A DUALITIES APPROACH TO SUSTAINABLE ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE LEADERSHIP

Aaron C.T. Smith, James Skinner, Daniel Read

Research output: A Conference proceeding or a Chapter in BookChapterpeer-review

Abstract

This chapter argues that in an era of unprecedented environmental turbulence and uncertainty, there is no longer space for standard leadership approaches. Further, top-down leadership control in the age of sustainability is unworkable because it fails to appreciate that change occurs naturally and is intimately entwined with continuity. In a time when organizations must be capable of adapting to immense competition while maintaining new levels of environmental and ethical performance, change leadership must assume a new form. The chapter proposes that the change–continuity continuum moderates organizational performance. The ability to exploit and explore simultaneously comes at the price of new leadership dynamics. Sustainable leadership means accepting that organizational change has shifted in its focus and deployment. Successful change no longer equates with fast change. Sustainable leadership for change demands accepting a worldview where either/or choices such as flexibility or control are misleading. Change and continuity do not exist as opposite sides of the leadership see-saw but co-exist as dualities that can sit side-by-side without compromising one another.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationOrganizational Change, Leadership And Ethics
Subtitle of host publicationLeading Organizations Towards Sustainability, 2nd Edition
EditorsRune Todnem, Bernard Burnes, Mark Hughes
Place of PublicationUnited Kingdom
PublisherRoutledge
Chapter13
Pages233-250
Number of pages18
Edition2
ISBN (Electronic)9781000776164
ISBN (Print)9780367477493
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2023
Externally publishedYes

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