Blueprint for Personal and Professional Growth
Blueprint for Personal and Professional Growth This course has provided me with a multitude of tools, and it has definitely taught me to put careful thought into every situation as it pertains to change; whether it relates to work, school, or things that are going on in my personal life. These tools are both important and necessary in order to become an effective manager in the future.
This course has taught me a lot in terms of initiating and managing change, and Kotter’s eight-stage process is a very useful approach when it comes to making changes within an organization. This course has helped me strengthen my skills in overcoming barriers that tend to get and make it difficult to
…show more content…
As the author states, “Innovation begins with someone being aware enough to sense a new need” (Kanter, 2003). Being a person who has always struggled with adapting to new things, I would definitely benefit from strengthening this skill so that I am equipped with the necessary tools that will allow me to sense when there is a need for change as well as being able to identify the gaps between what is and what could be. Another weak area for me is skill #4: Enlisting Backers and Supporters: Getting Buy-Ins, Building Coalitions”. Strengthening this skill will allow me to bring on board the right people who are needed to help successfully implement the change as having too many people involved with the process could cause a delay in the implementation of the change, or could result in failure. This will require me to communicate my vision in order to find out who is receptive of the change and who is resistant as well ask finding out exactly who I will need to help with the change process. In order to further strengthen my management skills, I will continue with my program at Walden University until I have earned a Master’s degree in the field of management. This program will
Step 2 is forming a powerful guiding coalition. Leadership will have to be on board and on the same page in regards to the change. Kotter and Cohen reveal the core problems people face when leading change. Their main findings are that the central issue concerns not structure or systems but behavior and how to alter it (Farris, 2008). The success of the changes will depend on the ability of the managers to show their commitment to change and motivate the employees to do the same. Without any process to track the implementation, the change can also fail.
My goal is to learn as much as I can so that I am equipped to convert my role as the middle manager at my current organization to one that sits at the senior leadership table. I am looking forward to this course developing my critical thinking skills in preparation for my inevitable
This hits a few of John Kotter’s eight necessary steps for successful change. These steps include creating a guiding coalition and empowering broad-based action. (Hartzell, n.d., par. 3) Ensuring that this new change process has the best opportunity for success.
Establishing a sense of urgency – create and use a significant opportunity as a means for exciting people to sign up to change their organization.
The above diagram is the 8steps of John Kotter towards change.This model is divided into three phase.The first phase is to create the climate for change.The first step is to create urgency, not all of the employees are open to change,for change to happen the company must develop a sense of urgency around the need for change.An honest and convincing dialouge about what is happening in the marketplace and with the competition may convince people and make them start talking about the change being propose, the urgency can build and feed on itself.To form a powerful coalition, people need to be convince the crucial to change. Bring together a coalition, or team, of influential people whose power comes from a variety of
As this section represents a substantial portion of the book, his work, and is the theory with the greatest number of implications, it is important that all eight steps are accurately portrayed in this section of my paper. Kotter outlines his vision for authentic and transformational change through eight steps. His first step is to foster a sense of urgency in the employees around the need for a change to the current state. This helps initiate the motivation necessary to begin the change process. He suggests that this can be accomplished by identifying possible threats, openly discussing opportunities, and giving people the chance to ask questions and get involved in the initiative, which helps build their investment into change. The next of
In this week’s reading Kotter gets into the heart of his overall message, which is leading change. He first goes through the 8-step model of change in chapter 2 and then picks apart the first step on chapter 3. Cohens chapter further enhances the step of creating urgency and works in tandem with Kotter’s model. It provided some worksheets and surveys to organize thoughts and get proper feedback on change efforts. Overall, both pieces provide a great starting point for heading organizational changes. There is no surprise here, as the Heart of Change uses Kotter’s framework and further enhances it with guides and worksheets.
Foreword by Spenser Johnson: One the surface, the story of this book appears to be a fable that is relatively easy to grasp, but it does subtly impart an invaluable lesson on change. The book covers John Kotter’s Eight Steps to bring about successful organizational change and can be equally useful for a high-school student as it is for a CEO of a multi-national organization.
