Leading change: how do you become an impactful change leader?

The challenge for change leaders: increasing your influence

Leading change is one of the most complex and challenging tasks for any leader. Change can create resistance and often requires transformation of organizational culture. Many leaders wonder how to increase their influence and strengthen their leadership to make maximum impact during such a crucial transition. This is a question I receive regularly….

The 3 keys to greater influence

To increase your influence, it is important to operate from a place of calm and overview. The biggest pitfall for change leaders is that they themselves continue to operate from the current culture, instead of embodying the new culture. From my perspective, there are 3 keys that will help you increase your influence: reflection and self-awareness, an inspiring vision, and developing authentic leadership.

Key 1: Reflection and Self-Awareness: successful change leaders are reflective

Reflection enables leaders to become aware of their own behavior and its impact on others. This is a continuous process of observation, interpretation and action. By reflecting regularly, leaders can develop more effective strategies for dealing with resistance and promoting positive change within their organizations. Why is this so crucial?

1. Understanding your own behavior and dynamics: Reflection helps you gain deeper insight into your own behavior and the dynamics within your organization. By regularly reflecting on your own actions and the reactions of others, you can identify patterns that may not be immediately apparent. This process clarifies which behaviors and reactions support your new culture and which hinder it.
2. Recognize impeding patterns: Through self-awareness, you develop a sharper sense of the impeding patterns in both your behavior and that of your team. These patterns can be subtle but powerful obstacles to desired change. By recognizing these obstacles, you can target them and transform them into behaviors that support change.
3. Anchoring the new culture: Once you are aware of the existing dynamics and how they affect your own behavior, you can begin to embody the new culture. This means not only directing others to change, but living and leading yourself to the desired culture. This increases your credibility and strengthens your influence as a leader.

Key 2: An inspiring vision: clarity on why these changes are happening

A clear and inspiring vision is essential for successful change because it connects the organization, gives clarity and allows people to work with it.

1. Giving direction: A strong vision provides a clear picture of the future and the direction in which the organization should move. This gives others clarity and frameworks to move within.
2. Reduce resistance: A well-formulated vision helps reduce resistance to change. When employees understand why change is necessary and how it contributes to the bigger picture, they can focus their energy on enabling the transition.
3. Define transition plan and interventions: A well-thought-out transition plan is the backbone of any successful change. This plan not only defines the approach and goals of the transition, but also provides a detailed analysis of the current situation within the organization and a vision of the future desired situation. To support the change, various interventions can be included in the transition plan.

Key 3: Developing authentic leadership: don’t talk about change, be the change

Authentic leadership is essential in culture change projects, especially for women leaders operating in predominantly masculine organizational cultures. Here’s why authentic leadership is so crucial:

1. Integrity and credibility: Authentic leadership means staying close to yourself and staying true to your own values and beliefs. This increases your integrity and credibility as a leader. Employees sense when a leader is authentic and this reinforces their trust and respect.
2. Emotional resilience: Female leaders in masculine cultures may face additional pressure to conform to prevailing norms and styles. By remaining authentic, they can increase their emotional resilience and better cope with these pressures. This helps them remain strong and steadfast, even in challenging situations.
3. Unique perspectives: Authentic leaders bring their unique perspectives and ideas to the table, which can stimulate innovation. In a culture dominated by traditional, masculine values, maintaining an authentic leadership style can provide fresh perspectives and new approaches that are crucial for transformation.
4. Empathy and Connection: Authentic leadership fosters empathy and connection with team members. By being yourself and being vulnerable, you create an open and supportive work environment where employees feel safe to share their ideas and concerns. This fosters a culture of collaboration and mutual respect.
5. Role model: As an authentic leader, you serve as a role model for others, especially other women within the organization. By showing that it is possible to be successful while staying true to yourself, you inspire others to do the same. This can be a powerful driver of culture change.

By incorporating these three keys – reflection and self-awareness, vision and strategy development, and authentic leadership development – into your leadership practice, you can increase your influence and become a powerful driver of successful transitions.

The result? Confidence and impact

By getting started with these 3 key ingredients, you will strengthen your leadership capabilities and be able to navigate through complex change. You learn to operate from calmness and overview, which helps you make more impact. During my executive coaching where I work 1-on-1 with my clients, I also use these 3 keys. And that yields concrete results including:

• Increased self-awareness: You become more aware of your own behavior and its impact on others, leading to better interventions.
• Clear and inspiring vision: You develop a clear vision that motivates and guides your team, reducing resistance to change.
• Strengthened emotional intelligence: You learn to use your emotional intelligence appropriately, which is crucial for building trust and creating a supportive environment.
• Increasing your influence By improving your leadership skills and strategies, you will increase your influence within the organization, allowing you to lead and implement change more effectively.
• Concrete Action Plans and Interventions: You implement concrete steps and interventions that promote change and help your team move forward.

Become the driving force behind successful transitions

Change is an inevitable part of any organization. How you lead these changes determines the success and future of your organization. With the right coaching and strategic guidance, you can not only increase your influence, but also make a lasting impact. Take the time to reflect, learn and adapt, and you will see that you are able to successfully lead even the most challenging changes. Schedule a no-obligation introductory meeting with me so that I can help you fully realize your leadership potential and become a driver of successful transition within your organization!

“After the first few months, I knew for sure that I wanted to achieve a culture change within our organization without getting sucked into the existing dynamics. Although I knew pretty well what needed to be done, I noticed that this transformation required a lot of calm, overview and leadership. Thanks to the coaching, I learned to work smarter instead of harder, and to make the right choices together. The conversations helped me better understand the dynamics inside and outside the organization and take strategic steps. The result is that I can now lead more effectively and experience more peace and control in my role as Director Director.” – Marjolein Brüning, Director Director, The Social Partnership