Behaviors of Leaders Who Embrace Change

Jonathan H. Westover, PhD
1 hour ago
7 min read

Listen to this article:

Abstract: This article examines the behaviors of leaders who effectively drive organizational change. As change is inevitable yet difficult, change leadership requires courage, forethought, and challenging ingrained mindsets. Five core leader behaviors that enable successful change are discussed. Leaders embrace ambiguity by investigating alternatives through trial and error instead of demanding certainty. They build commitment through transparent, engaging communication across all levels. Empowerment is distributed through collaborative teams to mobilize diverse perspectives. Leading with compassion recognizes change's human impacts and supports psychological well-being. Learning orientations view challenges and failures as problem-solving opportunities through testing assumptions. Case studies from Cisco, Coca-Cola, Prudential, Yahoo, and Johnson & Johnson demonstrate these behaviors in action. In conclusion, an empowering, caring, and adaptive approach grounded in communication, experimentation and learning enables organizational agility amid constant disruption.

As organizations constantly evolve and adapt to meet new demands and challenges, the ability to effectively lead change has become critical to success. However, leading change is not easy. It requires a leader who is courageous, forward-thinking, and willing to challenge traditional mindsets and comfortable routines.

Today we will discuss the key behaviors I have witnessed in leaders who successfully drive organizational change by addressing the following: embracing ambiguity, building commitment through effective communication, empowering others, leading with compassion, and learning from both successes and failures.

Embracing Ambiguity is Critical

One behavior I have consistently observed in highly effective change leaders is an ability to be comfortable with ambiguity (Heifetz & Laurie, 1997). Leading change inherently brings uncertainty as the future direction and outcomes are unknown. Leaders who struggle with change often cite a desire for more certainty and a plan with clearly defined milestones and outcomes. However, truly transformational change involves entering uncharted territory where the path is not clearly mapped out. Leaders must be willing to investigate alternatives, learn through trial and error, and adapt strategies based on emerging realities rather than rigid preconceived notions of how change should unfold (Kotter, 2014).

For example, when the technology company Cisco shifted their focus from hardware to include significant software and services offerings, CEO John Chambers embraced ambiguity. Rather than having all the answers upfront, he was transparent that the transition would involve much experimentation. He gave teams autonomy to pilot new software solutions without overly rigid business cases, with the understanding that some ideas would fail fast allowing lessons to be learned (Chambers, 2016). This openness to exploration and learning created psychological safety for employees to take risks without fear of punishment for imperfection. Cisco emerged stronger from navigating uncertainty and embracing ambiguity rather than demanding certainty from the onset of change.

Building Commitment through Communication

Another core behavior is a leader's ability to effectively communicate and build commitment for change from all levels of the organization (Kotter, 1995). Far too often leaders make the mistake of assuming others automatically share their sense of urgency or vision for change without proactively securing buy-in. However, change inevitably faces resistance as it disrupts existing mindsets, relationships, and power structures (Coch & French, 1948). This is where strong interpersonal and communication skills become vital.

Leaders must directly address potential concerns through transparent, over-communicating the business case and potential impacts for all stakeholders. They must actively listen to understand differing perspectives, then work to gain support by appealing to shared organizational values and purpose. Data shows face-to-face communication is most impactful for aligning understanding and reducing uncertainty during disruption (Armenakis & Harris, 2002). Using multiple mediums like town halls, small group discussions, email, and video channels allows conveying consistent, engaging messaging to the entire organization. While challenging, this level of commitment-building communication is imperative for leadership who want to empower others to actively support - rather than reluctantly accept - change.

For example, when Coca-Cola shifted from a product-focused to total beverage company strategy, CEO Muhtar Kent held global live streamed town halls and breakout conversations around the world. He welcomed skepticism to foster open dialogue. This approach allowed addressing diverse viewpoints to gain informed buy-in and excitement from teams tasked with executing the new vision rather than passive compliance (Coca-Cola, 2012). By rolling up sleeves to communicate clearly and listen actively, leaders make others feel heard while aligning efforts behind a shared goal for successful change implementation.

Empowering Others through Distributed Leadership

No single leader alone can successfully drive large-scale organizational change impacting diverse functions and geographies. Thus, empowering others throughout the organization to step into leadership roles is a must for navigating disruption on such a broad scale. Highly effective change leaders recognize distributed, team-based approaches are needed and distribute decision rights, resources, and responsibilities to diverse teams (Gronn, 2000). They push authority and accountability out from the C-suite to mobilize the collective intelligence of those closest to key stakeholders and day-to-day operations.

For example, in transitioning Prudential Financial's culture to focus on growth and innovation, CEO John Strangfeld created cross-functional empowerment networks representing different levels, functions and regions of the global organization (Prudential, 2008). These networks were given freedom to experiment with new ideas, voice concerns directly heard by leadership, and shift company policies and investments based on emerging needs identified at the frontlines. By distributing leadership and decision rights, Strangfeld was able to champion significant culture change impacting Prudential's 170,000 employees worldwide. The organization's performance improved from sharing power throughout collaborative empowerment structures rather than a directive top-down approach alone.

Effective change leadership understands no single visionary can drive widespread transformation alone. Leaders must share power by distributing decision rights throughout organizations and championing peer leadership from diverse teams and levels. This empowers others to lead frontline change implementation rather than passive compliance to directives from above.

