The Leadership Skills That Make Transformation Stick

"All right Alison, it is quiz time. What percent of attempted transformations at organizations fail? ... It's actually worse. 70 percent or more than two thirds fail or at least fall short of their intended goals."

"Look, it's of course about poor execution, but a lot of it can be understood to the lens of behavioral science as opposed to pure strategic discipline. So it's understanding what it means to have true alignment, to have agency, and to understand the emotional issues that are involved in a big transformation."

"Leading a transformation involves humans who are grappling with how to make decisions, how to be persuasive, how to test their biases and so on. So yeah, very human things that can make or break a successful transformation."

"We actually mean one of two things. Either they fail to return value to s"

Most organizational transformation efforts fail to deliver intended value or do not achieve their goals. Failure is often linked to execution problems, but behavioral science explains additional causes beyond strategic discipline. Successful transformation requires true alignment, agency, and attention to emotional issues that arise during major change. Leaders must manage human decision-making, persuasion, and bias testing, because these behavioral factors can make or break outcomes. People skills are therefore critical for leaders overseeing transformation, since transformation involves individuals grappling with how to decide, influence others, and respond to internal and external pressures. Behavioral principles can guide how change efforts are designed and implemented.

Read at Harvard Business Review