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11 CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP IN THE WORKPLACE Guiding Others through Challenging Times
Starting Point
Go to www.wiley.com/college/Lombardi to assess your knowledge of the basics of leadership transfer. Determine where you need to concentrate your effort.
What You’ll Learn in This Chapter ▲ The characteristics of positive change leadership ▲ Phases of planned change ▲ Commonly used change strategies ▲ Reasons for resisting change ▲ Reasons why people and groups resist change ▲ Various forms of stress
After Studying This Chapter, You’ll Be Able To ▲ Analyze reasons for change ▲ Examine common change goals ▲ Apply strategies for effective change leadership ▲ Demonstrate responses to change-resistant individuals and groups ▲ Practice healthy responses to stress
Goals and Outcomes ▲ Master the terminology and tools related to change leadership ▲ Compare change leadership strategies ▲ Choose appropriate change leadership strategies ▲ Respond effectively to change resistance ▲ Select and practice effective stress management techniques ▲ Evaluate stress management techniques
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11.1.1 RESPONDING POSITIVELY TO CHANGE 309
INTRODUCTION Health care organizations must be prepared not only to change, but to change continuously and in the face of ever-present uncertainties. Health care managers are in a powerful position to help lead a positive response to change. In partic- ular, the planned change process offers managers multiple opportunities to inspire effective responses to change. Change strategies—including force-coercion, rational persuasion, and shared power strategies—are all ways to introduce and encourage change. Some individuals and groups may resist change, but effective managers can respond to concerns and utilize interventions to further enhance the change process. An effective managerial response to change includes an understanding of the role stress plays in a staff’s work experience.
11.1 Understanding Change Leadership
The world of health care is undergoing significant transformation. Various regu- latory changes and changes in the patient base, how health care services are delivered, and the financial structures that support the health care industry are only a few of the innovations that managers must address. Although change is not necessarily negative, many new managers may perceive it in a negative light because it confronts them with the unknown, requires them to change daily rou- tines and readjust work goals.
In addition to public scrutiny, patient expectation, and patient demand, two additional external dynamics in the current health care environment affect man- agers and their staffs.
▲ Shrinking financial resources. The cliché of “having to do more with less” continues to apply throughout the health care industry. As a manager, become familiar with the fiscal resources available in your organization and balance those against departmental needs.
▲ Government intervention. With the advent of federal government inter- vention in health care, along with state and local regulatory agencies, managers must be keenly aware of regulatory compliance requirements and policy administration. Make a concerted effort to understand all reg- ulatory issues and government intervention activities as they affect your organization and, what is more important, share pertinent information with your manager and your staff about the extent that legislative and regulatory compliance affects your department.
11.1.1 Responding Positively to Change
Organizations and their managers must continually innovate and adapt to new situations if they are to survive and prosper over the long run. A change leader
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310 CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP IN THE WORKPLACE
is a person or group who takes leadership responsibility for changing the exist- ing pattern of behavior of another person or social system. A key part of every manager’s job is to lead change in the work setting. This requires being alert to situations or to people needing change, being open to good ideas, and being able to support the implementation of new ideas in actual practice.
Figure 11-1 contrasts a change leader with a status-quo manager. A change leader is forward-looking, proactive, and embraces new ideas. A status-quo man- ager is backward-looking, reactive, and comfortable with habit. Obviously, the new workplace demands change leadership.
As sections 4.1 and 4.2 discuss, everyone in a team has the potential to lead by serving group needs for task and maintenance activities. A similar notion applies when leading change in an organization—the responsibilities for change leadership are ideally distributed and shared from top to bottom.
In top-down change, strategic and comprehensive changes are initiated with the goal of comprehensive impact on the organization and its performance capa- bilities. But change that is driven from the top runs the risk of being perceived as insensitive to the needs of lower-level personnel. It can easily fail if implementa- tion suffers from excessive resistance and insufficient commitments to change. The success of top-down change is usually determined by the willingness of middle- and lower-level workers to actively support top-management initiatives.
Bottom-up change is also important. Here, the initiatives for change come from people throughout an organization and are supported by the efforts of mid- dle- and lower-level managers acting as change agents. Bottom-up change is essential to organizational innovation and is very useful in terms of adapting operations and technologies to the changing requirements of work. Managers make bottom-up change possible by empowering staff and actively being involved in challenges staff faces.
Creativity and
innovation
Change leadership
• Confident of ability • Willing to take risk • Seizes opportunity • Expects surprise • Makes things happen
Status quo management
• Threatened by change • Bothered by uncertainty • Prefers predictability • Supports the status quo • Waits for things to happen
Promotes and
actively supports
Avoids and even
discourages
Figure 11-1
Change leadership versus status-quo management.
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11.1.3 IDENTIFYING GOALS AND PROCESSES 311
11.1.2 Identifying Forces and Targets for Change
Planned change occurs as a result of the specific efforts of a change leader. Planned change is a direct response to someone perceiving a performance gap, or a discrepancy between the desired and actual state of affairs. Performance gaps may represent problems to be resolved or opportunities to be explored. Perfor- mance gaps and the impetus for change can arise from a variety of external forces, including market competition, economic conditions, government laws and regulations, technological developments, and social forces.1
As a health care organization’s general and specific environments develop and change over time, the organization must adapt as well. Any change in one part of the organization as a complex system—perhaps a change initiated in response to one or more of the external forces just identified—can create the need for change in another part of the system.
Internal or organizational targets for change are highly interrelated and can include2
▲ tasks: The nature of work as represented by organizational mission, objectives, and strategy and the job designs for individuals and groups;
▲ people: The attitudes and competencies of the employees and the human resource systems that support them;
▲ culture: The value system for the organization as a whole and the norms guiding individual and group behavior;
▲ technology: The operations and information technology used to support job designs, arrange workflows, and integrate people and machines in systems;
▲ structure: The configuration of the organization as a complex system, including its design features and lines of authority and communications.
11.1.3 Identifying Goals and Processes for Organizational Development
In the world of management consulting, organization development, or OD, is a comprehensive approach to planned organizational change that involves apply- ing behavioral science in a systematic and long-range effort to improve organi- zational effectiveness.3
Organization development helps organizations cope with environmental and other pressures for change, while also improving their internal problem-solving capabilities. Organization development, in this sense, brings the quest for con- tinuous improvement to the planned change process.
In organization development, two types of goals are pursued simultaneously:
▲ Outcome goals focus on task accomplishments. ▲ Process goals focus on the way people work together.
