Abstract
As part of their responsibilities of leading the organisation, strategic leaders are responsible for leading change. This article investigated the application of the strategic leadership of change within the church context. A Straussian approach to the grounded theory method was used to generate a substantive grounded theory of organisational change and leadership, particularly focusing on the manifestation and management of organisation inertia in churches within South Africa that were transitioning from a programme based to a cell based church design. This article reported on one aspect of this study and focused on the patterns of leadership roles. It further distinguished between effective and ineffective leadership patterns that either enhanced or compromised the credibility of the leader and by implication, affected the success of the change intervention. The results of the study were discussed from the perspective of social capital theory, thereby contributing to understanding the role of strategic leaders in building social capital within the context of organisation change.
Highlights
IntroductionThe resource–based view of organisations focuses on the unique internal characteristics (such as strategic leadership) or ‘inner growth engines’ of an organisation that account for its success (Hoskisson, Hitt, Wan & Yiu 1999)
The resource–based view of organisations focuses on the unique internal characteristics or ‘inner growth engines’ of an organisation that account for its success (Hoskisson, Hitt, Wan & Yiu 1999)
This article has examined the way in which church leaders have tried to implement change and has focused on leadership activities and patterns of leadership, noting the effect of these on the leader’s credibility. It has provided insight into some of the social aspects related to leading change and alerts leaders to both the potential and challenge of mobilising an organisation’s social capital towards organisational purposes
Summary
The resource–based view of organisations focuses on the unique internal characteristics (such as strategic leadership) or ‘inner growth engines’ of an organisation that account for its success (Hoskisson, Hitt, Wan & Yiu 1999). According to Boal and Hooijberg (2000): strategic theories of leadership are concerned with leadership ‘of’ organizations ... Kinnear and Roodt (1998:44) refer to ‘the resistance of an organization to make transitions and its inability to quickly and effectively react to change’, as organisational inertia and argue that this term incorporates all related concepts describing lethargic responses of organisations to change. Pursuing the goals of this article generated a theory incorporating three areas: firstly, a generic, composite, descriptive account of the change process, secondly, the construction of the concept of a sense of community and leadership activities and patterns that were both engaged in the change process and simultaneously influenced various dimensions of the sense of community. This article focuses on the third area, the leadership patterns and activities
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