BECOME A LEADER AS A CHANGE AGENT

As we know from previous studies, the leader is someone who sees and can get the best out of others, helping them develop a sense of personal and professional accomplishment (Robbins & DeCenzo, 2010), and as they point “being a leader means building a commitment to goal attainment among those being led, as well as a strong desire for them to continuous following”.

             We found many sources that describe what it takes to be a leader, some research and author claim that the leader possesses certain traits or abilities, as a good communicator, influence over other, ambitions, etc...While other argues it’s all personality.

            In the globally competitive market where the competition has increased greatly, a leader with a good quality is no enough to guarantee for success, it has to have a clear and unique image to address changes, enter and stay in a convulsed marked with an insatiable demand.

            It is in these moments of relative instability where the leader has to develop his qualities as a change agent, a role which is considered just one more in a leader’s constellation of roles, but today it’s a highly critical one (Kaufman, 2005).

            Change Agent is considered the people who act as catalysts and assume the responsibility for overseeing the change process, as mentioned Robbins and DeCenzo (2010), in the contemporary way of view of the change process, change is a natural state, and directing change is a continual process, but there are very different approaches to understanding and responding to change.

            Molly Broad, president of the University of North Caroline emphasizes in the challenge of a Change Agent is to promote buy-in on the part of the people who create organizational capacity for change, to move them from state of disbelief to belief in what is possible.

Insight for change is a reasonable goal for a future of the organization, it should be large and motivate those who worry about the company, Robbins and DeCenzo in 2010 recommended to implement five technique to eliminated the resistance to change, which are: build trust, open channels of communications, involves your employees, provide incentives, and deal with employee feeling, in the other hand, according to James O’Toole the leaders fail when they assume an inappropriate attitude and philosophy about the relationship between themselves and their followers, and he point “those who do not respect and trust their follower cannot lead them”. (O'Toole, 1995).

            The whole business world is constantly changing and affecting strategy on daily basic, but only those who are prepared with visionary skill, and have strong understanding of the need for contemporary changes, and work into solving the problems with a new or renew ideas, will become in big leaders as change agent, who contributes to sustain the organization’s current performance and assure its future.

Bibliography

Kaufman, B. (2005). The leader as Change agent. University Business Magazine.

O'Toole, J. (1995). Leading Change: Overcoming the ideology of comfort and the Tyranny of tustom. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Robbins, S. P., & DeCenzo, D. A. (2010). Supervision Today! New Jersey: Pearson.