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312 CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP IN THE WORKPLACE
The inclusion of process goals strongly differentiates OD from more general attempts at planned change in organizations. Think of OD as “planned change plus,” with the plus meaning that change is accomplished in such a way that organization members develop a capacity for continued self-renewal—that is, OD tries to achieve change while helping people become more active and self-reliant, so they can continue changing in the future.
Another aspect that makes OD unique is its commitment to strong humanistic values and established principles of behavioral science. OD is committed to improv- ing organizations through freedom of choice, shared power, and self-reliance—and by capitalizing on what is known about human behavior in organizations.
Figure 11-2 presents a general model of OD and shows its relationship to Lewin’s three phases of planned change (see section 11.2).
A traditional OD process consists of the following steps:
1. Establish a change relationship. An outside consultant or facilitator connects with members of an organization or team for the purpose of facilitating change.
2. Diagnosis. The consultant, manager, and team members gather and ana- lyze data to assess the situation and set appropriate change objectives. This phase of the OD process can help with unfreezing as well as pin- pointing appropriate directions for action.
3. Intervention. The consultant and/or manager actively intervene, pursuing change objectives through a variety of specific interventions, a number of which section 11.5 discusses.
Establish a change
relationship
Create links with
members of client system
Achieve a terminal
relationship
Withdraw to leave members of client system
self reliant
Diagnosis
Gathering and analyzing
data, setting change
objectives
Intervention
Taking collaborative
action to implement
desired change
Evaluation
Following up to reinforce and support
change
• • • •
Unfreezing
• • • •
Changing
Planned change process
Organization Development Process
• • • •
Refreezing
Figure 11-2
Organization development and the planned change process.
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11.1.3 IDENTIFYING GOALS AND PROCESSES 313
4. Evaluation. The consultant and/or manager examine the process to determine if things are proceeding as desired and if further action is needed.
5. Achieve a terminal relationship. Eventually, the consultant or facilitator leaves the client able to function on its own.
If OD has been done well, the system and its members should be better pre- pared to manage their ongoing need for self-renewal and development.
F O R E X A M P L E
A Change Management Leader at Clarian Health In 2002, Clarian Health Partners (www.clarian.org) of Indianapolis upgraded its organization-wide software suite. The upgrade promised to help Clarian Health better manage hospital data, streamline business processes, and reduce costs. Because previous upgrades had met with resistance, Clarian Health appointed a well-respected peer to serve as the project’s Change Man- agement Leader. This individual’s sole responsibility for several months prior to and after the software change was to champion the project, emphasize positive aspects, recognize team members for their contributions and achievements, and recruit others to serve as “Change Agents.” Through a series of presentations hosted by the Change Management Leader at Clar- ian’s 20-plus locations, more than 900 employees were introduced to the new software in a positive manner.
• Identify and define change leader, planned change, performance gap, and organizational development .
• Describe two major external dynamics that impact change.
• Compare characteristics of top-down change and bottom-up change.
• List common targets for change.
• Compare characteristics of outcome goals and process goals.
• Discuss five steps in the organizational development process (OD) for planned change.
S E L F - C H E C K
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314 CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP IN THE WORKPLACE
11.2 Leading during Planned Change
Change is much more likely to be successful when people are ready for it. In particular, planned change has little chance for long-term success unless people are open to doing things differently. Managers can give the process of planned change shape and structure by breaking the process into distinct phases and uti- lizing various proactive strategies during each phase of the change process.
11.2.1 The Phases of Planned Change
Psychologist Kurt Lewin recommends that managers view any planned change effort as a three-phase process, as shown in Figure 11-3.4
Phase 1 Unfreezing
create a felt need for change
Change leader’s task:
• Establishing a good relationship with the people involved. • Helping others realize that present behaviors are not effective. • Minimizing expressed resistance to change.
This is done by:
Phase 2 Changing
implement change
Change leader’s task:
• Identifying new, more effective ways of behaving. • Choosing appropriate changes in tasks, people, culture, technology, and/or structure. • Taking action to put these changes into place.
This is done by:
Phase 3 Refreezing
stabilize change
Change leader’s task:
• Creating acceptance and continuity for the new behaviors. • Providing any necessary resource support. • Using performance-contingent rewards and positive reinforcement.
This is done by:
Figure 11-3
Three phases of planned organizational change.
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11.2.2 FOCUSING ON BENEFITS 315
According to Lewin, the planned change process can be described as a process of unfreezing, changing, and refreezing:
▲ During the unfreezing stage, the need for change is recognized and a situa- tion is prepared for change. Several factors can facilitate unfreezing: envi- ronmental pressures for change, declining performance, the recognition of problems or opportunities, and the observation of behavioral models that display alternative approaches. When handled well, conflict can actually be an important unfreezing force in organizations. Conflict can help people break old habits and recognize alternative ways of thinking about or doing things.
▲ In the changing stage, something new takes place in a system, and change is actually implemented. This is the point at which managers initiate changes in such organizational targets as tasks, people, culture, technology, and structure. Ideally, any change is done in response to a good diagnosis of a problem and a careful examination of alternatives. However, many managers enter the changing phase prematurely, quickly changing things and creating resistance to change. When managers implement change before people feel a need for it, there is an increased likelihood of failure.
▲ During the refreezing stage, a manager is concerned about stabilizing the change and creating the conditions for its long-term continuity. Refreezing is accomplished by appropriate rewards for performance, posi- tive reinforcement, and providing necessary resource support. Managers must also evaluate results carefully, provide feedback to the people involved, and make any required modifications in the original change. When refreezing is done poorly, changes are forgotten or abandoned over time. When refreezing is done well, change can be more long lasting.
The first two phases of the planned change process can be considered the proactive phases of change. During these phases, leaders can make plans and motivate staff participation in making the change happen.
Many health care leaders make the fundamental mistake of entering the change process without proper planning and without enlisting staff support. A more pro- gressive approach is to set a course for change and enter a process of garnering staff support by proactively defining the benefits of the imminent change.
11.2.2 Focusing on Benefits
Early on, managers need to completely delineate the benefits of the proposed project or new process leading to change. Managers can hold a discussion with staff and encourage active participation. Along the way, managers identify bene- fits, both apparent and underlying, and relate them to the change process. Ben- efits may include more expedient patient service, improved operational flow, or obvious cost savings.
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316 CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP IN THE WORKPLACE
During this discussion, managers and the group try to identify less apparent benefits, including
▲ time saved by implementing new processes; ▲ energy saved by more efficient processes; ▲ a competitive edge that the organization may gain; ▲ a safer working environment; ▲ reduced boredom; ▲ increases in organizational progress (which helps ensure organizational
stability and individual job security); ▲ elimination of hurdles or headaches associated with outmoded or cum-
bersome processes.
