I always find it interesting to go back and revisit my writings from time to time.  I was particularly interested in revisiting my writing on my leadership style and seeing if it had changed much since the beginning of this course two months ago.  The short and dirty answer to the question of “have your views changed” is; not much and yet at the same time, so much. A single blog post could not do justice to cover it all.  

When I went back to my original post for this course,  I found that I had focused on the importance of reflection.  To do this properly, I expressed the importance of the leader’s role of understanding their “why” and how that would help guide them as a leader. “As I started to unpack all of this I started to find a theme. Reflection. If I am to discover what my WHY is, if I am to connect with my team, I will have to embrace a reflective leadership style” (Flinn, 2019).  Here I am, eight weeks later, and I am standing by that sentiment. By understanding the guiding principle of why I am leading, I am setting a beacon for my team to follow, a mission to embrace, and a vision to align their own too.

While it is essential to have an understanding of what drives you as a leader I have learned that it is just as important to have the proper tools in place to help lead or drive change when necessary. I am finding that understanding the why of change is just the beginning.

So you have your “why” now what?

There inevitably comes a time in every leader’s life where a  change becomes necessary. The challenge of change is how do we as leaders help guide our organization through the change that may be necessary to grow the business or push the enterprise forward?  We must find out how we can have our employees buy into the new changes. We must put on the proverbial hat of a change leader as Al-Haddad and Kotner (2015) state, “change leaders are people with creative visions,  They need to understand how their employees perceive change and have them buy in” (p.239). As in any and every healthy relationship, communication is a crucial element. Before implementing a change some questions need to be asked.  How are you going to communicate to your employees the reasons for the change? How are you going to open up a feedback loop that allows your employees to communicate with you their concerns, ideas, and questions regarding the change?  

Why reinvent the wheel?

When it comes to developing a plan for change Al-Haddad and Kotner (2015), give a plethora of examples for different models of change methods.  Instead of trying to come up with a whole new plan on how to implement change on our own, there have been many models on how change can be implemented. These models had been tried and tested, and each has its particular strengths and weaknesses; yet at the very least with some research, a model could be a good fit for the particular context it is needed. Al-Haddad and Kotner (2015), however, caution that a model must not be followed too strictly as, “change methods need to be continuously evolving to align with the environmental factors” (p.235).

What’s your problem man?

How often are we trying to put bandaids on gunshot wounds?  

Often when we are implementing a change in our organizations, we are addressing what we think a problem or issue is.  As President John F. Kennedy, paraphrasing GK Chesterton, said, “Don’t ever take a fence down until you know the reason it was put up.”  If we are proposing a significant change that may require the dismantling or at the very least a shake-up of the incumbent system, a full-scale investigation may be in order.  It may be that the problem that is being addressed is the symptom of a broader issue. How well do I understand the problem? Conway, Masters, and Thorold (2017) proposed running through a systems analysis to understand the problem before trying to accomplish a solution fully (p.22).  

I wonder how many times the barriers that I have encountered in planning for change could have been identified and mitigated had a proper analysis of the real problem been carried out?

Take me home country roads.

So with all these new insights, what does my learning in this course mean in practical terms?  As I progress through my career and become more involved at a higher level in my institution, I am finding that I am becoming more involved in change.  Recently I have become part of the open learning group, and an entrepreneurship strategy committee at the school where I teach. I see that I may have many opportunities to be involved in some significant changes in the future. As a fan of Simon Sinek’s book and philosophy of “Start with Why” (2009), I have spent much time reflecting on what my guiding principles are and how they align to my practice.  What I have learned in the past eight weeks is there is a reason Sinek’s book is called START with why. What happens next? In my position, I hope to be able to help guide the conversations in the direction of identifying the actual problem that needs addressing. Once the problem is identified, help find a model that can guide us through the whole process of implementing the change.

It excites me to be at a level where I may have some influence in implementing some potentially significant changes.  I am also very thankful that I have some insight and tools at my disposal to help add to those conversations

References

Al-Haddad, S., & Kotnour, T. (2015). Integrating the organizational change literature: a model for successful change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 28(2), 234-262

Conway, R., Masters, J., & Thorold, J., (2017). From design thinking to systems change: How to invest in innovation for social impact. Royal Society of Arts, Action and Research Centre.

Flinn, C., (2019). Reflection on reflective leadership. [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://malat-webspace.royalroads.ca/rru0054/reflection-on-reflective-leadership/

Sinek, S. (2013). Start with why: How great leaders inspire everyone to take action. London: Portfolio/Penguin.