Leading Organizational Change
According to Socrates, the secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new. Last semester, my colleagues and I, created an innovation plan that would disrupt the current instructional model at my organization. This semester I have been focusing on "building the new" by reflecting on my why, creating a model to influence change, creating strategies to execute said change, and by learning and understanding how to be a self-differentiated leader in order to have the crucial conversations needed to implement the change I seek. Below you will find my entire Leading Organizational Change Model.
Start with our WHY.
When leading organizational change we need to capture their hearts by sharing our beliefs and purpose, our WHY (Sinek, 2009). According to Sinek (2009), people don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it.
After winning over their hearts, we then need to win over their minds by presenting a solid plan with HOW and WHAT we are trying to accomplish.
Click below to read more about my WHY, HOW, and WHAT of Blended Learning: Personalizing the Future of Education.
Influencer Model
After capturing their hearts with our WHY, we must use Grenny’s Three Keys to Influence in order to ensure that the change is real and lasting (2013). First, we must define our desired goal and establish clear measures. Then, we must identify the vital behaviors we wish to change. Lastly, we must engage all six sources of influence, personal motivation, personal ability, social motivation, social ability, structural motivation, and structural ability, in order to make a “learnable path to success” (Grenny, 2013).
Click below to read more about my Influencer Model which is the foundation to promoting and leading change in my organization.
The 4 Disciplines of Execution
It is not enough to have a vision, even a well intentioned one like our Innovation Plan: Blended Learning: Personalizing the Future of Education. We must also find the best way to execute our plan and bring about the change we seek within our organization.
The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) by McChesney, et al., provides a roadmap with a step by step proven strategy that can help execute my innovation plan.
To read more about my 4DX Strategy please click below.
Crucial Conversations
According to Patterson et al. (2012), when stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions start to run strong, casual conversations transform into crucial ones. As self-differentiated leaders and catalysts of change, my colleagues and I must be able to have crucial conversations with our administration and staff, without taking on the emotions and anxieties of the group. By using the 7 Principles to Master Crucial Conversations as a guide, we can participate in and master the conversations that will influence change in our organization.
References
Camp, J (2010, November 10). Friedman’s theory of differentiated leadership made simple. [YouTubeVideo] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgdcljNV-Ew
Grenny, J., Patterson, K., Maxfield, D., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2013). Influencer: The new science of leading change. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
McChesney, C., Covey, S., & Huling, J. (2016). The 4 disciplines of execution: Achieving your wildly important goals. Free Press.
Patterson, K., Granny,J., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2012). Crucial Conversation: tools for talking when stakes are high. New York: McGraw-Hill.