Leading and coping with change

Abstract

Change process models, developed in the tradition of Lewin, tend to emphasize people as resisting change, portray leading and coping with change as discrete entities, and reify the organization. In contrast, this article reports on findings from two descriptive surveys examining leading and coping processes. Attitudes, opinions and organizational practices were investigated to identify and describe variability in change in financial service institutions in the City of London as led by top managers and as experienced by employees. A ‘leading and coping with change’ framework that emphasizes the social process dynamics of change is developed which managers can utilise as a conceptual tool to guide action. This is built around the finding that change leaders are themselves part of the process, and that the judgmental and cognitive processes which employees engage in, in their relationship with those leading change, is crucial.