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Key Features of the
Transformational Change at Unilever |
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Transformation of
corporate
culture
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Passionate, emotionally charged
corporate leaders
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Tremendous clarity throughout the organization about what is being
done and why
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Need for Radical Change
When team members at Unilever began to design a
new leadership
development initiative for
top managers,
they knew that the global company needed something to help it become a
more
enterprising and competitive
industry leader.
So, they proposed to fundamentally change
leadership behaviors and create an entirely new, enterprising
corporate culture. The
process called on leaders to rethink everything from their personal dreams
to their visions for
their business and how to execute
leadership.
Why Change Fails: 8 Common Errors
New Culture, New Leadership
Mindset
"As we launched into our growth strategy, I
realized that I didn't feel right: something was missing," says Antony
Burgmans, Co-chairman of Unilever. "We were doing all the right things: a
new, focused
strategy;
shareholder support; a new organization structure; and good people in place.
But something was wrong – the critical piece was missing. What I saw was
that even though we had an excellent
change
strategy, and an inspiring vision, what was really required to bring
about change at Uniliver was a new
culture, a new leadership mindset, and
new
behaviors."
Leadership
vs. Management
The Power of Passion
"Our leaders have done every kind of
strategic planning in
the book, facilitated by the best business school professors and management
gurus. They don't need another strategy,
and the last thing they need is another stakeholder analysis! What the
company's leaders need most is to become
emotionally engaged with their own
passion
and their
dreams
– with each other and with the strategy," said a top manager of Unilever
when the
corporate
transformation team began to design a program to help the company become
more
enterprising and competitive
industry
leader. |
