This morning, Australians are waking up to yet another change in our country’s leadership. Having succeeded in his bid to become Australia’s next Prime Minister, what questions should Malcolm Turnbull and his new Government be asking itself going forward? Perhaps surprisingly, the lessons for new leaders (or newly appointed heads of organisations) might not be that different.

What can and what can’t we do?

Political parties, like all organisations, are about more than just the leader. Views on change will differ and there may be some resistance. In moving forward, leaders must be able to analyse and understand their strategic disadvantages.

What are people thinking and why?

Change can make people nervous, whether it be in the form of a new Prime Minister or potential redundancies in a workplace. Leaders must communicate, often to the point of boredom, to ensure they understand and are understood by others.

Where do we need to go?

Just as when a political party replaces its leader, when an organisation changes its management, there will be questions about its future direction. A clear and well-planned vision of that direction is essential to success.

How will this affect how people interact with each other and us? 

Champions of change must ensure they know their stakeholders inside and out so they can manage the effect of change on internal and external interactions.

It’s clear that these questions are not peculiar to politics. Rather, they are the questions that confront any organisation attempting to implement change, and those that will be fleshed out by our expert panel on 12 November 2015 at the annual PCS Hypothetical.