The relationship that exists between leadership, strategic planning, and change management.

Change Management

Change management is the systematic approach and application of knowledge, tools, and resources to deal with change in organizations. Its purpose is to ensure that organizational changes are implemented smoothly and successfully, by helping affected individuals to understand, commit to, and adopt new ways of working (Prosci, 2017). Change management is less about the technical aspects of the change (e.g., installing new software) and more about the people side of change (e.g., training employees, addressing resistance, communicating benefits). When my former company merged with a smaller competitor, the change management team focused heavily on integrating the two corporate cultures, rather than just merging the financial systems, recognizing that cultural adoption was the key to preventing talent flight.

The Interdependent Relationship

The relationship between these three elements is hierarchical and iterative, forming a continuous cycle of vision, design, and execution.

Sample Answer

The Interconnected Triad: Leadership, Strategic Planning, and Change Management

The success of any modern organization relies on the cohesive relationship among leadership, strategic planning, and change management. These three concepts are not isolated functions but rather an interconnected triad, where leadership sets the vision (strategic planning) and manages the transition required to achieve it (change management). When aligned, they create a powerful engine for organizational development and resilience; when disjointed, even the best strategies fail to take root.