What Leadership Style Reduces Resistance?

Servant Leadership Effective for Change
Groga Mkandawire, Business Consultant, Malawi, Member
I agree servant leadership is an effective way of ensuring that followers are committed to change. As compared to other styles of leadership, in which followers are not given a chance to give out their views.

Situational Leadership Style Builds Highly Effective People
Tan Poh Lip, Manager, Malaysia, Member
I believe the Situational Leadership style is the best way to maximize commitment to change.
However, The 7 Habits are the key success factors to build a highly effective and good leader.

Nothing New About Change
De Monte, Canada, Member
We are talking about continuous improvement = change.
Individuals, organizations, teams/groups identify and communicate change. Humans, like the machines we create, require control behaviour, when needing/desiring something or not.
I identify myself as a servant-leader to demand clear tasks/activities and services to perform from my organization and sensitive to the needs/wants/desires of my colleagues for written procedures/tools, policies and systems to use, improve and share. I am open to any good idea from anyone, as I am not set in stone, to welcome and assess the needwant/desire of a change in me, in thought, word and deed. I am social and welcoming as opposed to anti-social and unwelcoming that I often see around me. As I am not at the top, I challenge the management for positive change if it is spoken, but not necessarily delivered. I detect and identify trouble to communicate before it happens.
Whether it's is heard or not is another matter.

Leadership Style Reducing Resistance to Change is All About Context
Vincent Dabney, Management Consultant, United States, Member
In concept, a leadership style that balances desired organizational change and employee self-interest should result in less resistance; i.e., alignment and buy-in. However, I have not seen that there is a singular or universal style that facilitates cooperation and buy-in in all situations, in all organizations and in all contexts.
Different circumstances are likely to dictate not only the most effective leadership style, but also the need to adapt the leadership style as the internal environment evolves.

Leadership and Change Management
Ologunebi Oludotun, Consultant, United Kingdom, Member
Commitment to change depends on a lot of factors ranging from the leadership style to timely dissemination of information. It is common knowledge that employees regard change and its agents with suspicion. Employees are most likely to adapt or accept a change when they can see the selflessness of leaders involved.
Trust is the basis of acceptance and of the expectation that their needs will be met, if not wholly at least partly through the introduction of the change.
The information on the change can give room for recognition of achievement and opportunity for career advancement which will help support employees to meet their needs and that of the organisation. All these can indeed be made possible through the servant leadership style.

Commitment and Leadership, Ethic and Values
nora a. ghaffar, Professor, Saudi Arabia, Member
Ethica of the leader is very important to maximize commitment, understanding and knowing of the followers to accept changing.

Team Commitment
Gary Stead, Director, United Kingdom, Member
Hi Anneke, you have offered some key points to move our debate along. Thank you for your insight.
My company, Unipart, is famed for employee engagement and we have not only a suite of tools - but also a end-to-end reality of self motivated and exceptionally curious people.
I feel this stands the traditional model of leadership on its head - such that our teams challenge our leaders everyday - for the benefit of our customers across the globe.
Discuss!

So what is a Leader
Victor MAcGill, Student (University), New Zealand, Member
Our whole picture of leadership as someone out front who guides and controls is so outdated.
A servant leader talks about relationship rather than a person or people and leadership is something that emerges out of the relationship and does not belong to the leader.
Once the "follower" recognises that their role is about relationship and is just as important to leadership they can feel more valued.

Transform Good Followers into Good Leaders
AG Mariano, Interim Manager, Philippines, Member
Following blindly is difficult. You don't see what's ahead, you don't know which way to turn because you are not clear about the target.
So as a leader, if you give all of these information to your team this will not only encourage them to commit, they will also give you ideas on how to solve problems along the way.
Delegating minor tasks to would-be leaders would lend them the upper hand on some decision making, and will help you double up on time saved.
With this you get two birds with one stone. New leaders and committed teams.

Leadership Styles to Reduce Resistance
Oula denis Ignatius, Accountant, Uganda, Member
For an organization to achieve its goals, the leaders must understand the composition of their teams. Many followers today are quite knowledgeable and prefer to be consulted before a change is proposed. Where all the team members are involved in designing the change approach, there is likely going to be minimal resistance, accompanied by high level of motivation.
Good ideas are not exclusive to leaders only. Allow subordinates to participate in initiating change in an organization and you will fly to the next level.

