Factors Influencing Receptiveness to Change Among Baby Boomer Leaders

EDF5671 Assignment 2 Lee Min Long Gerald (27217469)
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Faculty Of Leadership
Monash University
Unit ID: EDF 5671
Unit Title: Leadership Challenge Project
Name: Lee Min Long Gerald
Student ID: 27217469

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Table&of&Contents&
LEADERSHIP*CHALLENGE*DESIGN*.......................................................................................*3!
1.!!Introduction*..................................................................................................................*3!
2.**Project*Rationale*...........................................................................................................*3!
3.**Literature*Review*..........................................................................................................*4!
3.1 Factors That May Influence Receptiveness To Change By Baby Boomers*...............................*5!
3.2 Current Approaches To Foster And Hasten Receptiveness To Change*.....................................*9!
4.**Approach*....................................................................................................................*13!
5.**Ethical*considerations*.................................................................................................*13!
6.**Findings*(Case)*............................................................................................................*14!
7.**Analysis*.......................................................................................................................*15!
8.**Limitations*..................................................................................................................*20!
9.**Conclusion*..................................................................................................................*20!
10.*Reflections*.................................................................................................................*22!

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LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE DESIGN
1. Introduction
In my professional practice as an organisational development consultant, my objective
is to assist organisational leaders to reach their organisational goals by providing
insights into their organisations. Upon the provision of insights to the organisational
leaders, the organisation will undergo “surgery” to eradicate unnecessary processes
and policies which impede the fulfilment of organisational goals.
Organizational change has been defined as a planned alteration in the normal patterns
or activities within an organization, which is initiated from a position of authority and
intended to improve the organizational effectiveness (Argyris, 1970; Ott, 1996;
Beckhad, 1969). The main purpose of organisational change is to make continuous
improvement in order to adjust to the environment changes (Weick, & Quinn, 1999).
Organizational change occurs as a reaction to an ever-changing environment, a
response to a current crisis situation, or is triggered by a leader. Successful
implementation of organisational change is not a matter of adjustment alone, but it
requires the receptiveness of change from all organisational leaders. In organisations
with a hierarchical structure, the positive receptiveness to change from all
organisational leaders is essential to reach their organisational goals rather than
working from the bottom line towards the top management.
During the organisational change process, I have found low receptiveness to
positively respond to change from organisational leaders particularly from the baby
boomers (1946 – 1964). In my professional experience, this has led to the termination
of numerous change initiatives that were meant to increase the organisational
sustainability and success.
2. Project Rationale
The rationale of this project stems from what I feel as the tremendous effort it takes in
the practice of organisational development to influence leaders of the older generation
(baby boomers) to become more receptive to and implement change. I feel that I
expend time on this in my practice, which does not bear out in the transfer of such

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learning into practice. I feel that the time feels wasted and could be better spent to
implement more intervention strategies to increase organisational sustainability. By
embarking on this project, I seek to explore my practice around fostering change
among older leaders. I also seek to examine the evidence that may explain the levels
of receptiveness to change among older generational leaders. I will explore the
implications of this evidence for the ways I might work with these leaders so that they
may more efficiently and effectively be open to and lead change.
There are many topics that can be considered to attain successful organisational
change such as human resource capability development, work processes development,
conflict management and many more. For the purpose of this research, this paper will
focus on the factors on that influence the receptiveness to change among older leaders
in organisations and the approaches that may foster and hasten their increased
receptiveness.
The research questions that will guide this research are:
1) What are the factors that influence the receptiveness to change among older
leaders (Baby Boomers) in organisations?
2) What is the nature of my experience of supporting change among older leaders in
organizations and what approaches may help to foster and hasten their
receptiveness to change?
3. Literature Review
Leadership is a critical component for successful organisational policy
implementation and change management. The role of the organisational leader is to
shift the people’s perspectives in a manner that it aligns with the organisational vision.
Whiteley (1995) concludes that the division of “change strategists” (senior
management), ‘change implementers’ and ‘change recipients’ maintains the status

