Leadership Styoles for the Five Stages of Radical Change

Leadership Styles for the Five Stages of R
TUTORIAL
adical Change
LEADERSHIP STYLES FOR THE
FIVE STAGES OF RADICAL CHANGE
Dr. Kathleen K. Reardon, Dr. Kevin J. Reardon,
and Dr. Alan J. Rowe
Leadership experts agree that a key challenge facing leaders now and in the
future is responsiveness to radical change. This article continues prior work
on radical change with theory and research on leadership style. The result is a
model of radical change describing the leadership styles best suited to the
successful implementation of each stage in the change process. Using the
Leadership Style Inventory, leaders can determine which stages of radical change
they are equipped to handle. The article explores how individual and group
leadership style limitations can be dealt with to ensure radical change success.
rather than fractionation of diverse inter-
ests and skills. Multiple styles of leader-
The key component of successful
leadership now and in the next cen-
tury is proactive and effective re-
ship are needed to effectively implement
sponsiveness to change. Experts agree that
most forms of organizational change. Stra-
successful leaders must be flexible and ca-
tegic leaders accept that they cannot have
pable of adapting to new conditions, open
all the answers and they take steps to ob-
to novel alternatives, and willing to take
tain information that effectively guides
greater risks (Kotter, 1990; O’Toole,
their choices. These leaders rely heavily
1996). Too often leaders and managers
on communication and persuasion with
address technical dimensions of change
employees to advance their enlightened
but fail to consider what it takes at each
strategies. When compared to popular
stage for leaders to actually carry out that
models of leaders of the past, strategic
change (Heifetz and Laurie, 1997a; Rowe
leaders are far more inclined to be infor-
and Mason, 1987; Rowe and Boulgarides,
mation seekers than information
1992).
distributors.
Leaders who can do these things are
Figure 1 depicts the models of leader-
referred to as Strategic Leaders (Reardon
ship from the early 1900s to today. In the
and Rowe, 1998). Such leaders recognize
1900s, leadership was equated with those
that most work now involves integration
individuals who did “great” things. These
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Acquisition Review Quarterly—Spring 1998
leaders had a “can do” attitude based on
formation. Leaders are confronted with far
experience and determination. They used
too many choices, as predicted by Alvin
their authority to “command” others. By
Toffler’s 1980 forecast. He warned that
the 1950s, attention shifted to determin-
this would inhibit action, result in greater
ing leader traits and how they fit the situ-
anxiety and lead to feelings of exhaustion.
ations in which they function. In the early
Today’s leaders also work with employ-
eighties, another change took place. This
ees who are more diverse than those of
time the emphasis was on the “visionary”
their predecessors and customers and sub-
leader. These leaders inspired others with
sidiaries spread worldwide. Under such
insights and shared authority. Today’s
conditions, no single leader can possibly
leaders, confronted with explosive change,
have all the answers or all of the styles
need to be “strategic leaders”: sufficiently
required to accomplish the myriad tasks
versatile to recognize the need for change,
confronting him or her each day.
to seek input for developing creative strat-
To effectively respond to the current
egies for change, and to inspire others to
chaotic environment, leaders must recog-
adopt those strategies.
nize their own strengths and weaknesses.
According to Max DePree, author of
They must understand the extent to which
Leadership Is an Art, leaders are vulner-
their leadership styles are suited to the
able in their day-to-day-jobs. This vulner-
demands they face and consider the types
ability of leaders is currently exacerbated
of people they need at their side to comple-
by the information superhighway afford-
ment their styles. This is particularly im-
ing access to extraordinary amounts of in-
portant when organizations undergo
Kathleen K. Reardon, Ph.D., is professor of management and organization at the University of
Southern California Marshall School of Business. She is the author of five books, including
Persuasion in Practice (Sage), and They Don’t Get It, Do They? (Little, Brown), and numerous
journal articles on communications, negotiation, persuasion, and leadership. She is a multiple-
time author for The Harvard Business Review and served on their McKinsey Award Panel in
1995. Dr. Reardon has been a consultant and speaker for such organizations as AT&T, Xerox,
ITT, Caregroup, CIGNA, Northrop, ARCO, NASA Jet Propulsion Labs, and Hewlett-Packard.
