Effectiveness of leading change: The case of publicschools in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This research intends to explore the effectiveness of leadership as the primary driver oforganisational change management in Saudi public schools. Precisely, The Importanceof leadership in change management will be discussed in this study and also the preferredstyle of leadership in during the change. Besides, employees' expectations of their leaders. The results of this study show that effective leadership is essential in executing changeprocess. The leaders’ role plays the central position in the procedure of achieving the change. Also, form the leaders’ perspective, to achieve their change’s goals, they must own essential leadership skills, such as motive, the capacity to overcome resistance and communicate effectively. Furthermore, change in Saudi Arabia tends to use the transformational leadership style more than the transactional style. Besides, the employees of the education ministry predict communication and explanation at the very starting of change period, but the Ministry of Education did not show any communication between school leaders, administrators and educators. However, insist more on the training program and motivate school staff to equip them with new changes. For the recommendation, the Ministry of Education has to notify employees about purposed changes and the benefits of change earlier of implementation, to ensure that changes are made in a convenient and appropriate manner. Besides promoting a sense of communication and give the schools leader to see the most applicable educational changes to apply in his/her school. Leaders should have a particular skill, such as the capacity to overcome the employees fear, resisting or losing their job.