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quo, as recipients do not conduct any organisational design activity. It is the
organisational leaders’ (change strategists) task to help their people accept change.
Lorenzi and Riley (2000) suggested that the resistance to change by employees could
be greatly reduced by effective leadership. It is clear that the organisational leaders’
high receptiveness to change has a positive impact on the successful implementation
of organisational change. For the purpose of this research, the literature review will be
broken up into 2 sections namely (a) factors that may influence receptiveness to
change by leaders who are baby boomers and (b) current approaches to foster and
hasten receptiveness to change.
3.1 Factors That May Influence Receptiveness To Change By Baby Boomers
Stiff Competition
A review of the literature by Wong, et al., (2008) suggested that baby boomers value
on-job security and a stable collegial working environment. Baby boomers tend to
embrace change and have a commitment to work that includes loyalty to the employer.
On the other hand, Rath (1999) argued that baby boomers do not generally prefer to
change. In addition, Matthew Legas & Cynthia (2011) outlined that stiff competition
within an organization suggests that boomers will see generation X co-workers climb
the corporate ladder faster than they did. Stiff competition may cause individuals to
respond to change negatively or positively. The evidence above mentioned could be
part of stereotypes of baby boomers and may occur to any of the other generations
(gen x and y). Utilising a positive perspective, baby boomers might use this
opportunity to showcase their adaptability to change and thus be held in higher esteem
despite their age. From a negative perspective, boomers may choose to hold onto their
authority tighter than before and thus prefer not to change the status quo. The two
perspectives allow us to see how the receptiveness to change could be influenced by
their mind-sets.
Preference For Status Quo
In a research by Bourne (2009), the qualitative findings showed that 50% of
participants (24 individuals) described baby boomers as disliking change, being
change resistant, slow or not accepting of change, and set in their ways. Only 8%

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described boomers as appreciating change. !The baby boomers responded that they
like things to stay the way they were, resist change, and do not want to change things
that are not broken. This could suggest that the boomers prefer not to be in a state of
uncertainty, which may suggest that the personality preferences of the baby boomer
leaders is one factor that influences their receptiveness to change.
Feedback
Employees in each of the generations differ in the extent to which they require
feedback. Feedback is a mechanism used to provide an individual with information on
what needs to be improved. In a study by deal (2007), it was evident that the baby
boomers may feel insulted when feedback is given to them when compared to the
younger generation (gen X & Y). The inability or ability to accept feedback suggests
that it may be a considerable factor that influences the boomer’s ability to accept
change.
Ageism Discrimination
The common misconception that arises in the workplace is that one’s performance
declines with age (Dennis & Thomas, 2007). This suggests an ageist phenomenon that
baby boomers may be left out of development opportunities. In addition, there was
evidence suggesting that some organizations intentionally close off career paths and
training opportunities for mature workers (Agelessons.com, 2008). In 2006, the Anti-
Ageism Taskforce identified that such a phenomenon could be described as
intentional ageism, which means that deliberate practices are utilized against the older
individuals due to personal biases. The current stereotypes and myths of the baby
boomers might fuel the existing age discriminations in organisations. Based on the
context above, the baby boomers that are being subjected to constant discrimination
may exhibit negative behaviours such as reduced willingness to change or learn. This
provides us with an indicator that ageism discrimination could be factor that inhibits
receptiveness to change amongst the baby boomers.

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Lack Of Social Interaction
Baby boomers have been identified to value on-job security and a stable working
environment (Hart, 2006; Smola & Sutton, 2002; Loomis, 2000). Other literatures
have described baby boomers as possessing qualities such as loyalty, idealism and
optimism (Hart, 2006; Loomis, 2000). Another perspective of baby boomers is that
they are more likely to focus on consensus building (Hart, 2006; Kupperschmidt,
2000). In the research by Melissa, et al., (2008), it was observed that the baby
boomers in the sample group were more likely to be holding a fairly senior position
and are required to work more independently. This implies that there is less of a need
for baby boomers to socialize as compared to the junior employees. The decrease in
social interaction with people at work may lead to the baby boomers to feel isolated
from the rest of the generation. The feeling of isolation felt by baby boomers could
suggest that they may be maladaptive during times of change, an increase in
maladaptive mechanisms could suggest that baby boomers could have less mental
energy to cope with organizational change (de Board, 1983). Humans require some
degree of social interactions in order to survive (Goleman, 2006). One factor that
influences the receptiveness to change could be the lack of social interaction within
the workplace.
Perceived Value Of Change
Individuals within an organization may be subjected to changes during their tenure as
employees. The perceived value of the organisational change is either positive or
negative based on how the individuals react to the intended change. In essence,
individuals who are likely to resist change are not merely a function of their
dispositional stance toward perceived discrepancies from the status quo, but also on
ethical and strategic grounds, when change is not perceived as beneficial to the
organization and its stakeholders (Agocs, 1997; Oreg, 2006; Piderit, 2000). Baby
boomer leaders who perceived the organizational change as not being beneficial may
influence the rest of the baby boomers’ positive perception of the intended
organizational change. The effect of negative or positive perceived value of
organizational change can influence the baby boomer’s receptiveness to change.

