Leadership effectiveness for managing change: the role of emotions

Organizations in every sector of the workforce are faced with mounting pressure to change. Individuals and organizations alike must learn how to adapt and change in order to sustain their competitive advantage in an increasingly diverse world. For many people, learning to change is an anxiety provoking process that becomes a debilitating fear. The increasing rate of change in market competition and substitution is a norm today. However, how leaders manage the change still seems to be a challenge. Scholars and leaders alike have for long acknowledged intellectually the importance for transformation. However, fewer studies have been conducted regarding the effective management of change. Change can be exciting and stimulating in an organization, but it is often met with fear and resistance. This paper focuses on the impact of employees’ emotions on organizational change following a qualitative methodological approach through critical literature review of the role of emotions during change and the significance of emotional intelligence in leading effective change. The research posits that regardless of the quality of the change plan a leader might have, if the team he relies on to carry that change isn’t committed to do so, then the plan could meet its demise.