Critical Success Factors for Implementing Operational Leadership Change Programs in High-Risk Industries: Insights from the SUOL Initiative

Change management programs targeting operational leadership in high-risk industries face distinctive challenges due to safety-critical environments, high operational complexity and often, complex organisational structures. Despite the widespread use of leadership interventions following major incidents, there is limited empirical insight into how such initiatives are successfully implemented in practice. This paper describes the process from a triggering incident to the implementation phase of a subsequent change initiative in a major energy company, focusing on the antecedents and success criteria of the so-called Step-Up Operational Leadership (SUOL) program. SUOL represents one of the largest operational leadership initiatives undertaken in Scandinavia, and the implementation factors identified, offer transferable learning to comparable high-risk contexts. Using a triangulated analytical approach, four critical success factors emerged as instrumental for successful implementation: message clarity, organizational readiness, stakeholder management and top management commitment. Practical implications for designing and sustaining change initiatives are discussed, offering insights for practitioners seeking to improve safety and security culture through leadership transformation.

Keywords: Operational leadership, leadership development, change management, implementation, success factors, high-risk industries.