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Learning Culture
The emerging need for an effective learning organisation will supersede the
importance of profits; the lack of knowledge acquisition leads to shorter product life
span (Owen, 1991). A learning culture encourages the employees and leaders to have
an open mind-set to change when knowledge acquisition becomes part of the
organisation’s daily tasks. The culture of an organisation can be defined as a
distinctive feature that separates groups as a result of the programming of the human
mind (Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005). This implies that the organisational culture has a
great impact on how people respond to change. Baby boomer leaders who are in pre-
existing organisational cultures where knowledge acquisition is not part of the
organisation’s protocol may find that responding positively to change may be an
arduous task.
Power And Authority
The concept of power and authority in organisations can affect an individual’s range
of command, control and autonomy. Power can be observed in many different social
settings such as workplaces, public places and even casual events. Power, as most
commonly defined, is therefore inherently relational, in that power exists only in
relation to others, whereby low-power parties depend on high-power parties to obtain
rewards and avoid punishments (Emerson, 1962; Thibaut & Kelley, 1959). The
concept of authority is complex and is typically entangled in the organisational
structures to create order within the organisation. Organisations rely on authority
procedures in completing production and distribution of goods rather than negotiation
and exchange (Coase, 1937). Managers follow a mandate that have been given by
their superiors to execute their daily tasks that include instructing, managing and
coordinating. In the case of baby boomer leaders who are assumed to be in positions
of authority may see that they lack the power over the organisational change
initiatives. A lack of power by an individual could mean the lack of control and
autonomy, which may mean being more susceptible to undesirable treatment and
lowered job satisfaction and morale (Keltner et al. 2003). This lack of power in an
organisation by the baby boomer leaders may suggest a steep decline in personal
motivation or morale to accept organisational changes positively. Therefore, the

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amount of power that baby boomer leaders possess though in a position of authority
may influence their receptiveness to change.
3.2 Current Approaches To Foster And Hasten Receptiveness To Change
Involvement In Decision Making Process
The receptiveness to change by the senior management team in an organisation is
essential to the overall organisational success. Lines (2004) suggested that leaders
who involve relevant people in decisions regarding the change initiative are more
likely to have a successful change process. This approach suggests that the
organisational leaders should include the vital people (e.g. baby boomers) in their
leadership team to get them on board with the changes first. However, the baby
boomers may be seen in a negative perspective if they keep showing displeasure
during the change process. Therefore, the approach to include baby boomers into the
decision making or change process needs to be executed properly without increasing
any likelihood of embarrassment to them.
Action Learning Process
Kathleen (2009) found that the boomers responded well to the action learning process.
The learning was motivated by the need to preserve one’s well-being, self
improvement, making connections, identifying next steps to live more fully, and
adapting to changes in an uncertain, turbulent, and rapidly evolving world. However,
the study was unable to examine how baby boomers manage their work and personal
lives during the changing times. The findings suggest that action learning could be
one of the approaches to influence the receptiveness to change by boomers.
T.E.A.M Approach
The TEAM (i.e. Team Composition, Education & Training, Awareness and
Mentoring) approach outlined in a study by Jane, et al., (2010) stated that it assists in
the engagement of the baby boomers. Firstly, the team composition of the
organization needs to arranged in such a way that the baby boomers can be leveraged
upon to transfer tacit knowledge and experience to the younger generation (gen x and

