book.chapter Section 1 – leadership necessity in business .

In the realm of business, attempts to effect positive change often falter due to two primary reasons. Firstly, the inertia that needs to be overcome is so substantial that it cannot be achieved in a single stride. Secondly, the process necessitates high-quality leadership, not just excellent management. Therefore, the crux of organizational change lies in leaders who comprehend and execute the business change process. The roles of business managers and leaders are often conflated, leading to a blurred line of distinction between the two. However, this belief is fundamentally flawed as they serve entirely different functions. Business managers are inclined towards detailed planning and budgeting, with precise timetables, meticulously calculated resource allocation schedules, and job descriptions. They thrive in a structured environment where staff have specific responsibilities and authorities, and appropriate policies and procedures are in place. They tackle problems with a high degree of planning and organization, focusing on generating the short-term results that customers and stockholders expect. On the other hand, business leaders craft an enticing vision of the future and outline the various strategies to realize that vision. They communicate their vision to all those whose cooperation will be needed, influence the creation of the teams and coalitions needed to realize the vision, and motivate and inspire the people involved to overcome the barriers and hurdles they face. Their focus is on creating dramatic and useful change for the better. A common mistake is to believe that change within a business organization can be "managed" when in reality, "leading change" is far more crucial. A change process driven by managers will usually fail. Significant and lasting changes usually only occur when they are driven by business leaders. This is a significant issue because most companies and universities are geared towards producing business managers rather than leaders. Managers are highly skilled in organizing, staffing, planning, budgeting, controlling, and problem-solving. These skills are valuable in the context of keeping a business running smoothly. However, building a business from the ground up, which is the real work of a business leader, requires an entirely different set of skills. The current emphasis on management skills rather than leadership is a flow-on effect from past successes. As a result, the organization has a prevailing culture that naturally resists change, and managers who have never been taught how to create business change. This combination is lethal to the future well-being of the entire organization. John Kotter emphasizes that managing change is important. Without competent management, the transformation process can get out of control. But for most organizations, the much bigger challenge is leading change. Only leadership can blast through the many sources of corporate inertia. Only leadership can motivate the actions needed to alter behavior in any significant way. Only leadership can get change to stick by anchoring it in the very culture of an organization. Kotter also points out that the solution to the change problem is not one larger-than-life individual who charms thousands into being obedient followers. Modern organizations are far too complex to be transformed by a single giant. Many people need to help with the leadership task, not by attempting to imitate the likes of Winston Churchill or Martin Luther King Jr., but by modestly assisting with the leadership agenda in their spheres of activity. Kotter concludes that the change problem inside organizations would become less worrisome if the business environment would soon stabilize or at least slow down. But most credible evidence suggests the opposite: that the rate of environmental movement will increase and that the pressures on organizations to transform themselves will grow over the next few decades. If that’s the case, the only rational solution is to learn more about what creates successful change and to pass that knowledge on to increasingly larger groups of people. Most of us still have plenty to learn about what works, what doesn’t, what is the natural sequence of events, and where even very capable people have difficulties. The driving force behind the process is leadership, leadership, leadership.