Kevin J. Reardon, Ph.D., is a 1968 Distinguished Graduate of the United States Naval Acad-
emy. He received an Ph.D. degree in operations research and an M.S. degree in statistics from
Stanford University in 1974. He is a certified Navy nuclear engineer and attended executive
management training at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Dr.
Reardon served in the U.S. Navy as a submarine officer for 27 years, commanded two nuclear
submarines, and retired at the rank of Captain. He is currently director of business strategy for
the Inter-National Research Institute in Reston, VA.
Alan J. Rowe, Ph.D., is emeritus professor of management and organization at the University
of Southern California Marshall School of Business. He has published extensively in such areas
as decision making, artificial intelligence, expert systems, information systems, and strategic
management. He has served on the editorial boards of Academy of Management Review, Man-
agement Science, Journal of Industrial Engineering, and Management Information Systems
Quarterly. Dr. Rowe has served as a consultant to such organizations as General Electric, Hughes
Aircraft, IBM, Kaiser Permanente, and Lockheed Corporation.
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Leadership Styles for the Five Stages of Radical Change
2000
Strategic
Leader
1950
Visionary
Leader
ear
Y
1900
Great
Leader
Dictates
Motivates
Learns
Figure 1. Models of Leadership
radical change. This article addresses the
that it also describes combinations of the
styles of leadership needed to accomplish
basic styles called “patterns.” These pat-
organizational change and addresses the
terns help to describe the complexity be-
question: Can any single leader possess
hind leader behavior and competence for
the styles needed to lead at every point in
radical change.
the change process?
The commanding style focuses on per-
formance and has a short-term goal ori-
entation. Commanders are highly produc-
EXPLANATION OF LEADERSHIP STYLES
tive and results oriented. They can be very
effective when goal achievement is the
The leadership styles shown in Figure 2
primary focus. They learn better by their
were derived from work on the Leader-
own successes and failures than by input
ship Style Inventory (LSI) developed by
from others.
Rowe, Reardon, and Bennis (1995). The
The logical style pertains to leaders
inventory identifies differences in style
who insist on covering all alternatives.
used by leaders that are based on the fol-
They have long-term goals, use analysis
lowing two questions: How adaptive are
and questioning, and learn by reason-
leaders when dealing with the issues they
ing things through. They are particularly
face? How do leaders communicate with,
effective when the goal is strategy
persuade, and energize employees in the
development.
process of change?
The inspirational style is characteris-
The LSI identifies four basic styles:
tic of those who are able to develop
commanding, logical, inspirational, and
meaningful visions of the future by fo-
supportive. One of its major strengths is
cusing on radically new ideas; they learn
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Acquisition Review Quarterly—Spring 1998
Leader
Focuses
Persuades
Makes
Learns
style
on
by
changes
by
Commanding
Results
Directing
Rapidly
Doing
Logical
Innovation
Explaining
Carefully
Studying
Inspirational
Opportunities
Creating trust
Radically
Questioning
Supportive
Facilitating work
Involvement
Slowly
Listening
Figure 2. Leadership Styles (LSI)
by experimentation. They show a high
80; inspirational, 81; supportive, 53. The
level of concern for assuring cohesiveness
means provide an indication of style pre-
of members of the organization and en-
dispositions. Style patterns, however, are
couraging others to follow the vision.
not necessarily static. It is possible, even
They are inquisitive, curious, and satis-
preferable, for leaders to develop the ca-
fied by finding radically new solutions.
pacity to adapt their styles to the demands
Those leaders who are more concerned
of situations, especially when their orga-
with consensus score high in the support-
nizations are undergoing radical change.
ive dimension. They emphasize openness
and operate more as facilitators than di-
rectors. They learn by observing outcomes
A CASE FOR LEADER VERSATILITY
and how others react to their decisions.