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y). Secondly, education & training in the areas of integenerational diversity have been
implemented. The introduction of diversity training has been shown to aid in the
reduction of ageism discrimination by allowing the baby boomers to understand the
values of the younger generations and vice versa (Gibson & Kimis, 2005). Thirdly,
the human resource departments need to raise the awareness of legal and ethical
implications towards workplace ageism discrimination. This allows the baby boomers
to feel that they are still of value to the organization. Fourthly, mentoring by the baby
boomers to the younger generation could be used as opportunities for interaction and
thus biased perceptions from the younger generation may diminish. The four points
explained above helps to reduce ageism discrimination, which in turn helps to allay
the fears that the baby boomers may possess due to job security. Upon the successful
reduction of uncertainty, the baby boomers’ receptiveness to change might increase.
Prompt And Useful Information
At the outset of any organizational change, the presence of uncertainty is relatively
high compared to an organization that remains at status quo. This uncertainty could be
due to the lack of information regarding the process and intended outcomes can
be more stressful to employees than the practical aspects of the change
(Schweiger & Denisi, 1991; Schweiger & Walsh, 1990). In today’s practice,
when employees especially baby boomers are given prompt and useful
information about the eminent change, the evaluation of change becomes more
positive and thus exhibit more willingness and receptiveness to change (Miller
et al., 1994; Wanberg & Banas, 2000). This implies that there is a need to
inform employees about the change as early as possible to increase the
receptiveness to change.
Education, Open Communication, Change Agents And Support
The usage of contingent rewards or punishment has been popular amongst consultants
to modify behaviours. It assumes that the repetition of behaviours is high especially
when it leads to positive consequences in comparison to negative consequences
(Desler, 2007). Mooketsi (2009) suggested four approaches that could be utilized to
foster and hasten the receptiveness to change by people. Firstly, the use of education

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and communication is adopted to ensure that the intended people are well informed
about the eminent changes. This approach differs from the work of Schweiger &
Denisi (1991) as it involves bringing the intended people through the analytical
process of reaching the final decision rather than informing them. Secondly, the baby
boomers could be given access to open communication especially from the board of
directors. This allows the baby boomers to be able to clarify any doubts that they may
have. Open communication minimizes speculations, wrong perceptions and rumours.
Thirdly, it is useful to allow the baby boomers to be involved in the change process
with an identity as change agents. In the process of involvement, the baby boomers
are somewhat compelled to be committed to the implementation of change.
Formidable resistance is unlikely to come from the baby boomers, as they are
involved in the change process. Fourthly, the baby boomers that may be observed to
be reluctant to change could be experiencing maladjustment. Baby boomer leaders
could be given access to facilitation and support internally or externally (e.g.
organizational psychologist, counsellors, peers etc.). These factors seemed to overlap
with the factors as shown under the T.E.A.M approach. The four suggested
approaches that were mentioned above do help to alleviate the situation by means of
informing and getting them involved.
Kurt Lewin’s Change Management Model
In change management, a popular approach used is Kurt Lewin’s change management
model that is used to overcome the resistance to change. The three phases include
unfreezing, transition and freezing and they have been a success in implementation
change. Firstly, unfreezing targets that forces associated with struggles to maintain the
status quo and inflict a positive mind to organizations and individuals. It presents an
event that leaves people to appreciate the need for change giving them the urge to
seek for new solutions (Connelly, 2014). Secondly, Lewin emphasized that need for
new values, behaviours and attitudes to be created to cope with the new organizational
changes. This transitional phase will have a shift in the current organisational
structure and processes to affect change on the current ways of tackling issues. This
step has been known to help individuals to submit and stay committed to the changes.
Thirdly, the freezing phase where leaders need to recognize the achievements that was
generated from the change process. In addition, the use of a force field analysis can

