Critical Vulnerability in Leadership as a Key Factor in Successful Change Management Communication
Authors: Savelev Igor , Saveleva Natalia 
Published: October 2024

This research explores the relationship between the discovered phenomenon of critical vulnerability in leadership during organizational change and its successful outcome. The phenomenon under study is fundamentally distinguished from vulnerable leadership, which is covered in literature as a deliberate tactic leaders use to improve interpersonal relationships and performance. This study concentrates on challenging and uncontrollable leader vulnerability manifested as a decline in the authority and influence of the leader among stakeholders. The main reason for the observed critical leader vulnerability is hypothesized to be the gap in leadership mindset levels between the leader and stakeholders at the onset of the organizational change. It is also hypothesized that the change communication of an authentic leader, predetermined by a high level of leadership mindset, triggers the leader's vulnerability and, at the same time, paradoxically contributes to the evolution of stakeholders' leadership mindset. This, in turn, is a prerequisite for achieving remarkable prosocial results. Relying on the described assumptions, we executed preliminary research, aiming to identify the change communication patterns of leaders in the state of vulnerability (hereinafter referred to as "vulnerable change communication") and to explore how they catalyze the stakeholder mindset evolution. The final sample group involved 9 top managers who faced vulnerability while leading the change process and made significant contributions to the development of their organizations. The research methodology relied on qualitative methods—in-depth interviews on which narrative and thematic analysis was based. Leaders were asked questions to discover goals of change, the presence of periods of vulnerability, the causes and consequences of its occurrence, their communication patterns, and results achieved. The obtained data were analyzed by applying recognized frameworks such as the Michigan Model of Leadership with its Competing Values Framework (CVF), the Approach of Management of Organizational Change Paradoxes, Programmed and Adaptive Approaches to Change, and Stakeholder Communication Model of Change. The present study has taken the first steps towards confirming the existence of an unambiguous connection between certain patterns of leadership change communication, embracing vulnerability by leaders, and remarkable prosocial outcomes. We found that change communication strategy based on embracing personal vulnerability and a high level of leadership mindset characterized by a value-based position, commitment to outstanding prosocial results, and synthetic decision-making ensures the leader the following: 1) Construction of Shared Leadership. The leader creates an organizational culture that transforms stakeholder resistance based on self and group interests into the evolution of a stakeholder leadership mindset and consolidation of the company. The formula for combining the best of both programmed and adaptive approaches to change includes preserving the integrity of the vision and managing meaning and outcome on the one hand, and supporting the strategy by the deployment of communication and bottom-up initiative on the other. 2) Managing Organizational Change Paradoxes. The leader addresses institutional contradictions and stakeholder divergent interests that naturally arise during the change process and creates the basis for subsequent institutionalization on a much stronger and healthier foundation. The paradoxical effect of a leader's personal vulnerability on organizational vulnerability is that the leader helps to reduce the organization's risks by taking them on themselves. Further exploration of the phenomenon of vulnerability will allow us to consider the inclusion of this component in the framework of change management models, to identify vulnerable leaders, specify the vulnerable communication model of change, and develop a list of recommendations for leaders to more consciously navigate the difficult stage of vulnerability as a systemic and inevitable attribute of achieving remarkable prosocial results.