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    You are here Home » leadership

    Organizational Transformation Requires Leadership at all Levels

    Last updated on Aug 6, 2015 by Dan McCarthy · This post may contain affiliate links

    Guest post from Satish
    P. Subramanian

    The Business Challenge
     
    The low success rate in
    organizational transformation and the organizational inability to positively move
    the dial on the success rate over the years is a strategic problem.  Organizational transformation is the complex
    endeavor of redesigning the organization which significantly impacts all or most
    aspects of the business.  Per the 2014 McKinsey
    research study of 1323 companies involved in organization redesign, less than a
    quarter of those transformation efforts succeeded.  The success of strategic transformation is gauged
    by the attainment of strategic objectives, improved organizational performance,
    and sustenance of the business change. 

    Key
    Characteristics of Successful Organizational Transformation

    The
    silver lining in that organizations have overcome this business challenge.  Organizations with higher success rate in large-scale
    transformation initiatives have steadily built and improved their ability to do
    so.  They have planned, designed, executed, and sustained organizational
    transformation in a holistic, structured way. 
    These high-performing organizations have integrated and aligned the six
    dimensions of strategy, people, process, technology, structure, and measurement
    to realize the transformation success and reap the planned business value.  These organizations have developed strong
    transformation capability.  Another key
    characteristic for a successful organizational transformation is an active, end-to-end,
    and comprehensive leadership. 

    Leadership is the Deal Breaker

    The extent, level, and
    nature of leadership on an organizational transformation that redesigns the
    entire business or significant parts of the business is a key determinant of the
    transformation success.  Transformations
    are typically cross-divisional, cross-functional, and intended to make
    significant changes to the business.  Given
    organizational matrices, work complexities, and corporate politics, the
    transformation team relies heavily on leadership traits to secure support,
    overcome barriers, resolve escalated issues and manage risks across organizational
    divisions, functions, and levels.  Leadership
    in analyzing and communicating the impact, securing stakeholder but-in, reinforcing
    the long-term commitment, and sharing the benefits of transformation with all
    stakeholders is paramount.  Leadership on
    both fronts, the technical and human, is essential for the entire duration of
    the organizational transformation. 

    Organizational Transformation Leadership

    The lack of a leadership
    structure and comprehensive leadership significantly jeopardizes the purpose
    and strategic objectives for embarking on the transformation. Organizational
    transformation leadership is a critical success factor for strategic objective
    alignment, integration of the six dimensions mentioned earlier, stakeholder
    engagement, organizational change readiness, and business value realization.  Leadership
    in actively and effectively engaging with key stakeholders and sustaining their
    buy-in ensures the expected business outcomes are realized at each phase or
    stage gate of the organizational transformation. 

    The business need for
    proactive leadership across all the impacted organizational areas and from the
    beginning to end of organizational transformation is critical.  Without a multi-level and holistic leadership
    approach, transformation will inevitably be a failure by it not accomplishing
    the business objectives and improving organizational performance. An
    organization transformation leadership model has to be architected and
    implemented upfront to effectively confront cross-divisional, cross-functional,
    and cross-level barriers and challenges.

    Multi-level
    Leadership Model for Transformation

    The organization structure
    model details the reporting structure and governance practices for the
    transformation to redesign the organization and transition it from its current
    to future state.  The leadership model
    complements the organization structure model and enumerates the leadership
    structure.  The multi-level leadership model
    for organization transformation spells out leadership at each tier of the transformation
    program organization structure.  In
    addition, it factors the varying styles and levels of involvement of leadership
    is needed from the beginning to end of the transformation odyssey.  The holistic leadership model addresses the leadership
    needs on all fronts – multiple organization levels, organizational functions, divisions,
    and geographies.    

    The below illustration
    delineates the multi-level leadership model that has enabled many executives to
    successfully get to the finish line of an organizational transformation
    marathon. Leadership on organizational transformation cannot reside just at the
    highest levels.  The business context,
    leadership scope, leadership level of influence, and style at each organization
    level are different.  The leadership
    responsibility and accountability at each level is clearly articulated.  The design, socialization, and deployment of a
    multi-level leadership model ensures the leadership needs for a successful
    organizational transformation are met.

     
    Conclusion

    Effective organization
    transformation leadership is a “must have” for transformation success.  The transformational change that organizational
    transformation is driving requires cross-divisional, cross-functional, and
    cross-level leadership to realize the transformation purpose, change vision, and
    sustain business outcomes.  The
    significant business change initiated by transformation heavily impacts a large
    number of stakeholders at different levels and the entire organization.  Organization transformation leadership and
    the right leadership model is the secret sauce for organizational
    transformation success. 

     
    Satish P. Subramanian is author of
    the new book, TransformingBusiness with Program Management
     Integrating Strategy, People,
    Process, Technology, Structure and Measurement
    . He is also a Principal at SolomonEdwards. He has spent over 25 years as a leadership
    consultant
    in management and technology, and worked with many Fortune 500
    companies in the health care, financial services, technology, and manufacturing
    industry sectors.
    He has also held executive-level
    positions at Ernst & Young, Infosys, Point B, and Cambridge Technology
    Partners. Subramanian holds a degree in Industrial Engineering and MBA from the
    University of Mumbai and an MBA from California Lutheran University. He is
    Program Management and Project Management certified by the Project Management
    Institute and Change Management certified by Prosci.
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