Instructions:
- Post a new discussion related to the topics covered in this module. Your post needs to provide specific lessons learned with examples from this module helping you enhance your leadership capacity at work.
- After posting your discussion, review posts provided by other students in the class and reply to at least one of them.
27 Comments
Very good lesson, self reflection. As a leader I believe optimism is a must. We all get “down in the dumps”, and struggle when things don’t go our way or how we have drawn up in our heads, but followers will and do feed off of a leaders energy. So, it is important for all of us in leadership positions to stay positive, continue growing, continue learning and show our followers that no matter what happens, as a team we will persevere, we will succeed, we will win!
While many people embrace self-transformation, transformation or change in an organization is more difficult. Often times the organization makes change more difficult and underestimate the power that change requires. Change inside of a department creates disequilibrium which causes stress. While this can makes things more difficult at first, some stress can lead to learning and beneficial change. In terms of leading through change it is important for leaders to understand the need for the change before they can lead people through the resistance to it. The officers must also understand the need to change and what is required of them. Leaders must enable officers with the capabilities they need to succeed through the transformation while holding people accountable for results. Leaders should remain positive in the departments ability to adapt to the change they are trying to implement because when they believe in the organization, officers are more likely to do the same. Leaders should be a role-model to line officers on how to react and adapt to change.
This lesson had a few good points. Attitude certainly has a large effect on how you view the world. Glass half full vs glass half empty is a well known example of this. By focusing on the negative at work, an employee has a harder time seeing any positive at all. However, only focusing on the positive wouldn’t be good either because then it leaves the door open for bad things to happen and not be corrected. Either way, it’s a good reminder to focus on good when getting wrapped up in the vicious cycle of negative thoughts.
Bringing effective change can be a very hard thing to accomplish. Speed of change is important to understand and focus on not trying to do too much too soon. This lesson also highlighted looking at a problem and looking at the proposed change from all sides of the issue. I think the best way is to bring in stake holders on the issue including current employees it would effect and get their opinions and feedback.
There’s a leadership principle that talks about steps to change and it focuses on tiered roll-out. Have your innovative employees who are informal leaders buy into the idea. Their excitement will spread to the general employees. And after 75% of the agency is on-board, the resistors will follow suit eventually. By doing it in this order, you have more buy-in up front and the resistors have less impact on the middle group who generally just follows direction.
This lecture was interesting because I think not only in a leadership role is making change a difficult challenge. I think our society as a whole has a hard time adapting to changes in our world. But in focus of the lecture. I do believe if we focus on preparing our teams that change can be beneficial and influence them to give what ever the change may be a try. I think it can be rewarding and have some success. As we all know change can not be conquered overnight it takes time and it takes the willingness to try. I also believe if we aloud for some feedback on what is proposed then your team will be more welcoming in given the change of whatever it may be a try. I also think that even though we allow for feedback it is important to know that when making a change it has to be something that is beneficial for everyone but most importantly for the company or department you work for and manage.
Very well stated!!
I believe change is difficult for most people and resistance to it is human nature. It’s been my experience that a change that is perceived as arbitrary or not thought out by administrators will receive a lot of resistance and criticism. People fill in the blanks as to why the change is happening and will anticipate negative results for the change. I believe this is largely solved by explaining why the change is happening, how it be implemented and what is needed from the troops for it to succeed. Feedback should be solicitated and questions/concerns addressed.
Change is hard for most people. It’s why when you come to a new agency and ask why they do something a particular way, they say “I don’t know, it’s just how we’ve always done it”. Not bad in and of itself, but I think the why in the public safety world is important for every level of employee to know. Whether it be a constitutional right, federal law, state law, county/city policy, case law driven, mission statement driven, or leadership direction, it’s important for someone to have that answer on why things are being done the way they are currently. It opens the door for rebuttals/questions and a potential for positive change that might have otherwise not been noticed without the full context. Leadership should be open to this questioning as it can provide different viewpoints that maybe haven’t been thought of previously.
