The Crucial Role of Leadership in Meeting the Challenges of Change

Abstract

One of the most important factors, in managing change effectively, is the nature of leadership exercised Much has been written on the subject of leadership, but most of it has emanated from US studies of ‘distant’ leaders (e.g. CEOs). We undertook research into the nature of ‘nearby’ leadership (day-to-day behaviours of line managers), in UK public and private sector organisations, since such behaviours must be embedded in the organisations' culture if effectiveness is to be sustained. This paper describes the findings from our major investigation, involving over 4,000 male and female managers and professionals, which resulted in a new model of leadership of a very different tenor to the dominant US ones. It also describes how we have used the 360-feedback instrument developed from the research—The Transformational Leadership Questionnaire (TLQ)—to support culture change programmes, and the major barriers to the effectiveness of such interventions.