IN THE CHANGE PROCESS
Most leaders do not possess a single
style, but a combination. These combina-
The strongest case for versatility in
tions indicate which styles leaders are pre-
leadership style comes from the recogni-
disposed to use. Inventory scores indicate
tion that change is not an event but an ex-
leader style predispositions.1 A summary
tended process. Each stage of that process
of how each style influences behavior in
benefits from different leadership orienta-
critical areas of leadership is discussed in
tions. Strategy researchers have proposed
Figure 2 (Rowe, Reardon, and Bennis,
that change involves at least three stages:
1995).
initiation, formulation, and implementa-
American business executives tend to
tion (Webb and Dawson, 1991; Pettigrew,
score high on the commanding style and
1987; Child and Smith, 1987, Rajagopalan
low on supportive. Research using the LSI
and Spreitzer, 1994. Another model (Rowe
provides the following means for Ameri-
and Mann, 1988) proposed four factors in
can executives: commanding, 86; logical,
the change process: Decision maker’s
1 LSI scores are derived by adding down the four columns of the inventory. The four derived scores (one for
each style) total 300. Means are based on the inventories of hundreds of American executives in the Marshall
School executive MBA program and those in businesses with which we’ve consulted.
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Leadership Styles for the Five Stages of Radical Change
style, organizational culture, employees’
change through to maintaining it. Over-
willingness to change, and acceptance of
looking the maintenance phase is a sig-
change based on a match among values,
nificant oversight in any model of change.
culture, and decision style.
Private acceptance doesn’t assure that a
John Kotter (1990) proposed that lead-
change will endure; it merely sets the stage
ing change requires: establishing direc-
for that result. Employees must be
tion, aligning people, and motivating and
encouraged to continue the change even in
inspiring. Our model, depicted in Figure
the face of occasional obstacles. We empha-
3, draws upon Kotter’s model but adds two
size maintenance, especially in a model
stages described by Kotter but not specifi-
of radical change, since perceived failures
cally stated in his model: launching and
can send employees rushing back to prior,
maintaining.
once-mastered ways of doing things.
While Kotter implies the existence of
The primary impetus for this paper is
launching in the aligning stage of his
not so much to expand upon prior models
model, we propose that separating it out
of change, but to emphasize and develop
is imperative to understanding the pro-
an understanding of the role that the lead-
cesses involved in radical change, espe-
ership style plays at every stage of that
cially that of leadership. Small or incre-
process. Leadership style and organiza-
mental changes often do not require a for-
tional change
mal launch. They can be introduced in
theory and re-
“People resist
small doses with change hardly being no-
search have ex-
change, especially
ticed. Radical change, however, demands
isted for de-
radical change.”
that people depart drastically from the
cades, but have
status quo and often that they do so in a
rarely con-
limited period of time. Launching takes
joined. The concept of the leader being
the place of introducing change in dribs
suited to the task is found throughout lead-
and drabs.
ership literature as far back as Plato. He
Our reasons for clearly articulating the
argued that while it’s appropriate to turn
existence of a maintenance phase comes
to a physician to solve medical problems,
from persuasion theory and practice.
a philosopher-king is needed to resolve
People resist change, especially radical
problems of public policy. Heifetz (1994)
change. Persuasion research indicates that
suggests that the same is true today within
choosing to comply, rather than being
organizations. For what Heifetz describes
forced into it, leads to longer adherence
as adaptive change, “authority must look
to change. Radical change requires more
beyond authoritative solutions” (p. 87).
than mere compliance. It requires private
To do this requires flexibility in style
acceptance. This occurs when employees
within the organization. Launching radi-
actually believe in the need for change and
cal change, for example, is a substantially
are therefore willing to relinquish old
different process than maintaining it. As
modes of working in favor of long-term
such it requires a different leadership style
new ones.
orientation.
