cameron and green making-sense-of-change-management

The underpinning theoryThe interconnections are hard to achieve in reality. We have observedthe following obstacles to achieving smooth interconnection between thedifferent roles:• Executive leaders are busy, hard-to-get-hold-of people who canbecome quite disconnected from their local line leaders.• Executive leaders and local line leaders rarely meet face to face andcommunicate by e-mail, if at all.• Network leaders, such as internal consultants or process facilitators,are often diverted from their leadership roles by requests either toperform expert tasks or to implement HR-led initiatives.• Network leaders may be busy and effective, but are usually undervaluedas leaders of change. They often have to battle to get recognizedas important players in the organization.Senge’s model recognizes the need for all three types of leader, and theneed for connectivity between different parts of the organization ifchange is desired.O’Neill: four key roles for successful changeMary Beth O’Neill (2000) agrees with Senge’s idea of communities of leaders,and identifies four specific leadership roles necessary for successful andsustained change efforts in organizations. She uses Daryl Conner’s work onfamily therapy as her model for the change process, and identifies theimportant roles as sponsor, implementer, advocate and agent. See Table 4.4.SponsorThe sponsor has the authority to make thechange happen. He or she legitimizes andsanctions the change, and has line authorityover the people who will implement thechange and control of resources – such as time,money and people. There are also sustainingsponsors who are responsible for sponsoringchange in their own area.156