6. Conclusion
6.1. Theoretical and practical contributions
This article has explored and examined the question of how and under what conditions leaders, as change agents, can balance or combine autonomy and power in leading organizational change. The empirical evidence obtained to provide new insights regarding this question was gathered from semi-structured interviews conducted with a select group of “successful” change agents who had been active in discussions about organizational change and leading change.
The findings from the field study tell a simple story. The story is one that pictures change agents as trying to pursue autonomy and power simultaneously in leading change. Within this short story, however, there is a fundamental leadership dilemma. The change agents needed both autonomy and power. Each was essential to the other, but each could also be the enemy of the other. This finding introduced critical but underexplored dilemmas associated with balancing autonomy and power.