Achieving private acceptance is an
To date, researchers and leadership
across-phase process from planning the
experts have discussed the need for
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Acquisition Review Quarterly—Spring 1998
leadership style flexibility in substantive
imperative to four of the five stages of
change efforts, but they have not at-
change. Unlike incremental change, radi-
tempted to conjoin radical change phases
cal change requires that leaders think cre-
with knowledge about leadership style.
atively and take risks. These are the hall-
The linkages between change stages and
marks of the inspirational style. There is
leadership style types constitutes the
no blueprint to follow in radical change.
breaking of new ground. The model is
It is both new and a significant departure
grounded in our study of leadership style
from prior modes of operating. To over-
and of organizations undergoing change
come the resistance to radical change de-
efforts, several examples of which we
scribed earlier, inspirational leaders are
share in later descriptions of each radical
needed throughout the change process. In
change phase.
the planning phase, they provide creative
As indicated in Figure 3, we propose
input. They empower and involve follow-
that radical change requires considerable
ers in the enabling phase, inspire and en-
reliance on the inspirational style. It is
ergize them to adopt the change after it
Phase
Focuses
Style
Planning
Acquire information
Logical/inspirational
Creative ideas
Inspirational
Strategy formulation
Logical
Enabling
Explaining plan
Logical
Convincing employees
Logical
Empowering/involving
Inspirational/supportive
Assisting
Supportive
Launching
Implementing steps
Logical
Meeting goals
Commanding
Getting results
Commanding
Assessing progress
Logical
Catalyzing
Inspiring
Inspirational
Energizing
Inspirational
Assisting
Supportive
Maintaining
Overseeing progress
Logical
Guiding
Inspirational
Energizing
Inspirational
Assisting
Supportive
Figure 3. Senior Manager Leadership Styles
for the Five Phases of Radical Change
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Leadership Styles for the Five Stages of Radical Change
has been launched and to maintain it de-
types to each phase of radical change,
spite obstacles. This is reminiscent of the
which we’ll now discuss.
description Hammer and Champy (1993)
provide of the reengineering leader (p.
PLANNING
103):
This stage involves charting the course
for change. Here the emphasis is on
The leader’s primary role is to act
creativity, gar-
as a visionary and motivator. By
nering impor-
“The logical leader
fashioning and articulating a vi-
tant informa-
constantly seeks new
sion of the kind of organization
tion, identifying
information, identi-
that he or she wants to create, the
obstacles, con-
fies obstacles, gen-
leader invests everyone in the
sidering alterna-
erates alternatives,
company with a purpose and a
tives, and se-
and considers pros
sense of mission. The leader must
lecting among
and cons in the
final selection. ”
make clear to everyone that
them. As shown
reengineering involves a serious
in Figure 3, the
effort that will be seen through to
leadership styles best suited to this are the
its end. From the leader’s convic-
logical and the inspirational. The logical
tions and enthusiasm, the organi-
leader constantly seeks new information,
zation derives the spiritual energy
identifies obstacles, generates alternatives,
that it needs to embark on a voy-
and considers pros and cons in the final
age into the unknown.
selection. Inspirationals contribute to this
process by encouraging employee input
But inspirational leadership alone is not
in the search for creative plans
sufficient. Hammer and Champy agree
To encourage people to provide infor-
here as well. “Urging people isn’t enough,”
mation, Stanley Gault, CEO of Goodyear,
they argue. People react warily and cyni-
decided to refer to all employees as “as-
cally to executives insisting that the rules
sociates.” It opened up lines of communi-
be broken and prior wisdom be defied
cation. Jack Welch, CEO of General Elec-
unless a support system is in place so they
tric, attributes part of his success to opening
can do these things. As Figure 3 depicts,
up channels of communication with em-
radical change also requires the presence
ployees. “To create change, direct, personal,
of logicals, supportives, and commander
two-way communication is what seems to
types—but not always working together
make the difference: exposing people to
at each point in the change process. Un-
ideas from everywhere, judging ideas on
like the inspirational leader, who encour-
their merits” (Tichy and Sherman, 1993).
ages the risks involved in radical change,
Mort Myerson (1996), Chairman and
logicals, supportives and to some extent
CEO of Perot Systems, makes it clear to
commanders are need to provide a support
people that there are a whole lot of things
system that enables everyone to go against
he can’t do. When they come to him look-
the grain and stay there for the long-term.
ing for “the plan,” he tells them he doesn’t
Figure 3 was developed as a blueprint
know the plan. “We’re either going to fig-
for assigning the most effective leader
ure out the company’s future together or
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Acquisition Review Quarterly—Spring 1998
we’re not going to do it at all” (Fast Com-
in the change effort, and convincing them
pany, p. 10).
