The 7th Global Indonesian Network Sharing Dialogue – The Art of Change Leadership

The 7th Global Indonesian Network (GI-Net) , the platform for the academia and practitioners, was held under the theme the Art of Change Leadership in Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, 18^th December 2012. Change is inevitable in any organization and it is in the central role of the leader of the organization. Dr. Hana Panggabean, Director of the School of Postgraduate Programs Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, discussed the leaders’ personal approach to effectively manage change, based on the results of interviews with 20 business leaders in Indonesia. She argued that leadership style was not free from the influence of culture. Indonesian culture places great emphasis on hierarchical level, the distance between the leaders and their subordinates is high. A good leader in Indonesia is one who has the “Bapakism” (fatherly) attributes and attitudes that show attention, care and consideration to his/her subordinates.

She continued further that, the process of change management started with a desire to learn new things from the leader. This is a challenge because people who are already successful in established positions usually tend to be reluctant to learn. The next step is how leaders communicate changes in a way that can be accepted by all employees. The leaders’ interpersonal skill is also important to deal with issues in organizational change. Leaders need to take the time to get to know their employees’ needs. The change leadership requires leaders to become role models, and mentors who provide support and recognition.

The study of Dr. Hana then was discussed further by Mr. Prodjo Sunarjanto CEO of PT Adi Sarana Armada Tbk. (ASSA Rent) by sharing his experience in having successfully brought the company to achieve IPO in 2 years. He started his early career at the bottom and experienced a lot of change management practices in several different companies. In general, as a line manager to be able to implement changes, the first step that needs to be done is to convince the top leaders and choose the team leader to motivate other employees. He gave some important insights on how to be effective change leaders: they must be firm and clear in providing direction and willing to share knowledge in order to create other leader. 

Discussion of the participants who are leaders of the company, operational managers, HR professionals, as well as the academic community also ran well. Issues that often arise is how to manage a family business professionally and how to manage resistance to change of senior employees in the organization.

About Poster

Global Indonesian Network – who has written 31 posts on Global Indonesian Network.

---