Developing change leaders: assessing the impact of a development programme

The literature on Change Management and Change Leadership recognise the significance of change as a core aspect of business which is enduring rather than transient (eg Beer and Nohria, 2000; Conner, 1999). However, relatively little research has been conducted in to the competencies required for effective Change Leadership, and even less about how these competencies might be developed (Higgs and Rowland, 2000a; 2000b).This paper examines the application of a process to develop Change Leadership within one organisation and the impact which this has had in business, organisational and individual competency terms.Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative research the authors have demonstrated that a development intervention has had a notable impact on all three areas. The lessons from this case are discussed along with proposals for further areas of future research