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help to point out the obstacles and maintain an optimistic perspective to new changes.
(Connelly, 2014). The force field analysis is a tool that helps the organization to
identify that driving and restraining forces, which then translates into the formulation
of a gap identification. Once the gap is identified, the organization can plan their
action steps to get to their desired outcome. Lewin’s 3-step model takes an approach
from an organisational perspective rather than an individual perspective. However,
this can be mapped across to the baby boomer leaders to foster and hasten the
receptiveness to change.
John Kotter’s 8 Step Change Model
John Kotter’s 8 steps to successful change is another popular approach, which has
overlaps with Kurt Lewin’s work. As mentioned in section 3.2, the amount of power
an individual possess can influence their receptiveness to change. John Kotter’s
second step on creating a guiding coalition as shown in table 1 suggests that forming a
group with enough power may be more practical.
Table 1. John Kotter’s 8 Steps Change Model.
Adapted from Kotter, John P., and Dan S. Cohen. The Heart of Change. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School
Press, 2002.
The main difference between Kurt Lewin’s work and John Kotter is the forming of
groups to manage the change rather than targeting the individual’s urge to seek new
solutions. The approach to increase the receptiveness to change by the baby boomer
leaders could be to gather each of the baby boomer leaders into groups that are made
up of optimistic leaders from the veterans (1922 – 1946) or generation X (1964 –
1980). This may help the baby boomer leaders’ perspective towards the intended

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organizational changes to become optimistic following the continuation of the 6 other
steps in Kotter’s change model.
4. Approach
To address my research question, the qualitative research approach has been adopted
for exploring and understanding the meaning that is ascribed to the receptiveness to
change by the older generational leaders (baby boomers). To address research question
1, I utilised the secondary data collection method (literature review) to establish what
has been researched on by academics with regards to the factors that influence
receptiveness to change by older leaders (baby boomers) and what approaches have
been used. Due to the limited time to conduct research, the literature review has been
selected to give an overview of what is current in the field of receptiveness to change.
In addition, it adds a foundation to substantiate my recommendations.
To address research question 2, I chose the primary data collection method (case) to
build a case of my professional experience as an organisational development consultant
when I am dealing with older generational leaders. This approach is the most suitable
because it helps to enhance the theory generating capabilities of the case, and to provide
additional validity to assertions made by myself in the case itself.
To analyse the data, I will be utilising the thematic approach by Miles and Huberman
(1994) framework. Through the thematic approach to analysis, it allows me to seek
trends, patterns and ideas between the literature review and the case. In addition, the
analysis enables me to break down the concepts into smaller chunks to develop my
recommendations in this research.
5. Ethical considerations
As the data sources of my research are literature review and a case from my
professional experience, there are no ethical considerations to be applied.

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6. Findings (Case)
Calling The Elephant In The Room
Who dares to aggravate the elephant in the room?
Who wants to confront the elephant in the room?
No one else but me, an organizational consultant who bothers to tell leaders about the
truth. The truth hurts when my clients hear what I have to say. However, many of the
leaders from the baby boomer generation expect me to tell them the things that they
would love like to hear. For example:
“ Your organization is doing extremely well, the problem is not yours, it is the
economy”
“ Your leadership is fantastic, it is not the root cause of the problem in your
organization”
In my professional life, I am constantly challenged by my clients because they are
resistant to change and feedback. I had to keep telling myself that this is just a passing
phase as people may be in the first stage of the negative response model, denial.
I had a recent brush with a regional HR (human resource) director, a baby boomer
leader, who rejected all my proposed ideas time after time. The plans were to increase
the line of sight of the HR team’s initiatives by holding 3 major events this year to
gather buy-in from their bottom line. The event had to be filled with excitement and
fun to make it light hearted. The regional HR director’s response was that he knows
his people every well, they will not attend and this is a waste of time and money. In
addition, he mentioned that the workers are uneducated and they will not understand
what we do for them.
My instincts told me that the elephant in the room is the regional HR director but I
cannot give him the feedback directly. I deviated from my original plans and began to
initiate my new plans from the bottom line, which is an effective but arduous method.
I conducted 80 one-to-one interviews regarding the impression that the bottom line

