Leading Through Change

Jim Hemerling brings up an interesting parallel between personal change and organizational change in his leadership discussion. He notes that for individuals, change is almost always perceived as a positive, beneficial thing. Learning a new instrument or training for a marathon are exciting undertakings, he says. For organizations, however, change is almost always an anxiety-inducing prospect, with people's minds going straight to ideas of layoffs and downsizing.

That said, the leadership discussion recognizes that modern conditions have made organizational change absolutely essential. In fact, Hemerling terms the present day "the era of always-on transformation." Rather than having this constant change become both exhausting and perpetually fearful, Hemerling suggests five ways that organizational leaders can fix change.

Among the common problems identified are leaders waiting too long to act, thinking too short-term, or taking superficial approaches to change with the hope that things will eventually return to normal.