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It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.

There’s one thing we can all be certain of. Change. It happens whether we want it to or not.

And today – thanks to technological progress and our increasingly connected and globalised society – it happens with increasing regularity.

Leaders who fail to respond and adapt to change risk their organisation falling behind and becoming irrelevant.

Here are five things you need to know to lead strategic change.

1. Most change initiatives fail

Despite the growing awareness and understanding of the need for leadership in strategic change, and its importance to the future success and survival of organisations, most transformation programmes fail.

According research from change management authority, , around 70% of change initiatives fail outright or are heavily compromised. Normally because of implementation difficulties.

2. Leading change requires ‘do-ers’ not just thinkers

Why do most efforts to transform fall down at the implementation phase?

Because, despite the ‘roll-out’ of change programmes being notoriously difficult, scant regard is paid to how they should be carried out.

Real change leaders tackle resistance to change head on. They’re hands-on and empower teams to implement the solutions they develop.

3. Transformation is as much about psychology as it is operations

Even today, many strategic change leaders fail to fully appreciate the role of psychology in change. To change a process, you have to appreciate the views and mindsets of the people responsible for making it work (or not).

Research from suggests half of all failed transformations occur because leaders fail to act as role models for new approaches. Either that or they’re not able to overcome colleagues’ defence of the status quo.

Establishing how the current ‘the way we do things around here’ organisational mentality came to be, who drove it, and why it became established, is essential for any change process.

Leaders who develop an understanding of this at the start of the process are four times more likely to affect lasting change.

4. Effective strategic change leaders are rare

There is now widespread recognition of strategic change leadership’s importance in organisational success.

Yet it remains widely avoided. Why? Because our in-built aversion to change means we too often shy away from becoming the ones to enact it.

5. Strategic change leaders are in demand

Those with real experience of navigating strategic change are rare and highly-valued in the leadership world.

According to a recent survey by the , leading change is the capability most desired by board members when searching for senior leaders.

Professor John Amis is Chair in Strategic Management and Organisation.

He will host an advanced two-day ‘Leading Strategic Change’ masterclass featuring practical exercises and the latest theoretical developments on 26-27 November 2015.