When it comes to bringing about organizational change, leaders are faced with many issues that challenge the success of their change efforts in any company or organization. Whether it be bringing down company costs, improving customer satisfaction scores, or changing a school's assessment strategies, many times, this idea of change is greeted with hesitation from coworkers and colleagues alike. To create change, we need to talk about it – in person and together.
As George Bernard Shaw put it, "The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” In their book, Crucial Conversations, Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, authors Kerry Patterson, Joseph Granny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler point out that these crucial conversations are interactions that happen to all of us and can be about any topic. These conversations are meaningful because the results affect our daily lives and routines.
I want to be a good leader, a self-differentiated leader that connects with others without losing my own identity (Camp, 2010). This type of leader can keep a level head no matter what problems or challenging situations arise as they lead their teams. Self-differentiated leaders are also able “to tolerate other people’s discomfort because it encourages them to take personal responsibility” (Camp, 2010).To be this self-differentiated leader, I will have to be willing to have the hard conversations that others don’t. Because of my knowledge of the process of the crucial conversation, I now feel confident in myself to discuss my innovation plan, 6 Sources of Influence, 4DX, and anything else that comes my way. As an educator and leader, it is my responsibility to speak up to give our students the best and allow them to reach their full potential.
These conversations can be intimidating because we feel vulnerable, but that vulnerability is where effective communication lies. We cannot be silent or passive, as this is lonely, ineffective, and wasteful. If we want to be successful, we need to talk about my innovating plan and our intentions for implementing the plan using the 6 Sources of Influence and 4DX, remembering the “why” throughout the conversation.
Below is the list of key factors and how I plan to use them when meeting with my school leaders before and during the crucial conversation to promote the implementation of my innovation plan.
Getting unstuck. Set up a crucial conversation with the school leader to discuss the implementation of my innovation plan. Setting the critical conversation will allow for information, ideas, beliefs, and goals between the school leaders and myself.
Start with the heart. Before the meeting, I will keep in mind to stay true to myself by remembering my motives, goals, and reasons for why I want my innovation plan to happen.
Learn to look refers to watching and listening in the conversation. What is going on? Is this conversation becoming stressful? Stay focused on the goal at hand. Pull the conversations back to the issue while keeping calm. This is where two-way dialog starts and is continuous throughout the conversation. This rolls into the next, Make it safe.
Make it safe starts with realizing that violence could be on its way when there is silence. This means essentially, those who keep it in without speaking up could become erratic. This is not a way or path to go along as a leader. I will always treat my school leader’s motives and beliefs to oppose the innovation plan. In return, it will lead them to respect my motives and faith for why I want to implement my innovation plan.
Master the stories. Essentially, I want to stay on topic and understand that my stories impact the goals. I use examples that make sense and stay within the subject when telling stories.
STATE your path, stating what I believe is right and the right direction to take. It is essential to let others talk and tell their stories too. I will keep the conversation going positively and follow the state steps:
Share your facts.
Tell your story.
Ask for others’ paths. Others share their story.
Talk tentatively.
Encourage testing where others share their views.
Explore other’s paths is safety. This means encouraging others to express themselves without ridicule or retribution. As a leader, their stories and opinions will help me influence the board on tough decisions.
Move to action is finishing the crucial conversation with an outcome reached. Now it is time to work on or implement the outcome resulting from the critical conversations. Accountability will be set in this step, and follow-through must happen.
It is essential for implementing a change in my organization is to become a self-differentiated leader and take into account crucial conversation ideas. I will utilize the critical factors mentioned above when meeting with my school leaders and see why and how my innovation plan can positively impact our school district.
References
Camp, J. (2010, November 10). Friedman’s Theory of Differentiated Leadership Made Simple. Www.youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgdcljNV-Ew
Patterson, K., Grenny, J., Mcmillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2012). Crucial conversations: tools for talking when stakes are high. Mcgraw-Hill Education.
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