Leading through Change – February, 2015 Draft
Learning Goal – Participants will recognize the various change factors at play for a regulatory
organization and develop personal leadership philosophies to influence, manage and support changes
as necessary.
Organizational Culture and Leadership – Amigo Wade and Mairi-Anne MacDonald
Learning Objective – Participants will evaluate their existing organizational cultures and discuss ways
to develop leadership proactively.
ActivitiesIdentify the goals of assessing organizational culture in order to select the right model or
tools to characterize and develop a positive organizational culture
Compare the organizational chart of one’s organization (formal “leadership”) with the
pockets of influence in regulatory staff at all levels (informal “leadership”) in order to
identify the thought leaders in the organization
Being a Change Agent – Amigo Wade
Learning Objective – Participants will consider changes to their organizations—prompted both
internally and externally—and identify the different leadership roles and challenges associated with
implanting the change successful in the varied groups of regulatory stakeholders.
ActivitiesRecognize the importance of regulatory leaders as a calming influence in the face of
ambiguity
It will be important to discuss how political realities come into play. Change can often be mandated
for political reasons that are not rooted in the reality of the day-to-day operations. This is
compounded by the fact that the regulatory leaders at the very highest level are typically appointed
by and serve at the pleasure of the highest elected official of the jurisdiction. He or she may have a
big picture view of things that puts the work of the individual agency in a minor light. Conversely the
staff of civil servants experience their work as the see's " The more drastic the change the more
likely that it will "offend" the career civil servant currently doing the job.
In order to be a calming influence the regulatory leaders must first be settled in their understanding
of the change. Once you as the regulatory leader have your arms around the change, you can allow
yourself to be a calming influence rather than a hindrance.
Suggestions:
1) Discuss sources of change and the role of the regulatory leader in understanding motivation
rationale for the change (internal vs. imposed). Regulatory leaders must be able to answer three
"general" questions and three "individual" questions regarding the change:
General Why do things have to change?
 What will happen if the change does not occur?
 What will things look like at the end of the change?
Individual How will training or help be provided to help me keep up?
 Will salary, job title, or personnel change?
 What is the schedule for change?
2) Have the class to take the Change Style Indicator assessment offered by discovery Learning. The
assessment tool uses 20 items to establish a ranking of how the participant prefers to address and
work with change. The instrument addresses both initiated and imposed change and places the
respondent on a continuum between Conserver and Originator with Pragmatist in between. the
assessment take approximately 10 to 15 minutes to complete and the online report includes personal
score and an integrated style guide that contextualizes the participants score and helps to interpret
their results. Should make for good self-reflective exercise
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Discuss different tactics and approaches to manage change based on whether it’s an
internal (self-selected) change or one imposed by an outside force (i.e. legislatures, public
demand, media, etc.)
Tactic or approach to managing the change depends on the source and motivation. Internal, selfselected as opposed to external. Examples include:
(i) Legislative mandate to regulate an activity that a recent agency study determined should not be
regulated or regulated by a different state entity,
(ii) Legislative cost cutting initiatives that seem to presume inefficiency or ineffective agency
processes;
(iii) Highly publicized incidents that have created a public demand for more regulation or supervision
of an activity (a child being left overnight in a Child Day Care facility van, proliferation of less than
reputable "foreclosure prevention specialist" in the wake of the spike in foreclosures)
(iv) Media focus that leads to focused attention on agency processes and activities that, in turn,
create pressure to change the way the agency operates. (May not be justified in every case- i.e .bad
facts often lead to misdirected mandates)
Toolbox of Tactics/Approaches include:
-Creating a guiding coalition (a group of employees with enough power to lead the change. This
group could also serve as the "role models" for expected behavior, so be careful).
-Developing and communicating a vision (create a vision to serve as a focal point to direct all efforts
and then using every available means to communicate the "new" vision in a constant manner).
-Removing obstacles and barriers- (changing systems or structures that may serve to undermine the
vision or anchor employees to past processes and beliefs. Also includes encouraging risk taking and
nontraditional ideas and activities from the lowest to the highest level employees)
-Developing "Short Win" scenarios (plan to have visible, attainable improvements in performance or
in moving toward the goal). Showcase and reward those wins.
My also want to discuss briefly what some of the experts have said about organizational change…
Personal Reaction: Some people will buy in from the beginning; others will never come on board.
Tactic: Don't abandon the supporters and spend all of your energy on those who continue to resist.
Focus on the ones who buy in and they will be the catalysts for the rest of the organization.
(T.J. Larkin and Sandar Larkin)
Personal Reaction: Some feel awkward, ill at ease, self-conscious.
Tactic: Let them know that Learning is a natural part of change. The comfort that they have
developed in the knowledge and experience that they have gained from doing the job over the years
will not be wasted.
