Leading Through Change

Ethical Leadership Series

Metro Fire Chief Officers Association

Session 3

March 28, 2011

Agenda

• Quick Review

• More about Core Values

• Leading Through Change

• Focus on Culture

• What’s Next?

Ethical Leaders in ActionVirtues of Ethical Leadership

Clarity Creativity

Competence Courage

Service

Ethical Discussion Framework

• Articulate position (or competing positions).

• Define disagreements or points of contention.

• Clarify terms and concepts

• Seek and clarify situation facts and objective data

• Analyze positions

Outcomes

Motives

Agent

Rights

• Clear expectations for

performance

• Adequate materials

and equipment

• Ability to succeed

in assigned roles

• A supervisor who cares about subordinates

• Co-workers committed to quality work

• Opportunities to learn and grow

Source: Gallup G12 Summary

Employee Engagement Drivers

• Engagement– Stakeholders invited to participate

– Participants have an opportunity to be heard

• Explanation– Process and rationale are clearly explained, along with

decisions and outcomes.

– Explanation is respectful – it is also often educational.

• Expectation Clarity– When decisions are made, implications for all

stakeholders are clearly articulated.

– Everyone knows what to expect, and what is expected

of them.

Fair

Process is

working

WITH

others

The Three Elements of Fair Process

ELA’s Foundation for Standards in Public Safety Agencies

• Excellent Public Service

• Sound Stewardship of Resources

• Fairness to Employees

ELA Work in Progress:

Excellent Public Service

• Competent, timely responses

• Attentive to community needs and

priorities

• Pervasive professionalism

– External: Follow-up, appearance, etc.

– Internal: Ongoing improvement

• Leadership: guiding the community

• Service, through to “the extra mile”

ELA Work in Progress:

Sound Stewardship of Resources

• Thoughtful expenditures aimed at

sufficiency.

• Linkage between resource allocation

and mission, community priorities.

• Maintenance and conservation.

• Vigilance for opportunities to conserve.

ELA Work in Progress:

Fairness to Employees

• Clear expectations

• Honest and open information sharing

• Safety

• Appreciation for time and effort

• (Fair processes)

John Kotter’s Perspective on Change

Primary concern:

Overcoming Resistance to Change

Four Primary reasons people resist:

1. Parochial self-interest

2. Misunderstanding/confusion

3. Low tolerance of change in general

4. Different assessments of situation

or projected outcomes

Kotter’s

work is

classic…

Kotter and Schlesinger prescribe 6 ways to lead change:

1. Education and communication

2. Participation and involvement

3. Facilitation and support

4. Negotiation and agreement

And if needed and time is precious…

5. Manipulation and co-option (win over)

6. Explicit and implicit coercion

Critical Drivers That Promote the Change Effort

Critical BarriersThat Prevent the

Change Effort

Direction of Intended Change

Organizational Culture provides another lens for seeing change

The “Primary embedding mechanisms” of culture are largely

driven by the leadership of the organization:

1. What leaders regularly pay attention to, measure, control

2. How leaders react to critical incidents & crises

3. Criteria by which leaders allocate scarce resources

4. Deliberate role modeling, teaching and coaching

5. Criteria by which leaders allocate rewards and status

6. Criteria by which leaders recruit, promote/demote

employees

Source: Edgar Schein, 1990

Edgar Schein on Culture…

Too often, indirect, “secondary embedding mechanisms” are

over-stressed in change efforts.

1. Organization design and structure

2. Organizational systems and procedures

3. Organizational rites and rituals

4. Design of physical space, facades, and buildings

5. Stories, legends, and myths about people and events

6. Formal statements of organizational

philosophy/values

Source: Edgar Schein, 1990

Edgar Schein on Culture

What’s Next?

April: Mentoring, Managing, and Evaluating

Performance

• Adding Focus on Leadership Motivation

• Let me know of other

examples or

topics of interest

Feel free to share your thoughts with me!

Thank you for your attention!

Chad Weinstein

Ethical Leaders in Action, LLC

cweinstein@ethinact.com

651-646-1512

“We enable ethical leaders to achieve

extraordinary results”