Leaders have always had a central role in shaping organizations, political institutions and some cases, social and economic reform. The natural ability of a leader is consisting into the interaction that takes place between his / her leadership role and the people that are willing to follow his / her decisions. The ability to influence and the trust are the most essential elements that are creating the right expectations for change to happen. These elements are creating a two-way interaction that makes the leader focusing on the changes and the followers focusing on the leader’s directions.

1. Managing change and the leader’s role in being a catalyst for change.
“Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no
leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous skillful leaders seize the
opportunity to change things for the better.”
Harry Truman
Leaders have always had a central role in shaping organizations, political institutions
and some cases, social and economic reform. The natural ability of a leader is
consisting into the interaction that takes place between his / her leadership role and
the people that are willing to follow his / her decisions. The ability to influence and the
trust are the most essential elements that are creating the right expectations for
change to happen. These elements are creating a two-way interaction that makes the
leader focusing on the changes and the followers focusing on the leader’s directions.
In this note I will provide my point of view on managing change and the leader’s role in
being a catalyst for change. I will start by making some consideration of psychological
and emotional behaviors, then I will try to explain how to approach changes and I’ll
conclude describing the leader’s role in “real lasting changes”
The leader has the ability to make changes visible and understandable. As pointed out
by Levi (Levine, 2002) , “leaders have the power to misinform and to manipulate, but
they also have the power to inspire change”. This statement makes us thinking that
there are not only structural activities (related to organizational structures) involved
during the change, but also psychological and emotional behaviors. This is mainly
because when changes are announced in a company different people react
differently. Employees may like the proposed changes, resist them, or completely hate
them. Some other may also be neutral to the changes.
A. Maslow has spent most of his time focusing on humanistic psychology that focus on
the hierarchy of human needs and, in this respect, it is easy to understand why some
people like or resist the changes. Each of us is moving is the scale of needs constantly in
his life. This is because situations around us are changing and we may need or forced to
change. If you consider for a second a person that is divorcing or losing a relative in a
car accident or simply the earthquake that has destroyed the house. People also love
their routines and habits, and if changes are forcing employees to drive for 2 hours to
the get to the job, the resistance to the change will be very hard.
How to approach changes?
Leaders are constantly trying to make changes happening but not always they do
succeed in the form and shape that was initially planned. Changes are based on
strategic choices and commitments involving resource and projects. Not always the
perfect implementation takes place and the change then turn to be a stressful activity.
Changes definitely are not happening alone. The leadership position helps the whole
community of people to choosing the direction and provides the right motivation. To
be successful the “real lasting change” must be done with the help of catalyst leaders.

2. Literally, the word 'catalyst' means anything which creates a situation in which change
can occur. The catalyst leader is the engine that motivates others. When faced with
uncertainty and the changes are shifting the scope and direction people like to share
their opinions with trustworthy leaders.
The Leader’s role
Leaders are able to influence groups towards goals using the right balance of authority.
Capable leaders are able to interact two-way with their subordinates. In contingency
theory (Fiedler, 1981) Fiedler is stating that effective groups depends on proper match
between a leader’s style of interacting with other people in the organization and the
degree to which the situation gives control to the leader. This statement is helping in
defining how important is the match between the groups of people in any given
organization and its leadership. Moreover, changes must happen in specific
circumstances (situation) that present the leader the ability to influence the group. In
contrast to the Fiedler’s contingency model, the path-goal theory of Robert House
(House, 1971) states that the four leadership styles are fluid, and that leaders can adopt
any of the four depending on what the situation demands. Basically leaders are flexible
and that they can change their style, as situations require.
In my opinion, real lasting changes requires specific leadership ability and the perfect
circumstances.
Stephen Robbins (Robbins, 2004), when referring to contingency theory is taking up an
example of Linda Watchner’s rise and fall in leading the changes in Warnaco. The
example illustrates the relationship between leadership style and situational influence.
Watchner’s production-oriented leadership behavior was effective in leading
Warnaco’s changes when the company was well performing in a robust economy. But
when Warnaco’s business slumped her leadership became a liability.
Managing Changes
Each of us is confronted everyday with important decisions to make. As stated by A.
Robin (Robins, 1998) we 1. decide what we focus on, 2. we decide what it means, 3. we
decide what action to take. These sets of action are constantly happening to each of
us and in any situation. Changes require a constant decisional process based on the
above assumptions. Naturally our decisions are also affected by the psychological state
and mood. We are heavily affected by external factors that can greatly modify our
judgments and decisional process. Physical appearance and body language can also
play an effective or disruptive role in our decisional process. When then in a leadership
position, those elements I just mentioned are extremely important and they can prevent
or influence subordinates with correct decision and ethical behavior. Leaders capable
of executing changes are able to match recourses and responsibilities.

3. According to Robert Simon (Simons, 2005) a leader shall be able to execute four
managerial tasks: controlling, influencing, supporting and be accountable for his/her
decisions. In this sequence of activities the leader will be able to guide the organization
through the uncertainties that changes require. Managing changes is all about be in
touch with the people, understanding their challenges and hopes and design the right
structure around them. Managing changes in friendly, professional and ethical
manner, is about using the right attitude to help an organization and their people to
change for the rest of their life.
Cosimo Gualano
Bibliography
Fiedler, F. (1981). Leader Attitudes and Group Effectiveness. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing
Group.
House, R. (1971). Path Goal theory . 6 Ohio State Studies and the Managerial grid.
Levine, W. a. (2002). “Tropics, Germs and Crops: How Endowments Influence Economic
Development”. Easterly.
Robbins, S. P. (2004). ”Organizational behavior” 11th edition . San Diego University – Upper
saddle river NJ.
Robins, A. (1998). Lessons in Mastery USA. Simon & Schuster - Nightingale-Con.
Simons, R. (2005). Designing High-Performance Jobs . Harvard Business School .