As September shifts into Fall (although it doesn’t feel much like it in Houston), it’s not just the seasons that are changing. As the Fall semester picks up, student organizations are beginning their work in earnest, with new leaders taking the helm of honoraries, fraternities, clubs, and other student organizations. Meanwhile, in the business world the final quarter often means reorganization or new leadership appointments in advance of a new fiscal year.
As new leaders step into new positions, many feel the urge to change everything at once, to “shake things up” or “rock the boat” in order to set a new organization for the group or organization. This instinct makes sense; creating and sharing a vision for people to rally around is a core part of leadership. However, we’ve all seen how this can backfire. You’re probably already thinking of someone who matches this description, either from your own experience or from pop culture. The “new boss who changes everything and messes it all up” is a trope for a reason, from Dilbert strips to sitcoms like The Office and its new sequel, The Paper.
However, our cultural narratives around change leadership aren’t all bad. Indeed, there is a great deal of praise for disruptive leaders, the “new blood” who break the molds, defy the status quo, and jolt organizations out of stagnation. However, that disruption isn’t always a good idea. Rocking the boat can make people seasick—or even tip it over. At its worst, disruption can harm both the organization and the people inside it.
There are absolutely times when a new leader needs to take a disruptive approach to change. However, especially for leaders new to a role, effective change often looks less like upheaval and more like working within organizational norms, i.e.,“playing by the rules” while still driving change. That doesn’t mean settling for stagnation; it means setting aside the myth of overnight, “heroic” transformation in favor of more realistic, gradual change.
That kind of leadership may be less “sexy,” less “heroic,” and less appealing to our individualistic images of leadership. You don’t get to be the star of the story if you’re playing by the rules. Yet leaders who take this approach are just as vital as those who come in to tear everything down. Not everyone gets the chance to rebuild from ashes—but every leader has the opportunity to make constructive change within the systems they inherit.
Change is rarely short-term, isolated, or predictable. Change always has unanticipated consequences and second-order effects, and these won’t all be positive. Effective leadership requires being capable of anticipating what can be anticipated and knowing that there will be outcomes and consequences that can’t be anticipated. One of the most effective ways leaders can do this is by practicing systems thinking—taking a step back and looking at an organization holistically, seeing how all the components and individuals relate to and affect each other, and thus understanding how change is likely to affect not only its immediate space, but also the broader organization (2).
Taking a broader, system-focused perspective allows leaders to foresee the potential ripple effects of any decision, and by doing so, understand the true potential impact that disruptive change can create, from provoking backlash to alienating allies to creating a less-trusting, less-stable organizational environment. The long-term consequences of disruption can quickly outweigh the short-term benefits, leading to long-term organizational dissatisfaction or even harm.
This is not to say that disruption is never necessary. Sometimes a good leader does have to “shake things up.” However, given that leadership is about accomplishing long-term goals, effective leadership is more likely to involve commitment to incremental, strategic processes that work within organizational norms, rather than the upheaval that results from defying them.
So, as we look for opportunities to lead within our own lives, it can be tempting to look for opportunities to disrupt; to defy conventional wisdom, challenge norms, rebel against tradition; to be the leader who is courageous enough to rock the boat. And, to be fair, sometimes we might be called to be that kind of leader.
However, more commonly effective leadership will mean taking a steady, thoughtful, systems-based approach that anticipates potential consequences to our actions and acknowledges that change will have unforeseen effects. Leading in such a way might not be especially “sexy” or heroic, but it will be more impactful, because it will create change that endures, producing stronger, more resilient organizations, and, through this, realizing sustainable success (1). And that is leadership worth celebrating.
Effective leadership during times of transition begins with humility. Before rushing to make sweeping changes, strong leaders take time to learn the context they’ve stepped into and the systems already in place (3). They recognize that every change has ripple effects, many of which can’t be fully anticipated, so disruption is treated as a last resort rather than a first instinct.
Sustainable leadership is about committing to the long term—pursuing steady, systemic change that strengthens organizations instead of chasing flashy quick wins. And at its core, leadership is collective. It isn’t about the leader’s ego or personal spotlight but about advancing the group’s shared goals and ensuring progress that endures. This is the heart of effective change leadership: not chasing applause through dramatic disruption but guiding people and organizations through transitions in ways that make them stronger, more resilient, and more sustainable.
References
1. Dumas, C., & Beinecke, R. H. (2018). Change leadership in the 21st century. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 31(4), 867–876. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-02-2017-0042
2. Riggio, R. E., & Newstead, T. (2023). Crisis Leadership. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 10(Volume 10, 2023), 201–224. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-120920-044838
3. Wu, Y. L., Shao, B., Newman, A., & Schwarz, G. (2021). Crisis leadership: A review and future research agenda. The Leadership Quarterly, 32(6), 101518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2021.101518