Module Components

• Overview
• Assignments

Topics

• The Challenge of Innovation and Change
• Understanding and Managing Change
• Personal and Career Development

Nurs 659 - Organizational/Professional Dimensions

Module 11: Managing Innovation and Change

Understanding and Managing Change

"Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future." ------John F. Kennedy, Jr.

HOW DO LEADERS RESPOND TO THE CHALLENGE OF INNOVATION AND CHANGE?

Definitions of Leadership

Although there are multiple definitions of leadership, two leadership approaches are reviewed in this module.  Inherent within both approaches is the key element of vision. Older and  traditional leadership styles that favor transactional leadership approaches have become less popular and have given way to more contemporary styles of leadership such as transformational and situational.   Each differs significantly with the transactional model approaching more of an autocratic style in which the leader sets/charts the course and the followers follow with or without agreement to the common cause.  Our focus is on the transformational and situational approaches to leadership.

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Transformational leadership leads to changes in behavior, values, attitudes and perceptions on the parts of both leaders and followers.  Interactions occur in a manner that is sharing, empowering and driven by common goals.  It is commonly thought that  these individuals possess: charisma. vision, intellectual stimulation and inspiration.  (Most notable of its authors are Peter Senge http://www.infed.org/thinkers/senge.htm#_Leading_the_learning and Stephen Covey http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_People ). It is a leadership style that is often associated with effective change agents  and is comprised of six processes:

The Six Dimensions/Processes of Transformational Leadership   Developing a shared vision Inspiring and communicating Valuing others Challenging and stimulating Developing trust Enabling

Exercise: You are the leader for an organization engaged in organizational re-design.  Your task is to develop a new structure and vision for your unit.  Think about the processes of transformational leadership, and identify the key steps that you will use in this process.

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Situational Leadership is especially popular in management and in nursing because of its simplicity and ease of understanding.  In situational leadership, the leader analyzes the situation and determines, based on the participant capabilities, what is the most appropriate leadership style.  The leadership style adopted corresponds to the amount of direction and support needed by the followers.  See the following example and grid below.

Situational Leadership in Practice Example: An individual who is in quadrant S1 (directing) is characterized by a low level of competence, and low commitment.  The appropriate and corresponding  leadership style is Directing.  The leader defines the tasks and roles of the follower, and supervises them closely. Decisions are made by the leaders and communicated to the individual.   In contrast, an individual who is in quadrant S4  (delegating) is characterized by a high level of competence and commitment. The appropriate leadership style with this individual is one of delegating, in which the leaders remains involved but the control is with the follower. The follower decides when and how the leaders will be involved.

Exercise: You are supervising an employee who has been in the organization for nine months and who has completed the orientation program successfully.  Yet, the employee still requires assistance and direct supervision with many of the technical skills (He/she has no prior experience with the routine skills practiced in this setting).  Using the situational leadership grid, what leadership style will you employ?  

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Models of Leadership that specifically deal with change provide an understanding of effective skills and processes for change.  Hamric et. al., (2014) provide an overview of the five disciplines outlined by Peter Senge as keys to effective leadership.  Additional discussion and explanation is found at  http://www.infed.org/thinkers/senge.htm.  Senge's five disciplines have gained widespread popularity in all types of organizational enterprises. Similarly, another perspective on change by Gladwell posits that there are three elements that seem to push a phenomenon from uncommon to common or "the tipping point" http://www.gladwell.com/tippingpoint/index.html. These elements include the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context.

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Exercise: An opportunity for assessing transformational leadership development is found at  http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Leadership/over2.htm.  Complete this self-assessment and determine what is necessary for you to do in response.