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had about the regional director instead of the intended interview of assessing the
organizational health as planned. The outstanding keywords from the interviews were
ignorant, unfair and obnoxious. I asked myself a few questions?
Should I give him the data as it is?
Should I manipulate the data and make it seem that everyone is pleased with
him?
It was frustrating when my other projects went as smooth as butter and my
recommendations were taken into action to achieve organizational success. I decided
to confront my apprehension and called him out for drinks. During that session, I laid
all my cards on the table and told him about what others and I felt about his negative
actions and behaviours. Through that session, he revealed his true feelings and shared
that he felt insecure about his job and that he is afraid that the younger generation will
replace him. It suddenly occurred to me that all he needed for a listening ear and
someone who understands him.
Authentic Relationship Lasts, Not Being A Mere Acquaintance
I realised that as an organizational consultant, my job was not just to push
organizations towards excellence but also to build genuine relationships with my
clients especially the baby boomer leaders. If I had focused on building genuine
relationships at the beginning, it would have saved me a lot of frustration and
unnecessary pain. Change does not happen overnight, people need to feel that they are
being heard and feel wanted before embarking on the journey of change. It seems that
being the one to call the elephant in the room might be difficult but I am glad I did. In
the end, all employees attended the 3 events and increased the level of employee
engagement by 12%, which was evident in the employee engagement results and
turnover analysis.
7. Analysis
In sections 3 and 4, we discussed about the influencing factors for receptiveness to
change, approaches to hasten and foster the receptiveness to change and a case of my

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own professional experience. In section 3, the literature suggests that there are 8
influencing factors and 13 approaches to the receptiveness to change by baby boomer
leaders. It is essential to note that the perspective of baby boomers by the younger
generation leans towards personalities such as change resistant and high preference
for status quo as evident in section 3.
For the purpose of analysis, the qualitative data analysis used is based on Miles and
Huberman (1994) framework. Based on the secondary data (literature review), 3
themes emerge namely organizational culture, social and perceived value of change as
shown in the table 2.
Table 2. Themes based on data from literature review
With reference to the analysis from table 2, it is evident that the current approaches
outlined provide solutions to solve the themes of organizational culture and to shift
the perceived value of change. At the same time, it seems to suggest that the
organizational culture is essentially one of most important factors to tackle as
numerous literatures has been reviewed on it. If the organizational culture were such
Themes Influencing Factors Current Approaches
Organizational
Culture
• Stiff Competition
• Acceptance Of Feedback
• Ageism Discrimination
• Learning Culture
• Action Learning
• Team Composition
• Education & Training
• Awareness
• Mentoring
• Kurt Lewin’s Change Model
Social • Reduced Social Interaction
• Power & Authority
• John Kotter’s Change Model –
Particularly Step 2
Perceived Value Of
Change
• Change Not Perceived As
Beneficial
• Open Communication
• Baby Boomers as Change Agents
• Given Prompt And Useful
Information About The Change
• Facilitation & Support For Baby
Boomers

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that it promotes individual success in comparison to team success, the behaviours of
the leaders would be such that it becomes a survival of the fittest. This survival of the
fittest mentality can lead to baby boomer leaders like in the case (section 6) to become
highly resistant to change. On the other hand, if an organization promotes creativity
and innovation, the receptiveness to change may be a lot more positive than in the
previous culture. The current literature, however, does not shed much light on the
social aspect that may be influencing the baby boomer leaders’ receptiveness to
change as well as the current approach to foster receptiveness to change.
The baby boomer leader’s social circle of influence does seem to have an effect on
their self esteem as evident in the case (section 6). There have been instances where
CEOs of organizations are committing themselves to engage with their bottom line
because they understand that there is a need to increase their line of sight with their
people in order to make informed organizational decisions especially in change
management. The lack of social interaction can also explain why some baby boomer
leaders may feel that they are in positions of authority without power. The lack of
power can affect the perspective of the baby boomer leaders towards being more
negative than before. A “snowball effect” can be observed, meaning that the one
influencing factor can be a catalyst for another. The main concern is to prevent a
situation where the snowball is too large to handle.
In relation to the case (section 6), the baby boomer leader resisted change from the
beginning and was adamant that he understands everything about his people. It
seemed that the leader was rejecting not only changes but also help or assistance from
people. Unfortunately, this negative behaviour seems to suggest that the level of
egocentricity in the leader is relatively high.
What can we infer from the case?
Firstly, the high levels of egocentricity of baby boomer leaders or leaders from any of
the generations can lead to a high resistance to change. For example, a leader with
high levels of ego is less likely to attend courses to learn new things from others. The
current approaches in the literature review overlooked the fact that the egotism of the
leader could be a major factor that may impedes the receptiveness to change by the