By brainstorming the preceding (and other) nonapparent benefits with the group, a savvy manager can add reality and truth to the change management discussion.
11.2.3 Planning in Detail
Another early objective in the planned change process is to delineate a plan for change. Managers can construct a plan of action by answering the following questions:
▲ Why must the change plan take place? Use the benefits identified by the group as the major catalysts for change.
F O R E X A M P L E
Three-Phase Leadership Rollout at Lenior Memorial In 2002, Lenoir Memorial Hospital (www.lenoirmemorial.org) determined that in order to meet its mission of becoming the “provider of choice in eastern North Carolina,” the organization needed to introduce a new lead- ership model and provide dynamic ongoing leadership training to its employees. Over the next 2 years, new leadership training was developed and delivered to more than 65 executives, directors, managers, and super- visors in three distinct phases. During Phase 1, a select group of directors mapped out the process and debated specific environmental challenges. Phase 2 featured a series of “leadership development intensives,” off-site exercises aimed at fostering collaboration and decision making between managers and within work teams. In Phase 3, an outside consulting firm evaluated individual and organizational performance and changes; the con- sultants also provided recommendations for further leadership training.
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11.2.4 DEALING WITH NONPLAYERS 317
▲ When will the major events in the change plan occur? Include a time sequence of the start, midpoint, and finished product.
▲ How will the plan take shape? Visualize the steps needed to implement the change.
▲ Who will make the plan happen? Include an appropriate discussion of group and individual responsibilities.
Managers need to also discuss the meaning of any plan. First, the leader and the group discuss what the change dynamic means in the near-term in terms of potential implementation problems, variations in daily routines, and any other pertinent topics. Second, the long-term meaning of the change is discussed fully, replete with a reiteration of benefits, relevance to the big picture of the orga- nization and its relationship with its patient constituency, and other positive probabilities.
Too often, change management discussions focus only on short-term pain and not on long-term gain. Both components must be considered and especially examined sequentially, so that all members of the group recognize that the ini- tial discomfort can ultimately lead to a better way of doing things.
11.2.4 Dealing with Nonplayers
During the proactive phase of a planned change, managers also need to prop- erly manage nonplayers, those team members who do not agree with the change and even work against it. Typically, nonplayers use an assortment of verbal con- tentious challenges to derail the change process.
Fortunately, proactive managers can respond to common nonplayer com- plaints effectively, for example:
Nonplayer ploy: “That will never work!”
Manager response: “Well, then tell us specifically what will work.”
Nonplayer ploy: “I have got a problem with this.”
Manager response: “Redefining problems is useless. Give us a solution that might be useful to achieve our goals.”
Nonplayer ploy: “We tried that before, but it did not work.”
Manager response: “We are dealing with the present. How can this work now?”
Nonplayer ploy: “With all this change, maybe I should find another job.”
Manager response: “I will accept your resignation immediately because change will be constant for years to come in health care.”
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318 CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP IN THE WORKPLACE
As these responses indicate, managers can use three principles in managing the nonplayer’s resistance.
▲ Issue a direct, tactful challenge to the complaining nonplayer. Do not allow the nonplayer to complain or cast dispersions on group plans without contributing a better idea. The only individual more detrimental to a health care organization than a nonplayer in this regard is a manager who allows negativity to become acceptable behavior without holding the nonplayer accountable for constructive contribution, not just destructive criticism.
▲ Use plural pronouns, such as we and us. Doing so encourages the group to recognize that the nonplayer is questioning the entire group’s capability, not just yours. This encourages other team members to become accountable for group direction and goal formation and enlists their participation in countering ill-conceived negativity.
▲ Use bottom-line vernacular. Use words such as useless and immediately, so that the nonplayers are clear in their understanding that game playing, dissention, and group denigration are intolerable when striving for group achievement.
A final component of the proactive stage is your display of natural emotions. Don’t be a Pollyanna or Jack Armstrong-esque with an unwarranted positive out- look in the change process; show honest emotion. The group usually recognizes that a manager is in the same boat as they are and will continue to “row” accordingly.
• Identify and define the phases of planned change: unfreezing, changing, and refreezing.
• Describe activities for each of the three phases of planned change.
• Discuss the importance of focusing on benefits and planning in detail during the planned change process.
• Compare nonplayers and active team members.
• List strategies to effectively respond to nonplayer complaints.
S E L F - C H E C K
11.3 Exploring Change Strategies
Change leaders use various approaches when trying to get others to adopt a desired change. Three common change strategies—force-coercion, rational per- suasion, and shared power—are graphically depicted in Figure 11-4.
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11.3.1 FORCE-COERCION 319
11.3.1 Force-Coercion
A force-coercion strategy uses the power of legitimacy, rewards, and punish- ments as the primary inducements to change. As Figure 11-4 shows, the likely outcomes of force-coercion are immediate compliance but little commitment.
Managers can pursue force-coercion in at least two ways, both of which can be commonly observed in health care organizations:
▲ In a direct forcing strategy, a manager takes direct and unilateral action to “command” that change take place. Direct forcing requires someone to exercise formal authority or legitimate power (see section 9.2), offer spe- cial rewards, and/or threaten punishment.
▲ In political maneuvering, a manager works indirectly to gain special advantage over other people and thereby make them change. Political maneuvering involves bargaining, obtaining control of important resources, or granting small favors.
In both versions, the force-coercion strategy produces limited results. Although man- agers can implement this strategy rather quickly, most people respond to this strat- egy out of fear of punishment or hope for a reward, resulting in only temporary compliance with the manager’s desires. The new behavior continues only so long as the opportunity for rewards and punishments is present. For this reason, force-
Force-Coercion
Using position power to create change by decree and formal authority
Change Strategy
Rational Persuasion
Creating change through rational persuasion and empirical argument
Shared Power
Developing support for change through personal values and commitments
Managerial Behavior Likely Results
Informational efforts using credible knowledge, demonstrated facts, and logical argument
Participative efforts to share power and involve others in planning and implementing change
Legitimacy
Rewards
Punishments
Direct forcing and unilateral action
Political maneuvering and indirect action
Fast Temporary compliance
Slow Longer term internalization
Power Bases
Expertise
Reference
Figure 11-4
Change strategies and their managerial implications.
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320 CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP IN THE WORKPLACE
coercion is most useful during the unfreezing phase of change as a device that helps people break old patterns of behavior and gain initial impetus to try new ones.
