Leading the Change

In the context of the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), 'Leading the Change' is the foundational responsibility of Lean-Agile Leaders. It operates on the premise that organizational transformation fails when leadership delegates the change rather than owning it. Leaders must operate within the Lean-Agile Mindset to guide the organization through the complexity of adopting new ways of working. Drawing heavily from John Kotter’s 8-step model, Leading the Change involves specific actions. First, leaders must establish a 'sense of urgency,' clearly articulating why the status quo is a threat to the business’s survival in the digital age. They must then build a 'guiding coalition' of influential change agents to drive the vision forward. Crucially, leaders must model the desired behaviors—authenticity, emotional intelligence, and a commitment to lifelong learning. They cannot demand transparency or agility from teams if they remain opaque or rigid. This includes fostering psychological safety, where experimentation is encouraged and failure is viewed as a learning opportunity rather than a punishable offense. Furthermore, Leading the Change requires empowering broad-based action. Leaders must remove structural impediments that teams cannot resolve themselves, such as siloed departments or legacy compliance hurdles. By decentralizing decision-making and investing in training, they enable the workforce to execute the vision. Finally, leaders must anchor these new approaches in the corporate culture, ensuring that Lean-Agile values become the standard operating procedure rather than a temporary initiative. In the context of the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), 'Leading the Change' is the foundational responsibility of Lean-Agile Leaders. It operates on the premise that organizational transformation fails when leadership delegates the change rather than owning it. Leaders must operate within the Lean-Ag…