Leading with Compassion through Change

In addition to driving strategic and operational change, leaders are also responsible for leading cultural and people impacts of disruption. Organizational change inherently causes losses as it disrupts the status quo, familiar routines, relationships, and ways of doing work that employees have found purpose and self-worth in (Bridges, 2003). The most compassionate leaders recognize the very human side of change and do not lose sight that major shifts impact individuals psychologically as much or more than logistically. Developing empathy for others' perspectives and supporting people's emotional well-being are just as important parts of the change leader's role as are setting strategic direction or driving accountability for new metrics.

When Yahoo transitioned from an internet portal company into a media and technology giant, CEO Marissa Mayer emphasized the human side of change through one-on-one check-ins with all employees worldwide. She fostered an inclusive, growth-mindset culture focused on open communication to address doubts or fears through direct dialogue rather than top-down directives alone. This “management by walking around” approach helped ease uncertainty and engage diversity of perspectives critical for large-scale transformation success through empathy and care for all impacted individuals (Yahoo, 2013). By leading with compassion, understanding change’s people impacts, and supporting others’ psychological safety, leaders can empower organizations to embrace disruption and discovery.

Learning from Both Successes and Failures

The final behavior of leaders who successfully drive change is an openness to learn from experiences. While setting ambitious goals, they also acknowledge risks and recognize even with ideal conditions, not all change efforts will succeed as envisioned initially. Rather than defensiveness or blame when setbacks occur, agile leaders view challenges or failures as opportunities to gain valuable problem-solving insights through testing assumptions and gathering real-time feedback (Sitkin, 1992; Edmondson, 2011). They embrace an experiment mindset and commitment to continuous learning and mid-course corrections based on emerging realities.

For instance, in transitioning Johnson & Johnson from a product-driven company into one focused on integrated health, wellness and pharmaceutical solutions, CEO Alex Gorsky led with a growth mindset. In sharing challenges transparently through platforms like internal social networks, he modeled being open about obstacles faced, lessons learned, and adaptations underway to gain buy-in for ongoing experimentation and risk-taking necessary for innovation-focused change (Johnson & Johnson, 2014). Instead of reprimanding failures, his leadership style fostered brave cultures where teams felt empowered to try bold ideas knowing some could fail but failures would inform future progress instead of punishment.

The common themes among leaders who drive successful organizational change are their ability to embrace ambiguity, build broad commitment through transparent communication, empower diverse others throughout collaborative structures, lead with care, compassion and empathy for people impacts, and commit to continuous learning from both successes and setbacks experienced along the change journey. While change inevitably faces resistance, leaders who demonstrate these core behaviors have been able to mobilize organizations to overcome status quos and drive new levels of performance through strategic disruption and discoveries. Overall, embracing humanity, empowerment and growth mindsets through navigating change’s inherent uncertainties seems to be the differentiating factor for leadership impacting organizations’ ability to thrive amid disruption.

Conclusion

Leading large-scale organizational transformation is challenging given the numerous technical and adaptive challenges impacting diverse stakeholders across all levels and functions of globally distributed systems. However, an open, caring and empowering leadership approach grounded in clear communication, experimentation, accountability and learning allows organizations the agility required to constantly evolve strategies and navigate uncharted futures amid constant disruption. Leaders who roll up sleeves to champion empowered teams through real-time feedback, build enduring commitment to shared organizational success beyond their own tenures, and support others’ well-being through changes will foster cultures of courage and innovation most able to disrupt themselves before others disrupt them from outside. Overall, leadership behaviors embracing humanity, empathy, distributed leadership and intellectual curiosity seem most strongly correlated with organizations’ abilities to stay ahead of disruption through constant change and discovery.

References

Armenakis, A. A., & Harris, S. G. (2002). Crafting a change message to create transformational readiness. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 15(2), 169–183.
Bridges, W. (2003). Managing transitions: Making the most of change (2nd ed.). Da Capo Press.
Chambers, J. (2016). Connecting through yes: How transparency builds trust and business success. Crown Publishing.
Coch, L., & French, J. R. P., Jr. (1948). Overcoming resistance to change. Human Relations, 1, 512–532.
Edmondson, A. (2011). Strategies for learning from failure. Harvard Business Review, 89(4), 48-55.
Gronn, P. (2000). Distributed leadership. In K. Leithwood (Series Ed.), The International Handbook of Educational Leadership and Administration (pp. 653-696). Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Heifetz, R. A., & Laurie, D. L. (1997). The work of leadership. Harvard Business Review, 75, 124-134.
Johnson & Johnson. (2014). Our credo values.
Kotter, J. P. (1995). Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail. Harvard Business Review, 73(2), 59-67.
Kotter, J. P. (2014). Accelerate: Building strategic agility for a faster-moving world. Harvard Business Review Press.
Prudential. (2008). Prudential's approach to diversity and inclusion.
Sitkin, S. B. (1992). Learning through failure: The strategy of small losses. Research in Organizational Behavior, 14, 231-266.
Yahoo. (2013). Marissa Mayer’s first year as CEO at Yahoo.

Jonathan H. Westover, PhD is Chief Academic & Learning Officer (HCI Academy); Associate Dean and Director of HR Programs (WGU); Professor, Organizational Leadership (UVU); OD/HR/Leadership Consultant (Human Capital Innovations). Read Jonathan Westover's executive profile here.

Suggested Citation: Westover, J. H. (2025). Behaviors of Leaders Who Embrace Change. Human Capital Leadership Review, 25(1). doi.org/10.70175/hclreview.2020.25.1.5