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baby boomer leaders. For example, one of the current approaches is to include the
baby boomer leaders in the decision making process which then assumes that the
leader would like to be in the process in the first place. In a study on Abraham
Maslow’s concept of self-transcendence impact on organizations by Henry (2012), he
outlined that people’s narrow interpretation of the Maslow’s theory in the over-
emphasis on highest order of need (self actualization) can encourage organizational
leaders’ egos to spin out of control. Unfortunately, organizational leaders operating
from this level of self-actualization with a predominant egocentric focus are in danger
of becoming narrow minded, distorted and run the risk of losing the ability to
understand or empathize with the plight of others. The inability to empathize with
others may give rise to the influencing factors such as ageism discrimination, inability
to accept feedback and having authority with no power. Overconfidence contributes to
a number of decision-making biases such as (a) inhibition of subordinate voice
(Ferguson et al. 2010, Locke & Anderson 2010, Tost et al. 2013), (b) reluctance to
accept useful advice from others (Tost et al. 2012), (c) excessive risk taking
(Anderson & Galinsky 2006, Inesi 2010, Lewellyn & Muller-Kahle 2012). It is
evident that power can lead to power holders forming decision biases and may result
in the loss of power in the long run. The points made above may help to explain the
presence of the influencing factors in table 2.
Secondly, during the process of organizational change, it is important that the human
element needs to be the top organizational priority. In the case (section 6), the
regional HR director was neglected in the process of change. In most organizational
change initiatives, the emphasis tends to reflect upon the rapid speed of change rather
than to consider the human elements first. People tend to feel a sense of trust and
safety when the 5 domains of the SCARF (i.e. Status, Certainty, Autonomy,
Relatedness and Fairness) model are being fulfilled (Rock, 2008). The 2 most
important domains are relatedness and fairness especially during the times of
organizational change instability. People need to feel like that the change is relatable
and fair in their perspective before they would open up to receive change. This is
inline with the theme on the perceived value of change by the individual.

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Thirdly, the personal life experiences of baby boomer leaders can have an impact on
the receptiveness to change. The baby boomer generation was brought up with the
perception that working hard and organizational loyalty equates to job security (Rath,
1999). The perception of “job security” may be elusive in the 21st
century due to the
ever-changing socio-economic factors. In the context of the case, the regional HR
director’s maladaptive behaviours towards change could be motivated by the
insecurities that he was experiencing. This could explain the presence of influencing
factors such as the inability to accept feedback, preference for status quo and stiff
competition within an organization.
Lastly, organizations need to be flexible in the execution of organizational change
particularly for influencing the receptiveness to change by baby boomer leaders. As
evident in the case, in my professional practice, there was an urgent need to shift
away from my initial plans to influence the regional HR director to see my point of
view. This establishes the fact that the approaches mentioned in section 3 should not
be utilised as a step-by-step guide to influencing receptiveness to change, the
approaches should be considered based on the context and situation it is being applied
to.
What can we infer from the case and literature review as a whole?
In response to the research questions 1 and 2, the decisions made by the top
organisational leaders will have the greatest impact on how their senior management,
middle management and bottom line react to organizational change initiatives. In
most modern organisations, employees’ talents can be tapped by keeping employees
well informed about all the important affairs of its business and involving them in
decision-making at all levels (Hewitt, 2002). Employee involvement in decision-
making helps in creating a sense of belongingness among the employees, which helps
in creating a good congenial working environment and contributes towards building a
good employer-employee relationship (Noah, 2008). At the same time, it is essential
to note that the way to manage the senior management could be vastly different from
how the middle management and bottom line are managed. The top management
needs to acknowledge the fact that there is a gap between the baby boomer leaders

