Organizational transformation as a function of CEOs' developmental stage

Organizational Transformation as a Function of CEOs' Developmental Stage by David Rooke and William R. Torbert Introduction In this paper, we discuss what appears to be one critical variable in successful organizational transformation toward becoming a learning organization: the ego development stage of the CEO and his or her senior advisers. During the past decade, the two authors (along with two other consulting colleagues) have participated in, and studied, ten longitudinal organizational development efforts, spending an average of 4.2 years associated with each organization. In retrospect, we realized that in seven of the ten cases the organizations prospered significantly during our association with them, success-fully undergoing no less than 18 developmental transformations and becoming unique industry leaders. On the other hand, despite our best efforts, three of the ten organizations did not progress developmentally and lost personnel, industry standing, and money.

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