After completing my management core classes, I can look back and see substantial development. Along with the noticeable benefit of receiving formal education in techniques, tools, and information used in organizations, the University of Phoenix’s management program has provided various other material paybacks. Despite a lack of good study skills on my part, UOP quickly became a motivating and rewarding activity. The management program and particularly courses like MGT/330, Management: Theory, Practice and Evaluation, has provided me with a greater understanding of the fundamental reasons for why organizations operate in the manner they do, what factors are used in making important decisions and how organizations produce the values that are used in developing processes and procedures. Even with a substantial background in management, the program helped me develop a renewed perspective of an educated manager. I have also seen development in my attitude toward business as a whole. Human Resource Management, MGT/431, helped with my seeing business as a constant effort between
Trying to motivate and inspire people to make change can be difficult. Many people are stuck in their comfort zone and don’t like making change. There are many factors and obstacles that contribute to this issue, but being aware of these issues and knowing how to address them from the beginning will make for a smoother transition. Kotter (2007) explains eight categories that many companies, organizations, or groups fail at when trying to make and implement changes. In order for your transition during change to be the most successful, you must address each step along the way or people will not be on board with you. The eight stages include: establish a sense of urgency, form a powerful guiding coalition, create a vision, communicate the vision, empower others to act on the vision, plan for and create short term wins, consolidate improvements and produce more change, and institutionalize new approaches. If your change is failing, addressing these eight areas will make your plan more successful. Knowing each step will help leaders from making common mistakes, avoiding unnecessary roadblocks along the way (Kotter 2007).
First of all, as I read through the material for this class I was amazed by the amount of information that was included. I knew some of the information, but not much that was included in the text. The students and I have really gained a lot of beneficial information for ourselves in our daily lives as well as in the workplace. The information has given me a new outlook on the way I will do things in the workplace. I will look at things differently as well as approach them differently. The class had helped me see where I can be a better manager and coach my team better. In doing this my team should be able to work smarter, faster, and be more of a team.
One concept in this course I have learned and it has stuck with me is focusing on employees. Without good relationships with employees and making sure they are happy and acknowledged the work within the company will not get done effectively and efficiently. As a manager, I will make sure that all employees are managed, able to express their
It is generally noted that Albert Einstein once said, “the measure of intelligence is the ability to change”. John Kotter embedded this mindset that continually adapting and evolving can lead to success within the novel Our Iceberg is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Condition. Kotter’s and Rathgeber structural organization allows change management to be introduced through a relatable fable highlighting the needed steps to properly manage a group dealing with change. Tone, approach, and mood management are amongst the areas defined as crucial in managing change and making it acceptable. Kotter also introduces what he defines as The Eight Step Process of Successful Change that are surrounded by the themes of Setting the stage, Deciding what to do, Making it happen, and Making it stick. This novel is the example of how to effectively manage change within an organization as well as individually.
After having earned a master's degree in computer systems and information management, I chose to pursue a career that has given me the opportunity to contribute to projects in China, India, Finland and the United States. From each of these experience's I've been able to see how diverse the global business environment is, and how critically important it is to stay current on the latest managerial, leadership and technological trends. In preparing for the continued growth and trajectory of my career, I am enrolling in the Executive MBA Program to sharpen by existing skills and learn entirely new ones as well.
Following this, the vision must also be communicated through multiple channels, in so constantly communicating the planned changes. Fourthly the employees need to feel empowered. This can be achieved through the reduction of organisational politics and structures, which inhibit the possibility for change. Once this is achieved, it will help the organisation experience support for change and provide motivation. The seventh step is rewarding those who engaged positively with the planned change within the organisation. Finally, links between change, leadership and performance of the organisation should be considered (Palmer, 2006). In light of Kotter’s ‘8 steps’ theory (1995), the Bridges Transitional Models argues that ‘change will not be successful if transition doesn’t occur’ (Bridges, 1995). Furthermore Bridges (1995) states transition is defined as “the ending of something”, thus the first phase of this theory. The following phase is the ‘neutral zone’. The ‘neutral zone’ is a state of confusion between the ‘old and the new’. It is during this phase that people are not ready to welcome, or not confortable with change. It is due to this state that change might be jeopardized if the organisation decides to cease, planned change. However, if the ‘neutral zone’ is completed successfully, many opportunities for creative transformation can be presented. The final phase