‘That’s fairly easy,’ said the young chief executive, ‘in a nutshell it is change. People with the typical managerial characteristics we have just identified could run an organization that doesn’t have to face change. Of course now, with almost no exceptions, all organizations are having to respond to massive, continuing change. There’s a much higher level of anxiety, people lose their sense of direction. In fact it’s not unlike what happens when the flat surface of the sea changes to mountainous white-topped waves, the wind howls, darkness falls – then everyone senses the need for a good helmsman, that experienced leader that Plutarch talked about.’
‘Having been a deckhand on an Arctic trawler in a great storm, when we battled against the black ice that was encrusting the super- structure and tilting us over, I can confirm what you say from firsthand experience,’ I agreed. ‘So the critical factor is change. Change throws up the need for leaders; leaders bring about change. The bird carries the wings, but the wings carry the bird.’
‘What would happen if a leader tried to bring about change in an organization that was in a situation totally resistant to change, one that perceived no need to change?’ asked the young chief executive.
‘That’s a theoretical question but an interesting one. My hypothesis would be that the organization would ignore him as an irrelevance, and if he persisted they would metaphorically crucify him. A rejected heart transplant might make a better metaphor these days. He would try to change things, but if there wasn’t enough change in the environment it would be a fruitless task.’
‘It’s almost as if change is the fuel or power source of leadership,’ mused the young chief executive.
‘Certainly a true leader will never complain about change – for that is what makes leadership both necessary and possible. It’s the raison d’être. If you go back to the original metaphors of a journey: all journeys are changes in location that take place over time. This morning you are here. By this evening you will be somewhere else. If you stay where you are then time will elapse but no change of location will take place.’
‘But there are journeys and journeys,’ said the young chief executive. ‘Going on a guided tour to Provence for your holiday is one thing, but exploring unknown territory is another. Guides can be hired for the first kind of journey, but leadership of a different order is required for an expedition into new, unfamiliar, unmapped territory. And the future begins to look more like that everyday!’
‘Most journeys, of course, are metaphorical. A school or hospital will tend to remain at the same location, but over time it may change from one state to another, it may become a worse institution or a better one – that’s a journey too.’
‘Becoming a worse institution suggests a lack of good leadership to me,’ he said. ‘Nowadays I don’t think any organization can stand still. If it isn’t getting better, it is almost certainly going to get worse. Doesn’t it simply mean, however, that all managers need to be managers of change?’
‘How do you manage change?’
‘Don’t you know? There are lots of business articles written about it, and plenty of conferences or seminars. Some “gurus” have specialized in change management…’ and here he broke off to mention their names and some of the most recent articles on the subject. Then he asked me to share with him what I knew about managing change.