At the start of this course, we were tasked with looking at what characteristics made for effective leadership in digital learning. What I discovered and have maintained is that the characteristics that make for an effective leader do not change based on the context in which they were leading. Capable and inspiring leadership is driven by motivating others to achieve their best performance. This is echoed by Workman & Cleveland-Innes (2012), “true leadership is best defined in the outcomes that are achieved rather than the inputs applied” (p. 314).

In looking more closely into leadership styles, I realized that true leadership does not need to come from hierarchal structures and a person at any level of an organization can demonstrate effective leadership as they model the behaviours that we wish to see from others.

This idea of leading from all levels in an organization is especially important when looking at change. Change is inevitable in any field of practice. The largest factor of a change being successful is the human-element.  Al-Haddad & Kotnour (2015) contest that leadership in change is in essence the values and methods that change leaders apply to the human aspects of change to motivate others to want to be part of the change while mitigating resistance.

An effective way to achieve this motivation in others is through well laid-out change management and project plans. This planning helps to uncover barriers while building confidence in others of the impending change. There are many models used as part of project and change management, and these models can also be combined to best suit the needs of the specific change required, but in whatever model is used, one of the most important factors in creating successful change is to focus time and energy on the people that will carry out the change.

“The people must have ownership in the vision. They need to be enabled to accomplish it. If there is one investment you should make, it is in people.” – Modesta Lilian Mbughuni  (Endicott, n.d)

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. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-11-2013-0215

Endicott, B. (n.d.) 4 change management hacks talent development pros should be using today. Simply Strategic Talen Solutions. https://www.simplystrategictalent.com/post/change-management-hacks

Workman, T., Cleveland-Innes, M. (2012). Leadership, personal transformation, and management. The international review of research in open and distributed learning, 13(4), 313-323. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v13i4.1383