Change Management for Survival: Becoming an Adaptive Leader

Abstract

The paper evaluates change management as an imperative for success for the individual leader and his or her organization. Change management is first analyzed from an individual perspective and then from an organizational perspective. An individual must thoroughly understand the various stages involved in change management to successfully navigate dramatic change in their lives. Likewise, at the organizational level an adaptive leader must understand the important change management process while also being proactive in change implementation by focusing on developing an adaptive work environment (Asoh, 2004; Locke & Tarantino, 2006; Powell, 1987; Williamson, 1991). The adaptive leader understands that, as Heifetz and Laurie (2001) state, an adaptive leader “must strike a delicate balance between having people feel the need to change and having them feel overwhelmed by change, leadership is a razor’s edge” (p. 134). This paper establishes and evaluates the key steps used by an adaptive leader during the change management process to ensure the effective implementation of organizational change in a manner that has a positive impact on the organization’s workforce.