Most Leaders Fail at Change for One Simple Reason

A reflection from Leading in a Time of Change: What It Will Take to Lead Tomorrow by Peter F. Drucker

This is part of the "Meller Highlights" series with reflections from my personal book highlights.

One thing I’ve been trying to do every day is to pick one idea from my reading and think about how to actually apply it.

Not just understand it in theory, but find a way to live it a little.

Today’s highlight: Leading in a Time of Change: What It Will Take to Lead Tomorrow by Peter F. Drucker

“Every organization will have to become a change leader. You can’t manage change. You can only be ahead of it. You can only meet it.”

Most of us are taught that a good leader always has a plan. That leadership means staying in control and managing things carefully.

But Drucker turns that idea around. Thanks Drucker…

He says you cannot really manage change. You can only be ready for it.

You can only meet it when it shows up.

That’s hard to accept.

We like to feel prepared. We like to plan. But if you’ve worked in any company long enough, you know this already. Plans change. Projects shift.

Something always comes up that no one saw coming.

Trying to control every part of change usually leads to one thing: waiting.

Waiting for more information. Waiting for the right moment. Waiting for someone else to say go.

And while you wait, everything moves without you.

Good leadership is not about avoiding change.
Good leadership is about getting ahead of it.

Not with a perfect strategy, but with a mindset that expects change and is ready to respond fast.

You see this in strong teams.

When something unexpected happens, they talk about it early. They adjust quickly. They don’t freeze.

The leaders in those teams don’t act like they know everything. But they do help people move.

That’s the part many leaders miss.

When you try too hard to control change, you slow everyone down.

You create a culture where people wait for permission instead of thinking for themselves. And that kills momentum.

Leading change means asking better questions.

What are we seeing?
What might come next?
How do we start now, even if we’re not sure?

It also means making space for people to speak up and take action, not just follow instructions.

The truth is, there’s no steady ground. Not anymore. And maybe there never was.

So the leaders who do well are the ones who stop waiting for stability.

They act when things are still unclear.

They support others without trying to pretend everything is fine.

So think about this. What are you waiting for right now?

Is there something you already know needs to shift, but you’re hoping it’ll sort itself out?

What would it look like to stop waiting and start meeting the change where it already is?

This is your daily tip, inspired by one of my highlights from Leading in a Time of Change by Peter F. Drucker.

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This is a free and open article, so I want to check… Was this reading worth a cup of coffee?

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