A manager who seeks to create change through force-coercion believes that people who run things are basically motivated by self-interest and by what the situation offers in terms of potential personal gains or losses. The manager cap- italizes on formal authority, rewards, and punishments. Additionally, a manager relying on force-coercion strategies exploits weaknesses and works extensively to build political alliances within the organization.5
11.3.2 Rational Persuasion
A rational persuasion strategy attempts to bring about change through per- suasion backed by special knowledge, data, and rational argument. The likely outcome is eventual compliance with reasonable commitment. Rational persua- sion is an informational strategy that assumes that rational people are guided by facts, reason, and self-interest when deciding whether to support a change.
A manager using rational persuasion must convince others that the cost-benefit value of a planned change is high and that it will leave them better off than before. Convincing others depends to a large extent on the presence of expert power (see section 9.2), which can come directly from the manager or can be obtained from consultants and other outside experts. When successful, a rational persuasion strategy is especially helpful during the unfreezing and refreezing phase of change. Although slower than force-coercion, rational persuasion tends to result in longer lasting and more internalized change.
A manager utilizing rational persuasion believes that people are inherently rational and are guided by reason in their actions and decision making. After the manager demonstrates that a specific course of action is in someone’s self-interest, he or she assumes that reason and rationality will cause the person to adopt it. Thus, the manager uses information and facts to communicate the essential desir- ability of change. If the logic is sound, the manager is confident that others will adopt and support the proposed change.
11.3.3 Shared Power Strategies
A shared power strategy engages people in a collaborative process of identify- ing values, assumptions, and goals from which support for change will naturally emerge. The process is slow, but it is likely to yield high commitment. This approach is based on empowerment and is highly participative in nature. Shared power strategies rely on involving others in examining personal needs and val- ues, group norms, and operating goals as they relate to the issues at hand. Power is shared by the manager and other people as they work together to develop a new consensus to support needed change.
Managers using shared power as an approach to planned change need refer- ence power (see section 9.2) and related skills to work effectively with other peo- ple in group situations. They must be comfortable allowing others to participate
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11.3.3 SHARED POWER STRATEGIES 321
in making decisions that affect the planned change and the way it is implemented. Because shared power strategies entail a high level of involvement, they are often quite time consuming but result in long-lasting and internalized change.
A manager who shares power begins by recognizing that people have varied needs and complex motivations. He or she believes people behave as they do because of sociocultural norms and commitments to the expectations of others. Changes in organizations are understood to inevitably involve changes in attitudes, values, skills, and significant relationships, not just changes in knowledge, information, or intel- lectual rationales for action and practice. Thus, when seeking to change others, the manager is sensitive to the way group pressures can support or inhibit change. In working with people, managers make every attempt to gather opinions, identify feel- ings and expectations, and incorporate this information fully into the change process.
F O R E X A M P L E
Leading the Way through Technological Change In an effort to catch potential errors in medication distribution, Jewish Hospi- tal of Louisville, Kentucky (www.jhhs.org), became one of the first health care organizations in the United States to implement technology that relies on patient’s wristbands with scannable bar codes and in-room touch-screen for comprehensive medication monitoring. To ease the organization through the transition to the computerized system, Jewish Hospital rolled out the new tech- nology over an 18-month process, first implementing technology on surgical floors, then adding the service to long-term medical floors, and finally extend- ing it to all clinic and out-patient facilities. In addition to medication moni- toring, Jewish Hospital is considering enhancing the technology with additional capabilities over the next several years. Possible services to be rolled out in the future include intersite medical records transmission and electronic charting.
• Identify and define force-coercion strategy, rational persuasion strategy, and shared power strategy.
• Compare the two force-coercion approaches: direct forcing and political maneuvering.
• Discuss characteristics of the three major change strategies.
• Describe appropriate workplace situations or environments for each of the three change strategies.
S E L F - C H E C K
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322 CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP IN THE WORKPLACE
11.4 Resisting Change
Change typically brings with it resistance. When people resist change, they are defending something that is important and that appears to them as threatened by the attempted change.
Managers often view resistance as something that must be overcome in order for change to be successful. This is not always correct or helpful. Resistance is better viewed as feedback that indicates something can be done to achieve a bet- ter “fit” between the planned change, the situation, and the people involved.
Managers need to realize that several group emotions are triggered by change. These emotional responses can pervade an entire health care team and cause a group to resist—and even work against—the proposed change. As a health care leader, you must understand these emotions, their potential delete- rious impact, and, most important, pragmatic approaches required to manage these emotions toward progressive change.
11.4.1 Understanding Why People Resist Change
Numerous reasons exist for why people in organizations resist planned change. Some of the more common include
▲ disrupted habits: Feeling upset when old ways of doing things can’t be followed;
▲ loss of confidence: Feeling incapable of performing well under the new ways of doing things;
▲ loss of control: Feeling that things are being done to you rather than by or with you;
▲ poor timing: Feeling overwhelmed by the situation or that things are moving too fast;
▲ work overload: Not having the physical or psychic energy to commit to the change.
In addition to the preceding, fear is probably the most prevalent emotion cited by health care leaders as a major factor in the change process. Nearly everyone experiences uncertainty—fear of the unknown—when they don’t understand what is happening or what is coming next.
Another prominent fear for steady players—who often represent the silent majority of a team—is fear of regression. Steady players often view any change with apprehension if the proposed change is not completely presented in a fash- ion that highlights its improvement value to the status quo. Managers can address fear of regression proactively by recognizing that most steady staff members even- tually accept change, provided it is not simply change for the sake of change. As a leader, you have a responsibility to identify how the proposed change brings
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11.4.2 RESPONDING TO CHANGE RESISTANCE 323
about new benefits for patients, your organization, your team, and individual team member. See section 11.2 for more ideas to address this type of fear.
Low-performing staff members often fear having to do more work. Change usually requires increased effort and higher contribution from all staff members. For low-performing staff, increased performance demands are ultimately threat- ening, because their current level of nonperformance and resistant behavior will be exacerbated by more pressure for optimum performance and an accelerated pace of action. Put bluntly, the need for change presents a great opportunity for low-performing staff to be exposed as incompetent, noncontributory, and detri- mental to the provision of stellar health care.
If job descriptions and other substantiating criteria (see section 5.1) are in place for assessing performance, the change dynamic can provide an excellent opportunity to appraise the low-performing employee’s contributions and provide the impetus for termination. This strategy is “rightsizing the right way,” because successful health care organizations can only afford to employ individuals who are motivated, competent, and aware that the organization is more important in the work scheme than individual preferences, dissenting opinion, and other me- first mentalities.