that the direction chosen is not only best,
Myerson’s approach fits the radical
but one that depends on their contribu-
change model information gathering, em-
tions. In this stage, enabling or empow-
ployee involvement approach. Planning
ering employees provides needed assis-
requires a learning approach to change.
tance in preparing to launch the change
You can’t empower people if you think
process.
you have all the answers. Mort Meyerson
The enabling stage not only prepares
says he learned about leadership by open-
people for change, but also provides an
ing himself up to doing so. “I told myself
opportunity for leaders to frame that
I was having the same experience as a cat-
change. Frames are schemata used to in-
erpillar entering a
terpret events (Goffman, 1974). They can
cocoon. The cater-
assist leaders in explaining to others how
“The enabling stage
not only prepares
pillar doesn’t know
change efforts should be interpreted.
people for change,
that he’ll come out
Fairhurst and Sarr (1996) argue that “We
but also provides
as a butterfly. All he
assume a leadership role, indeed we be-
an opportunity for
knows is that he’s
come leaders, through our ability to deci-
leaders to frame
alone, it’s dark, and
pher and communicate meaning out of
that change.”
it’s a little scary.” He
complex and confusing situations” (p. 2).
realized while in
The way a leader frames a planned change
that cocoon, “I don’t have to have all the
influences whether potential followers see
customer contacts. I don’t have to make
only constraints and roadblocks or oppor-
all the decisions. In fact, in the new world
tunities and potential success.
of business, it can’t be me, it shouldn’t be
This framing ability is at the heart of
me, and my job is to prevent it from being
the distinction leadership expert Abraham
me” (Fast Company, p. 10).
Zaleznik (1977) made between managers
Research indicates that executives who
and leaders. The former pay attention to
spend long periods of time in the same jobs
how things are done, the latter pay atten-
or industries develop limited perspectives.
tion to what events and decisions mean.
Their knowledge base is limited and so is
Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus (1985)
their desire to expand upon it (Cyert and
were describing framing when they wrote
March, 1963; Tushman and Romanelli,
that leaders concern themselves with the
1985; Miller, 1991, Rajagopalan and
organization’s basic purpose and general
Deepak, 1995). Their thinking becomes
direction and with articulating these ideas
rigid, which in turn limits the strategies
to others. When used effectively, frames
from which they might choose. The les-
create understanding—the basis for ac-
son here: If you’re going to stay in a job
tion—and make collective behavior pos-
for a long time, keep the information flow-
sible by enabling belief in one view to pre-
ing.
vail over others (Fairhurst and Sarr, 1996).
Three styles are particularly useful in
ENABLING
the enabling stage. The logical style helps
The focus in this phase is on explain-
leaders develop frames to explain a
ing the plan to those who will be involved
change. The inspirational style facilitates
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Leadership Styles for the Five Stages of Radical Change
the process of frame development by en-
Leaders must be clear about their own
couraging open discussion. The support-
beliefs, they must have thought through
ive style provides employees with a sense
their assumptions about human nature, the
that they will find help adjusting to the
role of the organization, the measurement
new change.
of performance, and so on” (1996, p. 46).
Essentially, if leaders have done their
LAUNCHING
homework regarding proposed change, if
This is the stage in which the change
they have logically thought through the
effort commences. To launch effectively,
pros and cons, as logicals do, then they
leaders need to meet specified launch
will have the confidence to encourage con-
goals, achieve early results to demonstrate
trary opinions and the wisdom to learn
the value of the plan, and assess progress
from them. Once they have entertained
along the way. While this definition of the
doubts and skeptics and responded effec-
launch stage does not preclude occasional
tively, their ori-
reliance on the inspirational or support-
entation can
“One of the chief
ive styles, the emphasis is on practical
shift to direct-
obstacles in this
concerns of getting under way and achiev-
ing people, in a
[the launch] stage
ing goals. These are better accomplished
nonauthoritarian
is resistance to
by the commanding or logical style pat-
manner, toward
change.”
tern. The logical style helps in the expla-
mutually de-
nation of specified launch goals and the
fined goals.
commanding style encourages a determi-
There are times when commands work
nation to achieve them.
