Development involves change, but what does it take to effect change and what role does leadership play? This paper examines literature on change in large organisations. Leadership is context-specific and about groups rather than individuals; leaders are not those who possess particular traits but those who provide a functional contribution which also helps to build ‘change space’ – fostering the acceptance of change, granting authority to change (with accountability), and introducing or freeing the abilities necessary to achieve change. Leadership interventions should focus on building functional groups, on creating change space rather than creating leaders, and on being context-specific.
Many development initiatives produce unimpressive levels of change in targeted countries, organisations and outcomes. There is often a difference between the change intended in development (what is proposed) and the change actually seen in evidence. Why is this so?
Organisational and social change seems to emerge when there is acceptance of change, (accountable) authority and ability to allow and catalyse ongoing as well as episodic adjustments. Space is required to ensure contextual readiness for change and to foster progression through different stages of the change process. Change space must fit the specific change content. This ‘fit’ is facilitated when change content emerges through problem-solving instead of through solutions provided from the outside.
The lack of change space in many development contexts is often ignored, contributing to developmental failures. This space can, however, be created through leadership. The kind of leadership that leads change has peculiar characteristics. Findings suggest that:
- Leadership is more about groups than individuals, given that there are likely to be multiple people exercising leadership in any successful change event.
- ‘Leaders’ are identified more because of their functional contribution to change than their personal traits or authority (and the ‘connecting’ function stands out).
- Leadership contributes to change when it builds change space. Change space is especially enhanced where leadership facilitates open access societies and learning organisations in which members are empowered – in groups – to pursue change through problem solving.
- Leadership manifests in different ways in different contexts. However, the key characteristics of plurality, functionality, problem orientation and change space creation are likely to be common to all successful leadership-led change events.
Development interventions should focus more on ‘how’ change occurs and what role leadership plays in this ‘how’. Leadership is a key to effecting change and promoting development, and leadership interventions need to:
- Focus on building functional groups of leaders – in teams, coalitions and networks – around unifying problems
- Focus on creating change space rather than creating leaders as an end
- Be fitted to context, while consistently emphasising leadership plurality, functionality, problem orientation and change space creation.