Leadership Styles to Maximize Employee Commitment
ANTONIO BARRANCO RUIZ, Manager, Spain, Premium Member
I agree with @Tan Poh Lip that Blanchard's Situational Leadership is very suitable to engage the people in our team, because of its basis of adapting the leadership style to the development level of the employee.

We can say that is a sort of Servant Leadership because it takes the person into account who is going to be led. By means of this style we can achieve success easily.

Moreover, this style somehow coincides with the Coaching Style by Goleman (the second of the Six Leadership Styles), through which you can connect personal goals with organizational goals, obtaining a zero deteriorating work environment. This style's keys are the following: to help efficient workers to improve their performance by means of 1) listen, 2) encourage, 3) delegate, 4) advise and 5) help to discover the identity of their own SWOT.

Effective Leaders Plan for Change Imbalances
Patricia Schwarber, Consultant, United States, Premium Member
Change always creates imbalance. Imbalance in: vision, relationships, security and competence. Change can be positive but will always be initially thought of as something that is altering the way we perceive the 'now' - which, in effect, is all we know.

An effective leader realizes this happens within those who work with her/him and has the processes necessary to deal with this imbalance - critical thinking, communication, good performance systems and above all - the recognition that we all deal with change in different ways at different times.

Successful change management resides in the planning that goes into change, the expectations regarding the change, the positive consequences the change will bring and the specific and timely feedback that goes to those affected by the change.

High Performance Leaders also Articulate a Desirable Vision
Doug Lundrigan, Management Consultant, United States, Member
Anneke stated: Effective leader = people oriented + task oriented
I think there is ample evidence to add another element to the equation: clearly articulated vision.
My personal definition:
High Performance Leaders clearly communicate a desirable vision with a lofty purpose that inspires others to anxiously pursue it.

Establishing Commitment in Change Management
Henry J. Kupty, Partner, Brazil, Member
There are many good points raised above. Commitment is obtained when you have your personnel motivated to do their job and they feel part of the project giving their contribution. Your role is to keep this going on.
Yes, you have to try to understand what are their feelings and situation, without losing management control.

Participative Style Reduces Resistance to Change
Mwendwa Musyoka
One only needs to look at the reasons behind resistance to change to realize that its largely about uncertainty, fear of the unknown and failure to recognize the reason behind the change. I agree with @Ologunebi Oludotun that a leader who involves and communicates effectively with his/her team throughout the whole process of change is likely to manage change with higher success.

Commitment to Change
Rakshnya Stanislav, Teacher, Russian Federation, Member
@Tan Poh Lip: I agree, that Situational Leadership is very important. Plus at least two or three sources of a leader's social power.

Leadership and Employee Willingness to Change
Askil, Analyst, Member
In keeping with most of what has been said, commitment is born from commitment. A leader needs to demonstrate a balance between commitment to the welfare, development and interest of employees against organizational goals, and survival.
This may be easy with a lucrative business, but in times of trouble easier said than done.
Much also depends on shared vision, trust, communication, as well as the personalities and ambitions of the employees.
Finally, a change leader also needs to master the use of tension versus care, and must have the road map (tasks) clearly outlined and monitored.

Servant Leadership Effectiveness in the Context of Organizational Change
Adonis Friday Adoyi, Business Consultant, Nigeria, Member
I believe the servant leadership style will indeed be the most appropriate in managing employees during major changes in an organisation, though no leadership style is perfect for all circumstances.
In this style employees are made to understand the reasons for the change, resulting in willingness to follow.
The servant leadership style gives room for passionate and committed followers and by extension excellent team work.

Building Relationships Aligned with Vision to Reduce Change Resistance
Bill Boynton, Teacher, United States, Member
Having everyone involved and committed to change, I believe comes from the ability to build "relationships" throughout the organization that align with an Organization "Vision" that everyone can commit too.
When we all understand where and why, and how we need to come together, total unity begins to be the driving force for the change required.