11.4.2 Responding to Change Resistance
After a manager recognizes and understands resistance to change, he or she can deal with it in various ways:
▲ Education and communication: Manager uses discussions, presentations, and demonstrations to educate people beforehand about a change.
▲ Participation and involvement: Manager allows others to contribute ideas and help design and implement the change.
▲ Facilitation and support: Manager provides encouragement and training, actively listens to problems and complaints, and helps others to over- come performance pressures.
▲ Facilitation and agreement: Manager provides incentives that appeal to those who are actively resisting or ready to resist. With this approach, the manager typically makes trade-offs in exchange for assurances that change will not be blocked.
▲ Manipulation and co-optation: Manager tries to influence others covertly by providing information selectively and structuring events in favor of the desired change.
▲ Explicit and implicit coercion: Manager forces people to accept change by threatening resistors with a variety of undesirable consequences if they do not go along as planned.6
Obviously, the last two approaches carry great risk and potential for negative side effects.
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11.5 Incorporating Organization Development Interventions
The foundations of organization development include respect for people and a commitment to their full participation in self-directed change processes. This is the very definition of employee involvement in action. OD rallies an organiza- tion’s staff through teamwork and in support of constructive change.
This rallying process is evident in the various OD interventions, or activities that are initiated to directly facilitate the change processes. (See section 11.1.3 for more information about where interventions fit into the overall OD process.)
The following sections cover the most common types of interventions.
11.5.1 Organization-wide Interventions
OD practitioners operate on the premise that any change in one part of an organization also affects other parts. Additionally, an organization’s culture is
F O R E X A M P L E
Small-Scale Changes on a Trial Basis In 2005, Trillium Health Centre (www.trilliumhealthcentre.org) in Missis- sauga, Ontario, Canada, set an aggressive goal for itself—to reduce the num- ber of cardiac arrests by 60% within its facilities. To meet this goal, Trillium created Rapid Response Teams and new protocols that require specially trained RNs and respiratory therapists to collaborate with ward nurses to quickly assess patients and implement life-saving procedures. What made the change at Trillium unique was that rather than implementing Rapid Response Teams throughout dozens of departments and facilities, the plan has been introduced on a small, year-long trial basis in only four depart- ments (GI, Respiratory, Oncology and General Internal Medicine). The more manageable rollout of the plan is allowing Trillium to more carefully mon- itor and adjust the procedures.
• Identify and define resistance and group emotion.
• Discuss common reasons for resisting change.
• List fears related to change resistance.
• Describe strategies for responding to change resistance.
S E L F - C H E C K
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11.5.2 TEAM INTERVENTIONS 325
considered to have an important impact on member attitudes and morale. Fur- thermore, its structures and jobs can be designed to bring together people, technology, and systems in highly productive and satisfying working combi- nations.
Some common OD interventions that emphasize organizational effectiveness include
▲ survey feedback: Comprehensive and systematic data collection to identify attitudes and needs, analyze results, and plan for constructive action;
▲ confrontation meeting: Intensive, structured meetings to gather data on workplace problems and plan for constructive actions;
▲ structural redesign: Realigning the organization structure to meet the needs of environmental and contextual forces;
▲ management by objectives (MBO): Formalizing MBO throughout the organization to link individual, group, and organizational objectives. (See section 7.5 for more information on MBO.)
11.5.2 Team Interventions
Team plays a very important role in organization development. OD practi- tioners recognize two principles in this respect. First, teams are viewed as important vehicles for helping people satisfy important needs. Second, by improving collaboration within and among teams, organizational performance also improves.
Typically OD interventions designed to improve team effectiveness include
▲ team building: Structured experiences to help team members set goals, improve interpersonal relations, and become a better functioning team;
▲ process consultation: Third-party observation and advice on critical team processes (for example, communication, conflict, and decision making);
▲ intergroup team building: Structured experiences to help two or more teams set shared goals, improve relations, and become better coordinated.
Interdependence among all members of the group is essential to achieving change successfully. The following guidelines can help managers and their teams effectively implement change in a cohesive, integrated manner.
▲ Identify problems promptly and pragmatically. Doing so mandates a timely response to cited problems, a practical approach to gathering potential solutions from each staff member, and emphasis on defining new solutions, not reiterating old problems.
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▲ Elicit solutions from staff members. Managers must do this constantly and consistently asking all group members, “How can we do X better?”
▲ Use interactive feedback. Present critical information to the group on a timely basis, acknowledge and use suggestive feedback, and reward any new innovations that contribute to the process with group recognition and other appropriate methods.
▲ Resolve short-term problems and focus on the long term. Put the responsibility for a solution on the individuals who identify the problem first, then charge the group with the responsibility of devising a solution that helps make the long-term objective of change a reality.
▲ Reinforce the need for change. Provide reinforcement throughout the change process by asking team members to help identify new benefits that the change may generate. These benefits can be any advantages the organization, department, or individual may realize that were not identi- fied initially but are now readily apparent and tangible for the group to identify and discuss.
▲ Cite examples of positive change. Whenever possible, link past exam- ples of positive group change and current challenges. You probably can easily identify a past action that was so daunting that by comparison a current change project is seemingly easy.
11.5.3 Individual Interventions
Organization development practitioners generally recognize that the need for individual growth and development is most likely to be satisfied in a support- ive and challenging work environment. They also accept the premise that most people are capable of assuming responsibility for their own actions and of mak- ing positive contributions to organizational performance.
Based on these principles, some of the more popular OD interventions designed to help improve individual effectiveness include
▲ sensitivity training: Unstructured group sessions where participants learn interpersonal skills and increased sensitivity to other people;
▲ management training: Structured educational opportunities for develop- ing important managerial skills and competencies;
▲ role negotiation: Structured interactions to clarify and negotiate role expectations among people who work together;
▲ job redesign: Realigning task components to better fit the needs and capabilities of the individual;
▲ career planning: Structured advice and discussion sessions to help indi- viduals plan career paths and programs of personal development.
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11.6 DEALING WITH STRESS 327
11.6 Dealing with Stress
In a health care setting, the jobs that people perform—and the relationships and circumstances under which they have to do them—are often causes of signifi- cant stress. Formally defined, stress is a state of tension experienced by indi- viduals facing extraordinary demands, constraints, or opportunities.7 Any look toward a health care career is incomplete without considering stress as a chal- lenge that you are sure to encounter along the way—and a challenge you must be prepared to help others learn to deal with.
