As the financial year draws rapidly to a close we find ourselves in the middle of a number of exciting projects with the likes of Qantas, Australia Post, Axa, National Australia Bank and Rabobank. A common theme in each case involves the need to equip leaders with the skills to address the challenges their organisations face during major change.

At Qantas, for example, we continue to work across the business as leaders acquire the skills and confidence to engage their people in meeting the challenges of remaining profitable in one of the world’s toughest industries. We are also at the forefront of change in helping the Jetstar leadership team anticipate and manage the impact of international operations on the remainder of the Jetstar business.

In fact, we are witnessing an increased interest in developing change leadership capabilities from a diverse range of organisations. Many, from both the public and private sectors, are seeking our assistance as they deal with a variety of issues that affect their organisations, departments and teams. Most recently we were awarded the contract to design and deliver change leadership programs at middle to senior leadership levels for a well known global insurance company.

Over the past twelve months we have observed a consistent demand for effective leadership at all levels to support, or respond to, the impact of major change. Our experience supports the research that effective change management requires effective leadership behaviours. The ability to communicate a clear direction and provide regular feedback and coaching remains a key enabler for achieving successful change. The Transformational – Transactional leadership framework (Bass & Avolio, 1993) continues to provide a simple yet robust way to view the challenges that leaders face during difficult times. As John Kotter (1996) would attest to, ‘most change is well managed but poorly led’. Our focus in the last twelve months has been providing leaders with the skills and confidence to enhance their personal leadership impact.

We are also continuing to provide a contribution to the leadership and change debate with two more speaking engagements at the ChangeComms2006 conference in Sydney on the 31st of May and the Public Sector Leadership Development 2006 conference in Canberra on the 5th of July. Regular feedback from our clients continues to reinforce our position as a niche provider of change leadership capability at the middle to senior leadership levels.