I think you are correct, perceived arbitrary change usually brings a lot of resistance. In order for change to be implemented and accepted, planning is extremely important for long term success. When the people implementing the changes have full transparency and good communication, it goes a long way to getting people to buy off on whatever they are trying to do.
This lecture was very insightful to those new to leadership positions. Its very important for a successful leader to understand their subordinates wants and desires and how they will react to any kind of changes that you implement. By understanding the subordinates wants in their career, you are able to structure your plans in a way that will not cause a loss in morale and efficiency.
I have to agree that change can be difficult but good at the same time. The whole idea behind change is to make procedures easier and more efficient. In my department we have had several changes over the years, and it is always interesting to me that a majority of members are not enthused by the changes. I always say if the “new” way isn’t working there isn’t anything preventing us from going back to the “old” way but how are we going to know if we don’t try. I do believe that since we have implemented having more communication about the change and soliciting feedback from frontline staff it has increased their willingness to change. However, we also have to remember that not everyone is going to be happy or excited about the change and sometimes the change has to be implemented for the better of the operations.
You are so correct with that change is to make procedures and/or policies easier and more efficient for everyone. I think no matter what is proposed there is always going to be that one or a few that will stir the pot and not want to adapt. This will always be challenging no matter what level of management we may be at. No matter the circumstance communication to the team becomes the most important aspect when trying to implement the change needed to be successful.
When members of an agency or department think about change we immediately think that most individuals do not like change and are not going to be accepting to the changes that are going to come about. However, if we were to look at in a different lenses, it isn’t the fact they don’t like change they are stressed about how it is going to affect them personally. The leaders implementing the change should definitely solicit feedback from frontline staff to determine how the changes is going to directly impact them, if the change is feasible for productivity and operations and to also determine the best way to get members to buy into the change. I found it interesting that when presenting the change to members you have to provide the pros and cons to the change as well as the pros to cons to not implementing this change (Tobia, 2017). This will allow them to understand why the new process is being implemented, how it is going to benefit members and how it would affect operations if it wasn’t implemented. If these reasons are communicated to staff prior to implementation there is a better chance they will be accepting of the change and have more of a buy in instead of resisting it.
Reference
Tobia, M. (2017). Leadership and change. 1.5, Week # 2. National Command and Staff College. Retrieved from https://cloud.scorm.com/content/courses
/NAGVXPB5E6/ LeadershipandChangea861f98d-6cd1-46aa-a8f7-07e964fced62/2/index_lms.html
Change is definitely difficult but can be a fresh start as well. I believe change is more difficult to overcome for people of seniority in the work environment. People become complacent in their job. They are happy with how things are and have been for awhile. The attitude towards change will always affect the outcome of how the changes can go. New policies and procedures are changed frequently here in my agency. I personally have had my share of questioning the change but never upset or angry towards it. I believe being optimistic and staying positive is a good way for changes that come into play.
I have to agree that change can be difficult but good at the same time. The whole idea behind change is to make procedures easier and more efficient. In my department we have had several changes over the years, and it is always interesting to me that a majority of members are not enthused by the changes. I always say if the “new” way isn’t working there isn’t anything preventing us from going back to the “old” way but how are we going to know if we don’t try. I do believe that since we have implemented having more communication about the change and soliciting feedback from frontline staff it has increased their willingness to change. However, we also have to remember that not everyone is going to be happy or excited about the change and sometimes the change has to be implemented for the better of the operations.
I can see how those who have seniority would be the most resistive. It could be that they have achieved what they want in their careers and don’t have the motivation to actively participate in the change because they see no personal gain from it.