(William Bridges)
Personal Reaction: Some people will be concerned about what they might lose.
Tactic: Acknowledge that some people will experience a sense of loss and allow for a mourning
process. Gradually talk about the benefits
(Paul Strebel)
Personal Reaction: Some people feel powerless and out of control.
Tactic: Give employees strategies to help them to manage their personal reactions to the change.
This will gradually restore a sense of control.
(Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner)
Personal Reaction: Most people can handle only so much change at a time.
Tactic/Approach: Have intermediate victories or milestones while consistently keeping the long term
vision and goal in mind.
(Jeanie Daniel Duck)
Discuss and calculate the risk of a certain change
Cost benefit analysis- within the context of forced or self-imposed change
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Identify tools for measurement of the impacts of change
-Open suggestion box (maybe anonymous?)
-Periodic brown bag discussion sessions
-Use of lead staff to take temperature- by section, division or, perhaps, activity
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Recognize the different support, engagement and resistance factors at play in situations of
change (an exercise here may have something to do something to regulation, maybe not;
it could be a good learning moment to take a more life-based example and then translate
those same factors and responses to the regulatory context in a separate step)
Scenario-driven exercise would be good here. The objective would not be to resolve the scenario,
but rather to use it as a vehicle to point out the different factors at play. I am sure that we can come
up with some.
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Classify different leadership approaches to change based on the needs of individual
stakeholder groups
See No. 2.
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Practice adapting leadership models and priorities to proposed mid-stream change
TBD
Authoritarian vs. Influential Change – Mike Whatley?
Learning Objective – Participants will recognize the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches
to initiating change in order to select the most effective approach for any particular situation.
Activities- Compare the different approaches of authoritarian change leadership (i.e. definitive policy and
operational decisions, agility in making quick decisions, challenge of
imposing” will on others, etc.) vs. influential change leadership (i.e. supporting a team through
situations of change, working to get consensus, time and labor-intensive, etc.)
- Given common regulatory issues, identify which approaches may be best suited for the
circumstances as presented
- Categorize what type of approach is likely to be most beneficial for different regulatory
stakeholder groups
- Identify the “obstructionists” to change in one’s organization and select appropriate influence
tactics that can be used to get them on board
Crucial Conversations – Mairi-Anne MacDonald
Learning Objective – Participants will recognize the importance of facing these hard conversations in
order to most effectively handle transition, conflict and resistance within their organizations.
Activities- Discuss and list the various change situations that may lead to conflict, confusion or issues
within an organization (i.e. board leadership transitions, new government priorities, budget
cuts, policy changes, etc.)
- Recognize the key characteristics that are important when initiating difficult conversations (i.e.
courage, confidence, empathy, ability to create a sound argument, etc.)
- Identify and articulate the mission-critical priorities for one’s organization in order to recognize
when it is important to push for something and when to step back
- Discuss the challenge of recognizing when the needed change is YOU
Activities:
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complete some pre-course reading and reflective questions that support participants to think
about what a crucial conversation is, and how skilled they currently are in having them
identify situations that can lead to conflict, confusion or difficult issues (a) within regulatory
organisations (eg board leadership transitions, new government priorities, budget cuts, policy
changes etc) and (b) with key stakeholders (conversations about decisions in casework, new
govt priorities, policy changes etc)
identify and articulate when crucial conversations are necessary, and when they are not,
thinking about a regulatory perspective
recognise the key characteristics of crucial conversations and assess how effective they are at
starting crucial conversations and participating in them
responding when someone wants to have a crucial conversation with you
the significance of feedback (exercise)
the isolation of regulation – understanding where you get support from
getting better at crucial conversations – my personal development plan and how I'm going to
hold myself to account for getting it done
Approach:
The approach suggested for this module is to complete some pre-course preparation work to encourage
self-reflection and honesty. The substance of the learning within this module could most easily be
achieved through development of a scenario, using small group discussion for the different roles, with
new information being added to the scenario throughout the session, followed by a whole group
analysis of the module at the end of the session. These types of activities should also support the
development of formal or informal communities of practice that will extend past the length of this
programme and it may be worth thinking about how CLEAR can support this technologically. This would
help with collecting evidence of impact later (I think that it's particularly important that there are impact
measures identified and tracked – delivery of content isnt sufficient if you want to really measure
change)
In the discussion around the next session, it would be interesting to look at whether we could develop a
scenario for the whole programme which would achieve the learning outcomes identified – often this
type of approach has greater recall and impact, and can provide positive structured use of time.
Presentation methods could include taking an example of a change and analyzing how to lead the
various stakeholder groups (identified in Building Strong Relationships) through that change.