New Leader versus a Revolutionary

The web poster "Building Corporations through Leadership" by Kristle made an interesting point that many leaders are chosen for their organizational compliance rather than revolutionary visions. This of course rings true, because the statement refers to "choosing a leader" - implying that the individual who has been "chosen" is probably just stepping into his or her position as a leader, and employees do not want their organization to change drastically under new leadership. Hence the choice of a new leader as more of a conformist rather than a revolutionary.

Besides, the word "revolutionary" gives a negative impression of leader who with a brazen attitude wants to change everything just because he or she has the power to authorize change. It also has connotations of someone who has not studied the history of the organization sufficiently thoroughly and has not thought through all the repercussions before making a serious decision.

Considering Employee Viewpoints for Change

Cathy's web poster on "Communicating Change Effectively" was very useful to me because my company is now going through a great deal of change, and the employees are apprehensive about the changes because the economy is not doing well at the moment.

One point in the poster that I believe most people will recognize is about how resistance to organizational change is expressed by employees who may not like a particular change, and therefore respond with anger and revenge. The web poster quotes a research study that estimates that almost half of unsuccessful implementation of change is due to employee resistance to change. I wonder if the paper dealt with deeper causes than just "blaming" the lack of success on employee resistance - perhaps the resistance was justified and that management ought to have taken better note and care of employee viewpoints?