7. CHANGE ANDCHALLENGE
Every leader faces the same challenge: how to make a
change that makes a difference. Leaders want to change the
world (or part of it), overcoming outer obstacles to their vi-
sion, and that means changing themselves, overcoming
inner weaknesses, embodying new skills, learning new values
and creating and being comfortable with their own style of
leadership.
The challenge for business leaders is to be a combination
of warrior and prophet, delivering high performance in the
business and trying to get a competitive edge by trying to
anticipate the market. Business has to continually change
in small ways to stay competitive and may have to change
drastically in response to outside conditions. The question is
not whether to change, but how much change to allow for.
Business leaders need to manage two types of change.
‘First order change’ is change inthe system, for example,
changing procedures, management styles, recruiting poli-
cies, sales methods and marketing targets while the core
business remains the same. This is also called ‘transitional
change’. Sometimes sufficient first order change triggers
‘second order change’. Second order change is change of
the system and is often called ‘transformational change’. Ex-
amples are mergers, takeovers, new markets, new products
or having to reorganize in the face of market shifts. A leader
must make sure that there is enough first order change to
keep the company viable and drive any second order change
that is required.
Change can also take place widely across the organization,
affecting everyone, or deeply, affecting only small parts but