Pg20
and the younger generation to foster and hasten the receptiveness to change. In
addition, Hollenbeck (2000) concurred that decision-making authority and
responsibility for coordination should reside at the top of the organisational chart. At
times, the top management needs to “confront the elephant in the room” rather than
waiting for the undesirable outcomes of not doing it in the first place.
8. Limitations
One of the major limitations in this research project is that the literature review is
based on a western context; there is lack of literature regarding receptiveness to
change in an Asian context particularly for baby boomer leaders. The lack of
information on the Asian context meant that the project had to revolve around
generalizations of western organizations.
The next limitation is the lack of available baby boomer leaders who were willing to
be part of this research. It would have been a great addition that would provide the
research with a broader spectrum of factors and suitable approaches. Through the
utilization of a case instead of interviews, it provided a limited depth to the answers to
the research question. Nonetheless, it is still sufficient to for this leadership challenge
project.
9. Conclusion
The research was set out to explore in baby boomer leaders revolving around 3 main
areas namely (1) the factors that influence receptiveness to change, (2) the nature of
my experience in support change and (3) the approaches that can help to foster or
hasten the receptiveness to change. The studies in the literature review showed that
there is an emphasis around the organizational culture and perceived value of change
by the baby boomer leaders rather than the social aspect.
The work of Melissa, et al., (2008) synchronises with Goleman (2006), which
elaborates the fact that social interaction within an organization is essential. This
brings about a point that increased social interaction within an organization can help
to answer both research questions. The approaches mentioned in section 3.2 require a

Pg21
certain degree of social interaction between the leaders or employees to foster and
hasten the baby boomer leaders’ receptiveness to change. The urgent need for social
interaction presented itself distinctly in the case (section 6) as the regional HR
director needed someone who understands him. With reference to Abraham Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs, the need for sense of love and belonging comes before the need
for self-esteem; this implies that organizations need to fulfil the level of social
interaction before anything else. It is important to note the egocentricity of the
individual needs to be displaced before proceeding.
Upon the fulfilment of social interaction aspect, the next approach would be for top
management of the organizations to deal with the organizational culture by the means
of the approaches outline in table 2. Using the approach outlined by Kathleen (2009),
action learning can be used to find solutions by gathering a group of individuals to ask
relevant questions to reach a conclusion. The organizational culture should strive
towards a learning organization as outlined by Owen (1991) and the actions to be
taken will be the T.E.A.M approach by Jane, et al., (2010). On top of that, if the
organization finds that there is ageism discrimination in the workplace, it is necessary
to address it before applying any of the other approaches.
Once the organizational culture is in place, the last step would be to deal with the
baby boomer leader’s perceived value of change. This can be achieved by applying
the approaches outlined in table 2 in the following order (1) Give prompt and useful
information, (2) provide open communication, (3) facilitation and support by top
management and (4) selecting baby boomer leaders as change agents. The logical
order of approaches provides the baby boomer leaders to have enough information
and time to react to the intended changes by the organization. It is essential that this
process is handled with care by applying the SCARF model (Rock, 2008).
The process of organizational change can range from 6 months to 3 years to establish
stability. Top organizational leaders need to be alert and agile to be able to steer the
organizational ship through the economic storms.

Pg22
An interesting extension of this research would be to investigate the factors that
influence the preference for younger generational leaders( Gen X and Y) compared to
the older generational leaders (Veterans and Baby Boomers).
10. Reflections
Through this research, I have learnt a lot about myself in my professional practice through the
eyes of being from generation Y. There were times when I was writing my case that I may
have be biased and expressed some form of discrimination against the older generational
leaders. It hit upon me on the point during my analysis about egocentricity; there were times
that I was guilty of exercising my ego when my proposed plans were rejected on numerous
occasions. I need to improve in 3 areas namely (1) patience, (2) humility and (3) being
assertive.
Patience
In my professional practice, I get rather impatient when my clients push back the timelines
that causes a huge disruption to my project timelines. During the research for the literature
review, I was rather impatient wanting to find the literature fast and noticed that it was not
getting me nearer to my goal of completion. I committed to sitting at the café for as long as I
take to source out the literature required. I have learnt to slow down and give deep thought to
things in my life.
Humility
Though I am in Gen Y, this research has allowed me to appreciate what baby boomer leaders
may be subjected to in their workplaces. It saddens me to read or hear about ageism
discrimination, it has encouraged me to work on humility. To reduce any form of
egocentricity as it may cause me to lose my own team.
Being Assertive
On 2nd
June 2016, I received a call from my client at 8.50 pm and was busy with the
leadership challenge project. I used to be at the beck and call of clients. I decided not to pick
the call and messaged back to call me the next morning. I realised that similar occurrences
like that with my other clients would make them think that I can be taken advantage of.

Pg23
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