Oganizational Change
Leading change within any organization can be challenging, but leading change within a system that has made only minimal changes over the past century can seem nearly impossible. As the whirlwind of everyday responsibilities continues to challenge our ability to progress, we must remain firm and hold to our goals of making a difference and producing lasting results.
Why - How - What
To bring about organizational change there is a need for focusing on the people first by appealing to their hearts, not just to their heads. By identifying the why of an organization, and sharing that with stakeholders, you are able to appeal to values, attitudes, and feelings, which can motivate people toward making changes.
Influencer Strategy
Influence is a key component to initiating change, but that influence must be utilized in an effective manner to create lasting change. Changing yourself is hard enough, and when tasked with trying to change others, the job feels daunting and impossible, but that does not have to be true. After reading Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change (Grenny et al., 2013), I now feel better equipped to implement ideas from my innovation plan into my organization.
4 Disciplines of Execution
Planning sometimes tends to feel like the most cumbersome of tasks, but when it comes to implementing change the real work begins after the planning and prepping has concluded. As we’ve worked through the development of an innovation plan, discussed strategy with our main sources of influence, and now dive into execution, it is key to draw from the strategies that are tried and true. To increase chances of success my organizational plan will use the 4 disciplines of execution to help drive progress and change.
The 4 disciplines include:
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Focusing on the Wildly Important Goal
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Acting on the Lead Measures
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Keeping a Compelling Scoreboard
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Creating a Cadence of Accountability
Crucial Conversations
Effective leaders do not accidentally stumble upon the abilities to lead an organization, but do so by getting comfortable with the uncomfortable. Leading change is not always a crowd pleaser, but truly effective leaders are able to stand firm in the need for change, while keeping their emotions controlled and focusing on the mutual purpose and mutual respect. As I implement my innovation plan, I find myself relying on the tools present in the Crucial Conversations framework, to help navigate difficult conversations and progress towards the overall organizational goals.