Every leader, by definition, is an agent of change. If you are just maintaining or running your group, you are a manager. Leadership implies change. Changing people isn’t easy, especially if you want to do it without coercion or authoritative power. How do you go about initiating change?

In this article we will learn about change leadership from Obi-Wan Kenobi and see observe how he influenced Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, A New Hope. Please take a few minutes and refresh your memory by viewing this classic scene:

Luke and Obi-Wan

For those of my readers that aren’t avid Star Wars fans, I’ll offer some brief background information. Luke is a rural farm boy, who is being raised by his Uncle Owen. His father is Anakin Skywalker, whom he believes to be dead. Luke is unaware that Anakin is alive and is now Darth Vader. Obi-Wan Kenobi is an old Jedi that has been hiding as a hermit for about 25 years. Until now, he has never revealed his true identity.

The power of change leadership

As many of you know, Jedi wield the power of the Force. Obi-Wan, in particular, is known for employing the Jedi Mind Trick. He could have used this power to make Luke think what he wanted him to think, but he didn’t. I wrote a different article about the Jedi Mind Trick, be sure to check it out here.

Instead, Obi-Wan employed change leadership techniques, often referred to as Organizational Change Management. The good news for you and me is that we can use these same techniques, with or without the Force.

Identity is at the core of change

Luke believed his father was not a Jedi, but just a common navigator on a spice freighter. Obi-Wan revealed that Luke’s father was an accomplished Jedi with Obi-Wan, but Luke’s Uncle Owen hid it from Luke because he didn’t share his ideals. Obi-Wan wasn’t completely transparent to Luke about what happened to his father.

Obi-Wan facilitated Luke’s change from being a farm boy to becoming a Jedi, by changing his identity association from his Uncle Owen to his true father, the good Jedi, Anakin Skywalker. Obi-Wan hid the fact that Anakin became Darth Vader because that would hinder Luke’s identity transformation. Of course, Luke had to face that identity dilemma later. At this stage Obi-Wan’s tactic to disassociate Luke with Uncle Owen was useful.

Worldview is at the core of change

Obi-Wan gave Luke’s father’s lightsaber to Luke. Again, Obi-Wan reinforced that Uncle Owen wouldn’t allow it for fear that he would run off on an idealistic crusade. Obi-Wan explained that a lightsaber is elegant and civilized as opposed to a blaster that is clumsy and random. Jedi were the guardians of peace for 1000 generations.

Obi-Wan explained the Force to Luke, and in that he facilitated Luke’s change by opening his eyes to a larger worldview that includes lightsabers and the Force. He explained the rich history of the galaxy and gave context to the current dark times under the Empire.

Crisis is at the core of change

Through R2-D2’s recorded message, Princess Leia pled Obi-Wan for help. “You are my only hope.” After a long pause, Obi-Wan concluded that Luke must join him on his quest to help Princess Leia. “I’m getting too old for this sort of thing.” Then Luke resisted: “There’s nothing I can do about it right now.” “I’m late.” Obi-Wan responded: “That’s your Uncle talking.” “Learn to use the Force!” Obi-Wan changed from being an old hermit to becoming an active Jedi from the urgent plea of Princess Leia. The urgency and desperation mustered a duty and loyalty to respond.

Obi-Wan and Princess Leia’s crisis wasn’t quite enough for Luke yet. When Luke returned home, he saw that his childhood home has been burned down and his Aunt and Uncle had been killed by the Empire. Now, the crisis was personal, and his transformation was complete.

Now it’s your turn

While it’s fun to analyze this scene from Star Wars, these are very practical techniques you can put into practice in your own leadership. Follow the same formula using identity, worldview, and crisis.

• Leaders need to decouple people from old, unhealthy identities, and help them affiliate to their new, transformed identities before they can change.
• Leaders need to address followers’ worldviews and bring larger context to what needs to change and identify new sources of power to make the change.
• Finally, good people can get set in their ways, and need a leader to identify a compelling crisis that affects them personally before they can become willing to change.

Address each of these, and like Obi-Wan, you will effectively lead your team to transform and embrace change.

In the real world

There is a change going on within my team that I am leading right now. It’s not unique to CHS. If you are in a similar role to me, you might be going through it too. We are embracing advanced cloud technology. My leadership team and I are applying these principles to this change effort.

Starting with identity, we are changing team names, job titles, and mindsets. Team members need to let go of their old identities as traditional infrastructure engineers and embrace new identities as DevOps cloud engineers.

With worldview, we’ve confronted a waning, but still present ideology of the cloud skeptic, and are slowly making converts to cloud enthusiasts. I went on this journey myself, so I know the path well.

With crisis, we can pull on many threads such as competitive advantage, aging infrastructure, and professional relevance in the labor marketplace. These work together to make the change compelling and personal.

Those are my change leadership lessons from Obi-Wan Kenobi. Love Star Wars and like my article? Please share it with your colleagues.

This article was adapted and expanded from my original post on February 10, 2017.

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