Illustrate an Effective Change Management Strategy

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Step One: Create a Sense of Urgency According to Kotter, establishing a sense of urgency is crucial

in beginning any change initiative. Kotter noted when individ- uals do not believe a change is necessary, they will find ingenious ways to withhold cooperation or derail the attempts of others. Students and colleagues may sabotage change initiatives on our campuses intentionally and unintentionally. This is why creating a sense of urgency around the desired change is important.

To counter negative reactions to change initiatives, leaders should be able to describe an opportunity for change that will appeal to both the head and the heart and create a large, urgent army of volunteers. “Creating a strong sense of urgency usually demands bold or even risky actions that we normally associate with good leadership” (p. 45). The sooner we can create buy-in among our constituents, the better. Some organizations may choose to raise the urgency level by focusing on financial losses, identifying unpopular programs, increasing or decreasing membership, holding employees and volunteers accountable for their actions, restructuring their programming board, or by bombarding people with aspirational visions for the future.

Step Two: Create the Guiding Coalition According to Kotter, collaboration is about stepping outside

our traditional university silos and focusing on results. Building a strong guiding coalition of leaders will be important with any effort to restructure, reengineer, or retool any organiza- tion. By assembling a group with enough power to lead the change effort, organizations will quickly see these leaders mean business. When creating a guiding coalition, Kotter suggests

identifying influential individuals in prominent groups, who have expertise or credibility in order to create legitimacy.

For example, programming boards may want to reach out to an influential student government senator or faculty member. The most common reason people fail to develop an appropriate coalition to guide change is “down deep they really don’t think a transformation is necessary or they don’t think a strong team is needed to direct change” (p. 67). Without this powerful guiding coalition, most change efforts will stall or altogether fail.

Step Three: Develop a Vision and Strategy “Leading Change” provides some great insight into how

guiding coalitions can successfully transform organizations by creating a picture of the future that’s easy to communicate to others. Kotter noted, “If you cannot describe your vision to someone in five minutes and get a reaction that signifies both understanding and interest, you are not done” (p. 81). Student leaders will need to shape a vision that can help steer the change effort. This may involve developing strategic initiatives that assist in achieving this shared vision.

When developing a vision, simplicity is essential. Commu- nicating even a simple vision repeatedly to a large number of people can be a daunting challenge to any student leader. Articulating the vision for an organization requires both the head and the heart. Leaders must reflect deeply on their values and the values of the organization to determine who they are and what they care about. This can be an emotionally charged exercise, so it is important for advisors to help leaders recognize the importance of authentic, respectful and honest input from the guiding coalition.

Leading Change Helping Transformational Efforts Succeed

By

VINCENT BOWHAY and EDIE McCRACKEN, Fort Hays State University (KS)

WHILE THE RATE IN WHICH OUR WORLD IS CHANGING CONTINUES TO INCREASE, our ability to keep up with those changes has not. Dr. John Kotter’s book “Leading Change” reminds us every organization needs to lead change efforts responsibly. Whether tearing down silos, furthering resources, or competing for attention in a saturated market, there are any number of reasons why universities and programming boards may want to change. Kotter’s Eight-Step Process, outlined in “Leading Change,” gives leaders the tools to change their organization under any condition.

Leading Change Helping Transformational Efforts Succeed

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Step Four: Enlist a Volunteer Army Kotter noted that large-scale change can occur only when a

large number of individuals with a common cause move in the same direction. It’s important for student leaders to create and tap a volunteer network that may include individuals inside and outside their organizations. Programming boards in particular have a vast army of individuals who attend events and provide feedback on how the organization is operating. Invite and encourage those individuals to help the organization implement proposed changes. Student leaders should find ways in which the changes are occurring successfully and attempt to repeat those methods. Keep volunteers engaged by praising them for their work and recognizing the difference they are making within the organization.

Step Five: Empower Employees for Broad-Based Action When organizations are able to remove barriers, such as

ineffective processes or outdated hierarchies, leaders enable peers to work across boundaries and create a real impact. Kotter noted, “sometimes we become so accustomed to one basic organizational design, perhaps because it has been used for decades, that we are blind to the alternatives” (p. 110). Other barriers that may need to be confronted include informational or job silos, pressure to achieve unsustainable results, complacency, rules or regulations, or a limited number of experienced leaders. Find ways to knock down barriers to make the vision a reality.

Step Six: Generate Short-Term Wins Kotter encouraged leaders to consistently produce, track,

evaluate and celebrate the small and large accomplishments throughout the change process. Three characteristics of a good short-term win Kotter identified include:

• Visibility to a large number of individuals, • Results are unambiguous and obvious to others, and • Success is clearly related to the change effort. Celebrating short-term wins will provide evidence that all

the hard work was worth it, undermine critics of the process, and build momentum toward further change efforts. For example, if a programming board hits its membership goal, it will hold an ice cream social for its membership. This will introduce new members to the culture, recognize the hard work of the volunteers (aka, the volunteer army), and create enthusiasm for future goals.

Step Seven: Consolidate Gains and Produce More Change Major changes take a long time to enact, especially in big

organizations. External forces can stall change initiatives, including student leader turnover, burnout and bad luck. “Whenever you let up before the job is done, critical momentum can be lost and regression may follow” (p. 139). Kotter encour- ages leaders to use their credibility to continue to change organization structures, procedures and policies that do not align with the new vision. It’s also important to hire, promote and develop a new generation of leaders who can continue to implement the new vision for the organization.

Step Eight: Institute Change While change is a process, one way to recognize the end of

the eight steps is when the change becomes a part of the organi- zation’s culture. This will help leaders ensure the new behaviors are repeated over the long-term. “Culture changes only after you have successfully altered people’s actions, after the new behavior produces some group benefit for a period of time, and after people see the connection between new actions and the perfor- mance improvement” (p. 165).

Thought and Reflection John Kotter’s “Leading Change” offers a practical approach

to an organized means of creating long-term change. The eight-step process can help leaders and advisors transform dysfunctional and stagnant organizations into more effec- tive, responsive, team-oriented ones. Student leaders may not know how to change their organizations and waste resources on unsuccessful attempts. This book’s instructional tone and easy-to-follow stories will help any leader change their organi- zation for the better.

REFERENCES Kotter, J. P. (2012). Leading change. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS Vincent Bowhay is director for Campus Success at Campus Labs (NY). Previously, he was assistant director of the Memorial Union at Fort Hays State University (KS). For NACA, he served as a National Volunteer Development Board member, the Institute Series Coordinator, the Student Government-East Institute Chair and as a Student Government-East staff member. He received NACA’s Outstanding Diversity Program Achievement

Award and the Patsy Morley Outstanding Programmer Award. He holds a master’s degree in student affairs administration from Ball State University (IN) and is pursuing a doctorate in higher education leadership at Baker University (KS).

Edie McCracken is Memorial Union director at Fort Hays State University (KS) and is a member of the NACA® Board of Directors. She has also served NACA as the Institute Series Coordinator, as the NACA® Central Regional Conference Chair and as the Huge Leadership Weekend Coordina- tor. She is a Certified Auxiliary Services Professional with the National Association for College Auxiliary Services. She holds a master’s degree in

higher education administration from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville and is pursuing a doctorate in higher education leadership at Baker University (KS).

WHEN DEVELOPING A VISION, SIMPLICITY IS ESSENTIAL. COMMUNICATING EVEN A SIMPLE VISION REPEATEDLY TO A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE CAN BE A DAUNTING CHALLENGE TO ANY STUDENT LEADER.

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