1. Successful business transformation requires developing change leadership skills throughout an organization, not just at the top. It is important to understand change drivers, communicate vision effectively, build trust, and guide people through uncertainty. 2. Leading large-scale changes can be challenging due to the human factors involved and varying responses to change. The difficulty increases with the scope, complexity, and impact of the transformation. 3. Effective change leadership training should cover both change management hard skills and soft change leadership skills. It should also include applied exercises in addition to theoretical models to better prepare people for real-world transformation efforts.

1. Debbie Narver, BSc MBA MScIB
Strategic Management Instructor at NMC Strategic Manager
Successful
Business
Transformation
And the Need for
Change Leadership
Skills

2. How will your organization achieve it’s vision?
Business transformation is the
process of going from where you
are now to a new state.
It may be as simple as becoming
more effective at what you are
doing now.
Or it may involve doing something
completely new.

3. In their global survey of what successful
transformations share, McKinsey & Company state
in their results:
“Transforming leadership capacity seems to be
particularly significant in transformations that
succeeded in improving long-term health”
Source: What successful transformations share: McKinsey Global Survey results. Available
at https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/what-successful-
transformations-share-mckinsey-global-survey-results

4. People issues are key to success
It’s not enough to have
change leadership skills at
the top. Leaders at all levels
must know how to
communicate with and
engage employees
throughout the organization.

5. Consider this:
Change is a fact of life, and by extension,
a fact of business. Regardless of whether
or not we want change, it is happening
around us.
But we have a choice in how we respond
to it!

6. Denial, Avoidance and/or Resistance
This usually has undesirable consequences at some
point. We may delay the inevitable, but
eventually, change will happen TO us. This puts us
into a reactive mode, where we are struggling to
survive at all costs. In this state, our options are
often limited.

7. Acceptance and Action
We can be proactive and apply
change to take us in the direction
we choose. By knowing our end
goal, and being aware of our
environment, we can plan and
manage change to our
advantage.

8. Benefits of a Proactive Approach
We can also be aware of the impacts to others, and
manage change in ethical and respectful ways. We
can look for opportunities for Win-Win. This is a
concept I have referred to as positive change. It is
also the basis for successful business
transformation.

9. Why can transformation be so difficult?

10. Changing behaviour and habits
Have you ever tried to change something in your own
life? Perhaps quitting smoking, starting an exercise
program or just being more organized?
You know it can be difficult to change your own
behaviour. We have a level of comfort in our day to
day routine.
It takes a significant amount of motivation and will
power to create new habits.

11. Guiding many people in a new direction
This can cause of range of emotions – both conscious and
unconscious. So it quickly gets very “messy”.
It takes effective change leadership skills to move people
through change.
The level of difficult increases exponentially with the
scope, complexity and stakes/impact of change – as well
as the size and stability of the organization.

12. What skills are required to lead successful
business transformation?

13. 1) Understanding the
need for change
How do you recognize
when your organization
needs to change?
For example – a new
strategy? Changes in the
environment? External
influences?
Change leaders need the
ability to assess change
drivers.

14. 2) Creating & Communicating a New Vision

15. People need to know where you are going. Leading
positive change requires that you can help each
individual understand the goal. Communication
can be challenging enough during “regular” times,
but especially critical during the confusion and
emotions that can be generated during business
transformation. So it is essential that change
leaders learn more advanced communication
skills.

16. 3) Guiding others
through uncertainty
How can you gain trust and help
others deal with emotions?
I believe the first step is to
become aware of own beliefs
and attitudes towards change.
This can help you to be
authentic and have empathy
for others.

17. 4) Changing Behaviour and Culture
Often, we get through the business transformation
process and think we are done. But then people
start slipping back into their previous habits. They
may go back to old processes that are
comfortable. So we need to reinforce the change
or “re-freeze” to create the new normal.

18. 5) Applying Tools and
Techniques
There are many
approaches, so
effective Change
Leaders needs to know
how to select & apply
the right tools for each
case.

19. For example: In my change leadership course, we learn
John Kotter’s 8 step model and Kurt Lewin’s 3 phase
model as frameworks for business transformation.
I also provide some simple, practical tools for planning,
managing and communicating during change.
But you need to adapt based on the scope and complexity
of your own business transformation initiative.

20. What is the best approach
for business
transformation training?
Again, there are many
different options. But
here’s a few points to get
you started.

21. Learn aspects of both Change Leadership AND
Change Management
While your own role in business transformation may lean
to one aspect, I believe it is important for positive change
leaders to understand the full picture. In my course, I talk
about the difference between change management and
change leadership. The first may be generalized as more
“hard skills”, and the second as more “soft
skills”. However, they are both necessary and
complimentary.

22. Include an applied component
Change leadership/business transformation needs to go
beyond theoretical models and concepts. Participants
need to get a sense of how it feels in the real world. You
need to be comfortable working with the tools. And you
need some experience in assessing different situations.
Therefore, I include exercises, reflections and case studies
to simulate the real world of business transformation.

23. Summary on Successful Business
Transformation skills
1. We need to develop Change Leadership skills throughout the
organization, not just at the top
2. Difficulty of transition is influenced by scope, complexity and
impact. Human factors can be emotional and challenging.
3. Change Leadership skills to focus on include: understanding
change drivers, advanced communication, building trust,
changing behaviour and using effective tools for change.
4. Be sure that your training includes both the “hard and soft”
sides of change management and change leadership. And
includes applied (rather than pure theoretical) approaches.

24. Wishing you much success with your business
transformation and change leadership learning!

25. Learn more about How to Lead &
Manage Organizational Change
• Visit our website to learn more about
our elearning courses, facilitation and
support for strategic leadership
developement.
• www.nmcstrategicmanager.com
• And please feel free to contact me for
questions and to discuss your needs for
change leadership training.
• debbie@narvermanagement.ca