Any time the military or an organization makes a major change, whether it's a new customer service plan, restructuring, downsizing, or in the case of this paper a new leader, it's the job of the leadership and management teams to communicate the new change effectively. "An organization will take on the personality of its top leader" (Phillips, pp 63-4). This famous quote by Abraham Lincoln is as true and accurate in today's organizations as it was over a hundred years ago. The leadership team must enlist the support and cooperation of the employees during these times. If senior leadership does not, both the policies and leadership styles that come with a new leader will inevitably create more turmoil than progress. In this paper the author will discuss and analyze how the entire leadership team (new leaders, senior leaders and middle management) should effectively communicate to the work staff when a new leader takes charge of an organization.
             The first actions take place before the new leader's first day. There is always a planning phase where senior management starts to target first line supervisors. This planning phase allows senior leaders the ability to communicate change directly. The planning phase is not self-propelling or even self-correcting. Its implementation and monitoring must be carefully planned, along with contingency actions for meeting foreseeable difficulties. Advanced planning for the arrival of a new leader does not always guarantee skillful execution of the plan, therefore; senior leadership must remain flexible with regards to the change in leadership (Gardner, pp 97). By having a plan and remaining flexible, leadership will be able to positively affect the rumor mill or grapevine, which take form in all organizations in one way or another.
             No matter how senior leadership tries to keep the secret of the up-coming change, information is always unknowingly leaked in one method or another. Un...