The purpose of this paper is to gather information regarding Leader of Change’s experiences during changes in organizations and how these experiences would help me create a vision for my institution when I become an administrator. This report provides an interview with an administrator that was held to inform an organizational analysis. This report is an abstract of the leader’s skills related to introducing changes in organizations.
Background of the Interviewee
Last Friday, I interviewed an assisting principal at a local high school in Florida. She began her career as a graduate from Florida Atlantic University, where she obtained her Master’s degree in Educational Leadership. She wanted to have a school administration job to take on more responsibility and improve learning in schools. Her career has motivated me to ask about her role as a Leader of Change, to help me adjust my school leadership knowledge, which is essential in my career as a future administrator. During the interview, I have submitted ten questions regarding Ms. Roberts’ ideas on the Leader of Change’s roles and critical changes to be implemented to create a “learning organization.”
The Interview
I started the interview by asking, “What are the roles of the Leader of Change in the educational setting?” Ms. Roberts said that as an assisting principal, she helps to implement new strategies by instructing teachers. Ms. Roberts also reads reports on implementing new instructional strategies and discusses the challenges of the change process with teachers. Then I asked, “What are the responsibilities of the Leader of Change in the educational settings?” Ms. Robert explained that her primary responsibility is to work with teachers, and she is therefore responsible for supporting and guiding teachers in the process of change. She should oversee the transition and conduct conversations with teachers who are not ready or agree with some aspects of the change, or have difficulties. Ms. Robert is a member of the Supervisory Board where, together with colleagues, they develop tactics for implementing change and ensuring their sustainable integration with existing processes.
The next question was, “What approaches does she use to ensure the change will happen and will bring sustainable results?” The assisting principal prompted that she bases her attitudes on the modern educational theories, including Peter Senge’s approach, presented in his book The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. Ms. Roberts was sure that educational institutions are the best fields for implementing the concept of the “learning organizations,” which implies the companies that go above and beyond their existing practices, procedures, and understanding of the organizational processes.
She explained that Peter Senge (2006) puts the idea of learning as the “metanoia” which is translated from Greek as holistic, “transcendental mind,” or the “mind that goes beyond,” from “meta” – “beyond” (like in metaphysics), and “noia” – “mind.” Therefore, according to Senge’s perception, learning organizations are the teams where people complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses to reach the organizational goals. In such groups, people can satisfy their drive to learn new things and make shifts in mind regarding life and all the processes that constitute it.
Then, I asked, “What does she think of learning organizations?” and Ms. Roberts answered that this concept is doomed to gain high demand among the educational institutions since children are the first and best candidates to demonstrate the power of this principle. I also asked, “What does she think of the “All systems go” approach?” and she answered that this approach, developed by Michael Fullan, supplements the concept of systems thinking from “learning organizations” through creating a sound base for changes and innovations (Fullan, 2010). According to this principle, educational institutions should implement changes at the local, district, and state levels. Besides, the changes should include the coordination and cooperation of academic, governmental, and bureaucratic practices.
As we proceeded with the interview, I asked Ms. Roberts, “Which aspects of these approaches does she find the most compelling?” She said that in “learning organizations,” the most sound is the idea of the integrated approach of romantic, innovative thinking and self-sufficiency, and systemic thinking. She thinks that such an attitude is comprehensive enough to start implementing changes. Ms. Roberts also notes that she was astonished by Senge’s idea, which he put in the foreword for Fullan’s book, that children and teachers are ready for changes right now and do not have 20 or 30 years to wait until the future comes.
She said that she totally shares this view. Ms. Roberts also added that she admired Fullan’s idea of the shared capacity, implying that changes should be implemented in teams. Besides, she mentioned that another important stance was delivered by Senge, who said that in every systemic change, the “whole is greater than the sum of its parts” and that “there is a need to create integrated new systems and pay much attention to integration, since “if you divide and elephant, you will not get two elephants” (Senge, 2006).
I also asked, “What leadership styles are most applicable for leading the changes?” Ms. Roberts answered that she admires the visionary and transformational leadership style since a visionary leader creates a track for changes, and a transformational leader ensures that everyone is on this track. Then I asked, “What impact does she make on her followers?” and she said that there are four main types of leaders’ influences on followers, which she and her colleagues from the Supervisory Board are trying to implement. These roles are based on leaders’ reactions to the followers’ demands. For example, leaders respond to employees’ needs for comfort with sensory perception and show active understanding to respond to the need for orientation skills (Kraft et al., 2018). In times of change, leaders’ compensatory perception responds to the employees’ need for balance, and the appraisal talent compensates for the employees’ need for recognition. Ms. Roberts concluded that she is making the kind of impact on employees that she believes they need at the moment.
Our interview was coming to an end, and I asked, “How long does it take to implement a change?” Ms. Roberts said that sustainable changes could take up to two years to be fully implemented. She warned of the dangers of short-term interventions, a standard management method, as they have an equally short-term effect. Finally, I asked, “Could she list successful initiatives realized on the base of her educational institution?” Ms. Roberts answered that their educational institution is implementing a new practice-based educational program for students who do not like purely academic education and easily lose interest in abstract subjects when the academic thinking is practiced for its own sake. She said that this initiative helped attract students who were at high risk of dropping from school and increased the overall level of higher education aspirations among students.
Lessons Learned
After I finished the interview with the principal assistant, I realized that she is a good Leader of Change and plays a vital role in coordinating the team of teachers and administrators. I also thought that leadership could take different forms, especially during changes in learning organizations. Most importantly, I saw that the integrative approach is the alfa and omega of the change management in educational institutions.
Beyond that, I thought that the ideas expressed by Ms. Roberts closely correlate with the latest scientific researches. For example, Seijts and Gandz (2018) note that aspects of a leader’s personality are fundamental when implementing organizational change and different elements are essential to varying stages of change. Then, Ford et al. (2020) discovered that leadership support is critical and directly linked to employee perceptions of positive change. Finally, Kraft et al. (2018) say that the leader’s attempt to influence employees’ consciousness is the most important leadership activity during organizational change, which is completely the same as Ms. Roberts’ method.
Thus, the report presented in detail the leaders’ experiences related to introducing changes in organizations. Most important is the perception of the organization as a “learning” agent that provides support to its team. Noteworthy, sustainable change takes time and must be implemented in the system with a preliminary assessment of its integrative influence. Finally, the Leaders of Change may have a positive and enriching experience if they fully understand their role and responsibilities.
References
Ford, J. K., Lauricella, T. K., Van Fossen, J. A., & Riley, S. J. (2020). Creating energy for change: The role of changes in perceived leadership support on a commitment to an organizational change initiative. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 1(4), 21-23.
Fullan, M. (2010). All systems go: The changes imperative for whole system reform. Sage.
Kraft, A., Sparr, J. L., & Peus, C. (2018). Giving and making sense about change: The back and forth between leaders and employees. Journal of Business and Psychology, 33(1), 71-87.
Seijts, G. H., & Gandz, J. (2018). Transformational change and leader character. Business Horizons, 61(2), 239-249.
Senge, P. M. (2006). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. Currency.