them successfully?'

Change coalitions are vital in delivering change and these need to exist throughout the organisation - not only at the top. Most organisations will create ‘change teams' - temporary project teams to guide change and provide focus. But what if they too became ‘the way we do things here'?

Strategy guides change. Only when ‘change' is seen as ‘normal' is it likely to stick. In this way, ‘strategy' becomes the guide for changes to today's operations and decision-making, rather than a separate reality inhabited only by senior leaders.

‘They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.' Andy Warhol

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