F O R E X A M P L E
IHI Interventions to Save 100,000 Lives Founded in 1991, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, or IHI (www.ihi.org), is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality and value of health care throughout the United States. In response to discouraging patient mortality reports, IHI launched the 100,000 Lives Cam- paign in a collaborative effort to help hospitals substantially decrease in-house patient deaths. The campaign focuses on just six interventions, including techniques for preventing adverse drug events, central line infection, and ventilator-associated pneumonia. IHI supplies free online information, train- ing materials, a discussion forum, and e-mail-based newsletters relating to the six interventions. Hospitals can choose to implement all or some of the six interventions. To learn more about the 100,000 Lives campaign and track the program’s progress, visit www.ihi.org/IHI/Programs/Campaign.
• Identify and define intervention.
• Describe characteristics and appropriate uses of organization-wide interventions.
• Discuss strategies for using team interventions to foster interdepen- dence.
• Compare individual intervention techniques.
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11.6.1 Sources of Stress
The things that cause stress are called stressors. Whether stressors originate directly in the work setting or emerge in personal and nonwork situations, they all have the potential to influence work attitudes, behavior, and job performance.
Work factors have an obvious potential to create job stress. Some 46% of workers in one survey reported that their jobs were highly stressful; 34% said that their jobs were so stressful that they were thinking of quitting.
Today, most workers experience stress in long hours of work, excessive e-mails, unrealistic work deadlines, difficult bosses or co-workers, and unwelcome or unfa- miliar work.8 Stress is also associated with excessively high or low task demands, role conflicts or ambiguities, poor interpersonal relations, or career progress that is too slow or too fast. Stress tends to be high during periods of work overload, when office politics are common, and among people working for organizations undergoing staff cutback and downsizing. (This latter situation and lack of “cor- porate loyalty” to the employee can be especially stressful to employees who view themselves as “career” employees and who are close to retirement age.)
A variety of personal factors are also sources of potential stress for people at work. Such individual characteristics as needs, capabilities, and personality can influence how one perceives and responds to work situations. Researchers, for example, identify a type A personality that is high in achievement orientation,
F O R E X A M P L E
Personal Wellness Personal wellness is a form of preventative stress management, in which employers help their employees recognize their responsibility to enhancing their physical, emotional, and relational health through educational resources and programming. As health care costs continue to rise, many employers are placing greater emphasis on personal wellness programs and a way to avoid health problems—or at least identify problems earlier, when they are more treatable. Personal wellness addresses dozens of health-related topics, includ- ing smoking, using alcohol, maintaining a nutritious diet, engaging in regu- lar exercise, preventing the spread of sexually transmitted disease, and much more. The Wellness Council of America (www.welcoa.org) is a nonprofit, multidisciplinary organization that offers support, programming ideas, education materials, online tools, and other resources for individuals and organizations who want to make ongoing personal wellness a priority. The organization’s free e-mail-based newsletter, The Well Workplace, highlights scientific studies and real-world techniques that you can use to make every day a healthy experience.
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11.6.2 CONSEQUENCES OF STRESS 329
impatience, and perfectionism. Type A people are likely to create stress in circumstances that others find relatively stress-free. Type A people, in a sense, bring stress on themselves. Stressful behavior patterns of type A personalities include9
▲ always moving, walking, and eating rapidly; ▲ acting impatient, hurrying others, disliking waiting; ▲ doing, or trying to do, several things at once; ▲ feeling guilty when relaxing; ▲ trying to schedule more in less time; ▲ using nervous gestures such as a clenched fist; ▲ hurrying or interrupting the speech of others.
Finally, stress from nonwork factors can have spillover effects on an indi- vidual’s work. Stressful life situations, including such things as family events (for example, the birth of a child), economics (a sudden loss of extra income), and personal affairs (a preoccupation with a bad relationship), are often sources of emotional strain. Depending on the individual and his or her ability to deal with them, preoccupation with such situations can affect one’s work and add to the stress of work-life conflicts.
11.6.2 Consequences of Stress
Many people mistakenly assume that stress always has a negative influence on people’s lives. Stress actually has two faces—one constructive and one destructive.10
▲ Constructive stress acts in a positive way for the individual and/or the organization. It occurs in moderation and proves energizing and perfor- mance enhancing.11 The stress is sufficient to encourage increased effort, stimulate creativity, and enhance diligence in one’s work, while not over- whelming the individual and causing negative outcomes. Type A individ- uals, for example, are likely to work long hours and to be less satisfied with poor performance. For them, challenging task demands imposed by a supervisor may elicit higher levels of task accomplishment. Even non- work stressors such as new family responsibilities may cause them to work harder in anticipation of greater financial rewards.
▲ Destructive stress, or distress, is dysfunctional for the individual and/or the organization. It occurs as intense or long-term stress that, as Figure 11-5 shows, overloads and breaks down a person’s physical and mental systems. Destructive stress can lead to job burnout—a form of physical and mental exhaustion that can be incapacitating both personally and with respect to one’s work.
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330 CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP IN THE WORKPLACE
Productivity can suffer as people react to very intense stress through turnover, absenteeism, errors, accidents, dissatisfaction, and reduced performance.
Today there is increased concern for another job consequence of excessive stress: workplace rage, or overtly aggressive behavior toward co-workers and the work setting in general. Lost tempers are a common example; the unfortu- nate extremes are tragedies involving physical harm to others.
Medical research is also concerned that too much stress can reduce resistance to disease and increase the likelihood of physical and mental illnesses, such as hyper- tension, ulcers, substance abuse, overeating, depression, muscle aches, and more.
Managers must be alert to signs of excessive stress in themselves and the people with whom they work. The multiple and varied symptoms of excessive stress include changes in work attitudes and performance as well as personal restlessness, irritability, and stomach upset. The best stress management alterna- tive is to prevent it from ever reaching excessive levels in the first place. By rec- ognizing stressors emerging from personal and nonwork factors, action can be taken to prevent stressors from adversely affecting the work experience. For example, family difficulties may be relieved by a change of work schedule.
Figure 11-5
Potential negative consequences of destructive job stress.
Intense or Long-term
Stress
• Lower performance • Lower satisfaction • Workplace rage • Personal problems • Poor health
Possible Effects
• Lack of energy • Emotional distress • Bad attitude • Poor self-esteem
Exhaustion and Burnout
• Identify and define stress, stressor, personal wellness program, type A personality, job burnout , and workplace rage.
• List common factors that cause stress, including work factors and personal factors.
• Describe characteristics of a type A personality.
• Compare destructive stress and constructive stress.
• Discuss effects of stress on the workplaces and on workers.