extremely well. In an emergency some-
One of the chief obstacles in this stage
body has to take charge. When tough bud-
is resistance to change. A natural inclina-
get decisions must be made or personnel
tion, when confronted with naysayers and
problems call for quick action, the com-
critics, is to strike back. Max Depree
manding style may be most appropriate.
warns that “leaders don’t inflict pain, they
Leaders who use a commanding style are
bear it.” DePree argues that too many lead-
not necessarily bullies forcing their ideas
ers see disagreement as an indication of
upon others. They are, however, goal ori-
rebellion. They prefer to surround them-
ented and have a very good idea of how
selves with loyal “lieutenants” who do not
they want to reach it. Once the planning
threaten their leadership.
and enabling stages of change have been
But what if resistance is reframed?
effectively conducted, the direction of
What if dissent is interpreted by leaders
change should be one that the leaders, with
as potentially important information? The
follower input, have worked together to
likely response is less defensive. If lead-
define. At this point, someone or some
ers have truly thought through the changes
group needs to point the way. This is
they propose, then they can be confident
when a results-oriented approach can be
and comfortable with dissension. Accord-
beneficial. It doesn’t require completely
ing to James O’Toole, author of Leading
closing down avenues of input, but it does
Change, “To lead effectively is a matter
require focusing on moving along the
of clear thinking on the part of the leader.
defined path.
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Acquisition Review Quarterly—Spring 1998
CATALYZING
an idea and encourage experimentation and
During this stage people, not plans and
doodling —if you put fences around people,
practices, are the paramount focus. They
you wind up with sheep.”
are the ones who will make or break the
Supportive leader behavior can offset
change effort. To be effective, people must
the negative effects of stressful situations.
feel that their efforts count. The people-
It can be especially beneficial when tasks
oriented styles of inspirational and sup-
are psychologically or physically distress-
portive leaders become important at this
ing (House, 1995). Since most change ef-
stage. The other two styles may assist in
forts foster uncertainty and some degree
the process. An occasional commanding
of distress, especially after the initial ex-
push to meet goals or a logical leader’s
citement has worn off, leaders can encour-
explanation for taking a certain route may
age continued investment in change efforts
prove useful, but the greater emphasis in
by being attuned and responsive to the
this stage is on involving and energizing
concerns of those who follow them.
people.
Mentoring, guiding, counseling, coaching,
The inspirational style encourages
providing helpful feedback, and empow-
people to expend energy and invest time
ering workers can keep change on track.
in the change effort. Linda Wachner, CEO
Boeing discovered the benefit of giv-
of Warnaco, says, “The biggest obstacle
ing people the authority to make changes.
to change we encounter is keeping
Their traditional method for designing air-
peoples’ energy
craft in the early 1990s was “surprisingly
up.” She asks,
primitive” (Fortune, 1993). First, engi-
“The inspirational
“Once they’re
neers designed the plane’s shape and com-
style encourages
dreaming the
ponents, the blueprints went to manufac-
people to expend
dream and they
turing experts who planned the produc-
energy and invest
see it in return
tion and final assembly, and finally, the
time in the change
on their own
manufacturing plan went to tooling spe-
effort.”
equity, how do
cialists who designed specialized produc-
you continue
tion machinery. The phases were all in
keeping the energy up?” Her answer is to
sequence, causing them to take a long
reward small successes along the way. She
time. The three groups had little contact,
brings employees together to feel good
so tooling specialists often received blue-
about what they’ve done. It builds energy
prints for parts that couldn’t be manufac-
and momentum in people (“Leaders of
tured or ones that were too expensive to
Corporate Change,” 1992).
produce.
Another organization noted for its em-
Boeing changed their primitive meth-
phasis on encouraging innovation is 3M.
ods by having engineers, manufacturers,
Employees spend as much as 15 percent
and tooling experts operate concurrently
of their work time on projects of their own
and together rather than in sequence and
choosing. Up to $50,000 in grants is given
independently. Equally important, they
to encourage inventions. William Molthight
eliminated expensive redesign work by
introduced the maxim at 3M that is still
freeing the teams of bureaucracy. The
followed today: “Listen to anybody with
changed philosophy: “When the group
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