I have had the opportunity to be a part of an organizational change at my previous agency. The agency being as small as it was made the changes highly noticeable and easier for those to resist those efforts in a positive manner. The change had an overall appeal and mid-range to long-term goals. Those that do not see the positive and only like coasting through had the most to lose without seeing the pride in the profession or in their respective position. Maintaining their status quo was ok without looking forward to the possibilities, which often made it appear to themselves as they are being directly attacked due to non-conformity. I was able to see that as a few accepted the change, more and more started to follow. The ones that did not change at all were extremely bitter and hopeless, eventually succumbing to termination or resignation. Change is good in some cases (large or small scale), but having those explain it in better terms or show the overall goals is extremely important.
Unfortunately, there are individuals who are so set in their ways that they don’t even want to try to see if the new way will actually be better for them and the department as a whole. It is very sad when these individuals want to dig their heels in, they end up causing more damage to themselves; as management starts to view them as being defiant and unable to follow orders. This can absolutely lead to them resigning, be terminated, and/or tarnish their reputation.
During this lecture, we learned organizations need to find the right amount of disequilibrium. Too much and “you’ll fall right on your face.” Too little, and the “change will not make much of a difference.” I wonder what the failure rate for organizations trying to implement change is. This week’s topic helped me understand why my organization puts so much time, effort and money promoting their changes. I’ve witnessed some of their changes fail and some succeed. Whether fail or succeed, I believe my organization makes all changes to grow.
I agree that being able to explain to promote change instead of simply implementing it is correct. Giving the workers a heads up of what is coming in ahead of time depending on the situation, will show the light at the end of the tunnel when related to GO/LED changes.
There is most likely always failure with changes within an agency. People rebel to change, or the change may not be clear and concise. Agencies hope that changes will grow their organization to become better as one .
Change is definitely difficult. But the element I believe I am taking away the most from this lecture is to reward effort over rewarding achievements. I supervise a squad of 8 members. Of those eight, I pretty regularly get half of them who complain about every change the agency is going through. Often I will set goals in the hopes that these members will achieve those goals and will become more open to the change, or at the very least, accommodatable. I never thought about how important it might be to my squad that I reward them for the effort they are putting in, even if that effort doesn’t immediately lead to ultimate successes. Like Chief Tobia said, sometimes the greatest successes fail on the heels of great failures.
I think “reward effort over rewarding achievements” can be a slippery slope because it could lead to those who already achieve to sit back and just show effort without even trying to achieve.
I agree that the effort should be rewarded not necessarily the achievement. As Chief Tobia’s lecture pointed out, often times the achievement itself is the reward. I am amazed on how a simple thank you, good job, and please will get you when dealing with people. Many people will put effort in simply because they know you appreciate it and treated them with respect.
I agree with the sentiment that change is often difficult. However, properly managed, change can have very constructive outcomes.
My positive experiences with change have been very much in line with Chief Tobia’s strategies for successful change. Perhaps the most relevant strategy among those discussed is the need to identify and involve those who will be affected by the change. This critical component goes a long way toward ensuring buy-in from all impacted parties.
Several years ago, my department considered changing the shift schedule for the Patrol Division. There were three different options on the table. The Patrol Lieutenant made time to meet with each shift, explaining the different possibilities and listening to feedback provided. Ultimately, the selected model was by far the most popular, and very few complaints were voiced, because those impacted had an opportunity to provide input and be a part of the decision process.
What could have been a very controversial change was perceived as being positive, because of the way it was managed.
We had a similar meeting with our patrol major a few years ago regarding the mid-shift schedule. The mid-shift is specifically our training squad, but they are also our relief squad. After a lot of mathematic related queries were done, it was determined the shift did not appropriately cover the busier hours throughout the day. So the shift was moved to two hours earlier. Before this decision was made, a LOT of people were brought in and the pros and cons were weighed out. Although the decision ultimately fell to the major, the affected persons felt like they had an active role in the decision making process. When the change finally came down the ranks, it was much less contested and welcomed by patrol.
I am a Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPAC) evaluator and am testing the system.
I am a Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPAC) evaluator and am testing the system.