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KEY TERMS 331
SUMMARY In many ways, change is the only constant in today’s health care workplace. Man- agers, by responding positively to change, can become change leaders for their teams, staffs, and entire organizations. The process of planned change provides a structured way for organizations to evolve and improve. Managers can utilize several change strategies to implement and encourage positive changes. Inter- ventions at the organization, team, or individual level can help respond to change resistance. Change frequently causes stress, but aware managers can monitor workplace stress and help employees to cope more effectively.
KEY TERMS Bottom-up change Initiatives for change come from people throughout
an organization and are supported by the efforts of middle- and lower-level managers acting as change agents.
Career planning Structured advice and discussion sessions to help individuals plan career paths and programs of per- sonal development.
Change leader A person or group who takes leadership responsibil- ity for changing the existing pattern of behavior of another person or social system.
Changing stage The phase of planned change in which something new takes place in a system, and change is actually implemented.
Confrontation meeting Intensive, structured meetings to gather data on workplace problems and plan for constructive ac- tions; an organization-wide OD intervention.
Constructive stress Stress that acts in a positive way for the individual and/or the organization. It occurs in moderation and proves energizing and performance enhancing.
Destructive stress Distress, or dysfunctional stress, for the individual and/or the organization. It occurs as intense or long- term stress that overloads and breaks down a per- son’s physical and mental systems.
Direct forcing strategy A force-coercion strategy in which a manager takes direct and unilateral action to “command” that change take place.
Force-coercion strategy Change strategy that uses the power of legitimacy, rewards, and punishments as the primary induce- ments to change.
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Group emotions Emotional responses can pervade an entire team and cause a group to resist—and even work against—a proposed change.
Interventions Within OD, activities that are initiated to directly fa- cilitate the change processes.
Job burnout A form of physical and mental exhaustion that can be incapacitating both personally and with respect to one’s work.
Job redesign Realigning task components to better fit the needs and capabilities of the individual.
Management training Structured educational opportunities for developing important managerial skills and competencies.
Nonplayer A team member who does not agree with a change and even works against it.
Organization A comprehensive approach to planned organiza- development (OD) tional change that involves applying behavioral
science in a systematic and long-range effort to improve organizational effectiveness.
Outcome goals In organization development, goals that focus on task accomplishments.
Performance gap A discrepancy between the desired and actual state of affairs.
Personal wellness A form of preventative stress management, in which employers help their employees recognize their re- sponsibility to enhancing their physical, emotional, and relational health through educational resources and programming.
Planned change Change that occurs as a result of the specific efforts of a change leader; usually in direct response to a perceived performance gap
Political maneuvering A force-coercion strategy in which a manager works indirectly to gain special advantage over other peo- ple and thereby make them change. Political ma- neuvering involves bargaining, obtaining control of important resources, or granting small favors.
Process goals In organization development, goals that focus on the way people work together.
Rational persuasion Informational change strategy that focuses on per- strategy suasion backed by special knowledge, data, and
rational argument.
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KEY TERMS 333
Refreezing stage The phase of planned change in which a manager is concerned about stabilizing the change and creating the conditions for its long-term continuity.
Resistance Feedback that indicates something can be done to achieve a better “fit” between the planned change, the situation, and the people involved.
Role negotiation Structured interactions to clarify and negotiate role expectations among people who work together.
Sensitivity training Unstructured group sessions where participants learn interpersonal skills and increased sensitivity to other people.
Shared power strategy A change strategy that engages people in a collabo- rative process of identifying values, assumptions, and goals from which support for change will natu- rally emerge.
Stress A state of tension experienced by individuals fac- ing extraordinary demands, constraints, or oppor- tunities.
Stressors The things that cause stress.
Structural redesign Realigning the organization structure to meet the needs of environmental and contextual forces; an organization-wide OD intervention.
Survey feedback Comprehensive and systematic data collection to identify attitudes and needs, analyze results, and plan for constructive action; an organization-wide OD intervention.
Top-down change Strategic and comprehensive changes are initiated by top management levels with the goal of compre- hensive impact on the organization and its perfor- mance capabilities.
Type A personality People who tend to be achievement orientated, im- patient, and perfectionists. Type A people are likely to create stress in circumstances that others find rel- atively stress-free.
Unfreezing stage The phase of planned change in which the need for change is recognized and a situation is prepared for change.
Workplace rage Overtly aggressive behavior toward co-workers and the work setting in general, resulting for excessive stress.
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334 CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP IN THE WORKPLACE
ASSESS YOUR UNDERSTANDING Go to www.wiley.com/college/Lombardi to evaluate your knowledge of the basics of leadership transfer. Measure your learning by comparing pretest and post-test results.
Summary Questions
1. Planned changed is often in response to a performance gap, which is a discrepancy between the desired and actual state of affairs in the organi- zation. True or false?
2. Within an organization, targets for change can include (a) tasks, technology, and culture. (b) upper, middle, and lower management. (c) the external and internal environments. (d) none of the above.
3. A traditional OD process consists of five steps: establishing a change rela- tionship, diagnosing, intervening, evaluating, and achieving a terminal relationship. True or false?
4. The three phases of the planned change process are (a) identification, implementation, and evaluation. (b) brainstorming, testing, and feedback. (c) auditing, altering, and augmenting. (d) unfreezing, changing, and refreezing.
5. A proactive strategy for implementing planned change is (a) planning in detail. (b) dealing with nonplayers. (c) focusing on benefits. (d) all of the above.
6. When a nonplayer who is resistant to change says he should just go find another job, an appropriate managerial response would be, “Have patience with this current situation, and we can try to figure things out together.” True or false?
7. When a manager uses special knowledge, data, and logical arguments to bring about change, she is engaging in (a) shared power change leadership. (b) post-evaluation change leadership. (c) rational persuasion change leadership. (d) force-coercion change leadership.
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SUMMARY QUESTIONS 335
8. In today’s health care workplace, force-coercion strategies of change lead- ership are generally inappropriate. Instead, managers should strive for solutions based on shared power. True or false?
9. Resistance is not necessarily negative energy that managers must work to overcome within the teams and department. Instead, resistance can be viewed as feedback that something can be done to achieve a better fit between the planned change and the situation. True or false?
10. The most common apprehension of steady-performing team members in regards to change is
(a) fear of having to do more work.
(b) fear of regression.
(c) fear of the unknown.
(d) fear of termination.
11. When a manager responds to employee resistance by providing encour- agement and training, the manager is utilizing a participation and involvement strategy. True or false?
12. At the organizational level, an effective OD intervention might include
(a) survey feedback.
(b) team building.
(c) career planning.
(d) management training.
13. The goal of most team-level interventions is interdependence. True or false?
14. An individual intervention in which an employee learns interpersonal skills in an unstructured session is
(a) role negotiation.
