I often hear people use “change management” and “change leadership” in ways that suggest the speaker thinks of these terms as interchangeable. At a time when change has become a regular challenge for businesses, knowing the difference between these terms is not just semantics.

Change, poorly managed, can quickly manifest as demoralization and disengagementDuring times of disruption, change leadership supports employee engagement programs. among employees. In contrast, when channeled and motivated by leadership vision and example, change has the effect of strengthening morale and energizing employees.

The distinction between the two is quite significant.

Change leadership applies itself to the vision and driving forces that impel and fuel transformation. Change management is informed by big-picture thinking, and by having a strong sense of mission and purpose, and clearly-defined goals.

Change management is focused on keeping change efforts under control. It relies on having solid tools and structures in place to minimize the disruptions and distractions of change.

When a company undertakes an expansion – especially when such expansion involves employee relocation services – having both change leadership and change management practices in place are critical to the long-term success of the project.

Look around you – lots of people talk about change leadership, but very few actually do it. Or really understand how to do it.

That’s because companies become bogged down in change management – and forget about change leadership.

They become so overwhelmed with trying to control the process, that they forget why they’re engaged in the process in the first place.

In employee relocation, for example, it’s surprising to discover that some companies undertake relocation without having any clearly-defined framework for either the relocation project, or for the relocating employees. The result?

Over-stressed, unfocused personnel.  Distracted and disengaged employees. Loss of productivity and loss of revenue.

A well-designed relocation policy is crucial to supporting the leadership goals of any organization engaged in transformative change. Such a plan allows you to make sure changes take place efficiently, on-budget, on schedule, under control, and with a minimum of disruption to all concerned. Your corporate relocation policy design should help you achieve your goals; not undermine them.

We are in an era when we can count on disruptive influences to force businesses to constantly rethink and reevaluate their course. Leading for change allows you to be faster and more agile than the competition when windows of opportunity present themselves.  Leading for change allows you to make the bold leaps associated with those windows. And leading for change also allows you a greater chance to avoid the hazards associated with seizing opportunity.

Of course, you need to have appropriately skilled and experienced personnel to manage this kind of change leadership. Larger companies may already have experienced people in place. Smaller companies may want to consider outsourcing to fill personnel gaps.

It’s important to be honest during this process. Make a frank evaluation of your employee capabilities. Then delegate or outsource appropriately to strengthen your capabilities. Doing so helps all your employees affected by change to be empowered, motivated, engaged, and focused.

And isn’t empowering, motivating, engaging, and focusing, exactly what leadership is about?