{"id":321,"date":"2024-03-24T14:21:05","date_gmt":"2024-03-24T21:21:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0286\/?p=321"},"modified":"2024-03-24T15:31:11","modified_gmt":"2024-03-24T22:31:11","slug":"ms-final-leadership-reflections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0286\/ms-final-leadership-reflections\/","title":{"rendered":"~M’s Final Leadership Reflections"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I have forever changed. Upon reflection, my leadership perspectives from the beginning of the Leading Change in Digital Learning<\/em> course have changed for the better. For instance, I recall ranking forward looking<\/em> at the top of my list of characteristics for admired leaders. I won\u2019t negate its importance at all, but there are other characteristics I now respect and understand their implications even more. I will explain why my thoughts have changed during this course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, I witnessed a new leader arriving and turning a well-run, high-energy department upside down due to his new vision. The idea of consultation with team members did not exist. Instead, anxiety and trepidation of what comes next was full of uncertainty. It is interesting because the new leader\u2019s ideas and forward looking<\/em> vision may be fantastic; however, how they were communicated was a problem. With the absence of collaboration comes the absence of co-creating a vision together to gain buy-in and support (Simpson, 2020). Leaders can be forward looking; however, how their ideas are portrayed was my crucial takeaway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After experiencing this unsettling situation, I reflected further on how I can help lead change in my organization. Castelli (2016) emphasized, \u201cthe leader\u2019s role is raising the self-esteem and confidence levels of followers is an important aspect of reflective leadership\u201d (p. 224). I agree with Castelli on this critical role and view leadership as a privilege. Moving forward, I plan to be more intentional with involving my colleagues in reflective practice when leading change by  \u201cpromoting a shared purpose that motivates and revitalizes\u201d (Castelli, 2016, p. 231). In turn, credibility is also built through this relationship building, where there is the opportunity to \u201caffirm shared values\u201d on the change (Kouzes & Posner, 2011, p. 37). For my organization, I will now lead change initiatives with the reminder that colleagues want to be included in the decision-making process whenever possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I reflected on credibility here and in my initial reflection, another characteristic rose to the forefront throughout the course – integrity. While researching these past weeks, I discovered the topic of integrity throughout many of my resources. Enough so that I started collecting all the sources to assess their commonalities. As integrity involves leaders being honest, also \u201cthey reliably, consistently, and predictably act on a set of values that ensures safety in interpersonal encounters\u201d (Baker et al., 2008, p. 45). \u201cLeaders must act with integrity and good moral conduct, as the consequences of their actions can be far-reaching and long-lasting\u201d (Ameke, 2023, p. 70). After further reflection and deep consideration, integrity is now considered the top characteristic I look for in an admired leader. As I help lead my organization through change, I plan to bring forth integrity practices to my organization, such as The Integrity Lens and Six Inquiries,<\/em> where teams \u201chave nonjudgmental spaces to inquire, reflect, notice, be mindful as we are in action, neither elated nor defensive\u201d (Sharma, 2017, p. 180).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the future, I also envision doing two things I did not do well enough previously. The first is to consider change management far more in my daily practice. I thought I had experience in change management, but in retrospect, I was not practicing enough to develop strategies around the best practices. I have a newfound appreciation for the change management theory and guidance for leaders. As I had previously studied and practiced the eight steps from Kotter (1996), I realize now that some organizations and situations may require enhanced support in certain areas. I envision taking the time to emphasize my communication approaches in my organization. For example, Smith et al. (2015) reminded me of the fact that \u201cduring times of change, an emotional journey is taking place, and all communication needs to be sensitive to this\u201d (p. 221). This reminder is good for me that words matter as much as actions matter when communicating messages on change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lastly, I can envision taking the time to share the excellent resources that were discovered throughout this course. I plan to bring these resources and best practices to my colleagues. For instance, the Virtual Training Toolkit<\/em> created by Team A is a fantastic resource for the trainers in my organization (Arora et al., 2024). See Tracy\u2019s Blog<\/a> for this toolkit and other great change insights. As a result of this type of sharing, I will be helping move my organization forward as a learning organization (Senge, 2006) for continuous learning and growth, which is my passion project for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ameke, C. (2023). Leadership values: The comprehensive guide to effective leadership & management<\/em>. Concept Media Publishing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arora, R., Poole, M., & Tang, T. (2024). Virtual training toolkit<\/em>. Team A LRNT525.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baker, W. F., & O\u2019Malley, M. (2008). Leading with kindness: How good people consistently get superior results<\/em>. AMACOM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Castelli, P. A. (2016). Reflective leadership review: a framework for improving organisational performance. Journal of Management Development, 35<\/em>(2), 217-236. DOI 10.1108\/JMD-08-2015-0112<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading change<\/em>. Harvard Business Review Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2011). Credibility: How leaders gain and lose it, why people demand it<\/em>. Jossey-Bass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senge, P. M. (2006). The fifth discipline: The art & practice of the learning organization<\/em>. Currency Doubleday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sharma, M. (2017). Radical transformational leadership: Strategic action for change agents<\/em>. North Atlantic Books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simpson, K. (2020). Leading for change: How to thrive during uncertain times<\/em>. Rethink Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smith, R., King, D., Sidhu, R., & Skelsey, D. (Eds.). (2015). The effective change manager\u2019s handbook: Essential guidance to the change management body of knowledge<\/em>. Kopan Page Limited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tang, T. (2024, March 24). A toolkit for planning virtual training. Tracy\u2019s blog: Reflections about education, technology, and their role in building a civic society<\/em>. https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0278\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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