(b) management by objectives (MBO).
(c) confrontation meeting.
(d) sensitivity training.
15. Stress is ultimately always detrimental to employee job performance. True or false?
16. Work factors that can cause stress include all the following except
(a) long work hours.
(b) role conflicts and ambiguities.
(c) high achievement orientation.
(d) difficult co-workers.
17. Individuals with type A personalities are more likely to create stressful circumstances for themselves. True or false?
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Review Questions
1. In what three ways does a change leader contrast with status-quo manager?
2. When a new team leader and her teammates propose a new job-sharing strategy that increases job performance and saves the organization money, what type of change is occurring?
3. What needs to happen in the traditional organizational development (OD) process before a manager can begin suggesting new departmental procedures?
4. When a manager rewards staff for their performances and positive responses to change, she is engaging in which phase of the planned change process?
5. Planning in detail is a vital part of successful planned change. What are four critical questions that managers should ask themselves about their planned changes?
6. Force-coercion change strategies produce fast but more temporary results. What sorts of power are required for successful force-coercion change?
7. A manager who bargains with staff, obtains control of important resources, and grants small favors in an effort to lead change is engaging in what specific type of force-coercion strategy?
8. A shared power strategy of change leadership is based on empowerment and group participation. What are the pros and cons of this strategy?
9. Group emotions are often triggered by change. What is the most com- mon emotion health care employees site when confronted with change?
10. A nurse manager tells her staff that any employee who refuses to work 8 hours of overtime in the next week will lose any scheduling privileges going forward. What response to change resistance is the manager using?
11. OD interventions often emphasize changes for overall organizational effectiveness. When data is systematically collected to identify attitudes and needs, what specific type of intervention is occurring?
12. When a manager seeks to elicit solutions for a problem from his staff members, the manager is utilizing which type of intervention?
13. OD practitioners recognize the need for individual growth and develop- ment. What are some common interventions at the individual level?
14. Stress can be created by a variety of factors. What are three major cate- gories of stress-related factors?
15. Destructive stress can lead to extremely detrimental conditions for indi- viduals and organizations. What are some possible negative consequences of destructive job stress?
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Applying This Chapter
1. A busy suburban emergency room is planning to institute a new digital charting process for all patients. In the past, staff has been extremely reluctant to changes in the charting process and working with new tech- nologies. Based on traditional OD processes, what are some things a manager can do to ensure the change to a digital charting process is successful?
2. What might be a proactive, positive response to a staff member who is resisting change and complains that “we’ve already changed several times in the last few years and nothing got better”?
3. Although force-coercion strategies for implementing change are quite traditional, they can be effective when utilized appropriate. Describe a situation in which a force-coercion strategy of change leadership is more appropriate rational persuasion or shared power strategies.
4. The communications team at a large research hospital has been charged with producing and distributing six additional newsletters each year to potential investors. The existing staff is resisting the new obligations, claiming that they already overworked and underappreciated. The team’s manager has been given an additional $10,000 but no new staff to meet the new goal. How can the manager respond to her resistant team?
5. How might a health care manager respond with organization-wide, team, and individual interventions to the elimination of on-site radiology tech- nician services from a small community hospital?
6. Maria, a lab technician recently returning from maternity leave, finds that her department was significantly altered during her absence. Several new pieces of equipment were added to the lab, and two of her favorite co- workers where reassigned to another facility within the organization. Maria was very interested in applying for a team leader position before taking leave, but now she just wants to do her job and leave a workplace she considers too stressful. How might Maria’s stress relate to the three factors covered in section 11.6?
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Identifying Bottom-up Change When you’re applying and interviewing for your first health care management position, you probably will not have work experiences to share with a hiring manager that involve your ability to introduce top-down changes. Instead, consider times that you were involved in sug- gesting, implementing, or producing bottom-up changes (see section 11.1.1). Bottom-up changes come from people (probably like yourself) who are actually doing the daily work and seeing the real-world challenges that the organization faces. Rather than complaining about the next challenging work or educa- tional situation that arises, consider it an opportunity to create bottom-up change. You can make your situation better while gaining a useful experience to share in future job interviews.
Your Barriers to Change On a blank sheet of paper, write down a description of a significant change that has happened in your career, your personal life, or your education. Why did the change happen? How did you feel about the change? Did you resist the change? Look at the typical reasons for resistance to change (listed in section 11.4.1)— disrupted habits, loss of confidence, loss of control, poor timing, and work overload. Which of these did you experience? Write down your responses to all these questions. Understand that while resisting change is normal and understandable, change is an indisputable fact of today’s health care workplace. Fortunately, you probably resist change for similar reasons, regardless of the specific change. So after you identify how you tend to resist change, you can begin preparing yourself with rational, positive responses to your most typical change-resisting thoughts.
Thinking Strategically Imagine a difficult situation involving others at work, school, or in your personal life. (Perhaps your depart- ment has been asked to cut $25,000 from its annual operating budget, you have group presentation on a complex health care topic due in 3 days, or you and
your partner must relocate to a new apartment or home in the next 2 months.) What would be a possible re- sponse to the situation utilizing a force-coercion strat- egy? What would be a response based on rational per- suasion? How about shared power? Although no single strategy is completely right or wrong, some strategies work better in some situations. Which strategy feels best to you personally? What sort of change leader might you prefer to be in your career?
Examples of Positive Change Your interactions with bosses, co-workers, employees, professors, classmates, and even family and friends, will always involve some aspect of change. While change can be difficult, time-consuming, frustrating, and even scary, you can always choose to focus on examples of positive change. Take a moment and write a brief description (three or four sentences will do) about a time when you experienced a positive change in your education, work, or personal life. What made the change difficult? What made the change ultimately positive? Was there a partic- ular lesson you learned in the change process? The next time you’re confronted with change, think back on the example of positive change you identified. If appropriate, consider sharing your example with someone else.
Stress Diaries Keeping a personal stress diary can help you better un- derstand what stresses you and how you can react more effectively to everyday stress. Various forms of stress diaries are available online, and many are free. Whether you record your stressors in an electronic document or a blank notebook, the key is to write down your stress status on a regular basis (for example, every hour). Each entry in your stress diary should note date, time, description of your mood, how stressed you feel (on a scale of 0 to 10), any symptoms or emotions you’re feeling, and what may be causing the stress. After 2 weeks, review all the entries and look for pat- terns: common stressors, typical responses, and times of day when you feel most stressed. Knowing the sorts of situations that cause you stress can help you pre- pare for and manage future stress better.
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YOU TRY IT
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