Setting sail for change
Executives facing a seemingly constant stream of complex change may wish for a set of
procedures and rules - a map which will guide them in unknown territory. Steve Macaulay
and John Dickson argue that although such a map may be unrealistic given the complexities
of organisational change, critical guidance is possible and that through recognition and
robust analysis of key intelligence areas, managers can significantly enhance their change
leadership capabilities.
Steve Macaulay - Executive Development Consultant
John Dickson - Associate Praxis Centre, Cranfield School of Management
In 1939 Thomas Watson Senior said
“IBM… is an institution that will go on
forever”. Faced with constant change,
few managers today can feel so confident
about the future of their organisation,
or indeed of their capability to lead it in
changed circumstances.
Managers who previously were seen as
rock solid successes can founder when
faced with a challenging change agenda old wisdom and rules do not always work
sufficiently well, if at all, and timescales
can be tight. Managers may crave a
totally reliable compass to guide them
through the uncharted waters of change,
but they know this is unrealistic: change
is too complex and context-specific.
However, through our work with many
managers we have concluded that they
can be helped to take a robust approach
to change through the use of what we
call the leadership compass.
It can help managers to understand
themselves better and gives them a
clearer means to target strengths and
areas for development in a balanced way.
At an organisational level, the compass
can open up and channel discussion on
organisational needs and capabilities.
The four points of the compass are shown
in the diagram opposite.
Business Intelligence
- requires the manager to recognise
customer and market signals, to
understand the nuances of the industry
and the competition and translate this into
solid delivery.
Spiritual Intelligence
- underpins personal identity, values and
sense of direction beyond the role you are
asked to perform. It shows through in self-
The four
points of the
compass
Spiritual
Intelligence(SQ)
Purpose and meaning in life
Sense of self and identity
beyond the work role
Seeing interconnected wholes
rather than fragmented parts
Business
Intelligence (BQ)
Political
Intelligence (PQ)
Business expertise /
competence
Anticipating customer
demands
Organising and problem
solving
Recognising power and levers
of influence during change
Understand motivations and
aligning priorities
Emotional
Intelligence(EQ)
Self-awareness and selfdiscipline Confidence and
ability to build strong, trusting
relationships
confidence and openness to new ideas and
information.
Political Intelligence
- enables you to steer the organisation,
to overcome opposition, inertia or
resistance, and to influence groups and
opinion leaders diplomatically in the wider
environment.
Emotional Intelligence
- is the ability to work skilfully one-toone, displayed by successfully reading
others’ emotional states coupled with
self-awareness and control. It shows in
working in a trusting and skilled way at the
emotional and interpersonal level.
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Each of these four intelligencies can
invoke criticism. While few would argue
with the value of business insight and
understanding, business intelligence is
not timeless - managers can become too
steeped in industry knowledge and norms
so that they lose sight of new ideas or best
practice elsewhere. Spiritual intelligence
can be greeted with derision by some hardheaded managers who see this as ‘woolly
nonsense’, at a distance far removed from
the real world. Such critics risk failure
to deal with signs of dissatisfaction and
rootlessness which have their foundations
in people’s need to anchor their lives in a
wider purpose which can be threatened by
change at work.
Political intelligence is often characterised