 |
|
|
|
Government Leader home > news stories
10/18/05
Times of change and upheaval demand 'authentic' leadership
By John L. Guerra
Special to Government Leader
Agency executives trying to guide their teams to success often feel as if they’re walking on shifting sand. Fluctuating budgets, changing political realities, even catastrophic events such as hurricanes force managers to redirect momentum, employees and technology in entirely different directions.
Now there’s a book from the Center for Creative Leadership that offers guidance and tools for managers who must lead employees through institutional and cultural changes, which can upset the way workers approach their jobs and define themselves. It’s a primer for handling the shock to the organization that even minor change can bring.
Leading with Authenticity in Times of Transition ($25, CCL Press, www.ccl.org) teaches managers and top executives how to embrace change and effectively communicate the necessity of new goals and responsibilities to a staff knocked off balance by change.
One of the book’s chief points: Employees may undergo emotional upheaval when the ground shifts beneath them. Denial, anger, confusion, depression—all can pop up within a team. Effective managers will identify what employees are going through and communicate—with authenticity and empathy—that he or she understands how difficult change is.
“It’s difficult to be honest, sincere, empathetic and vulnerable with people who are experiencing loss and lead them to a new place,” said Kerry A. Bunker, who co-authored the book with Michael Wakefield. Certainly, it’s important to empathize with employees, but managers also have goals to meet and employees must come on board to get the job done.
The book offers interactive models, including a “transition leadership wheel” to help leaders maintain balance with the staff’s psychological state during changing times: toughness vs. empathy; optimism vs. realism and openness; self-reliance vs. trusting others; and communicating the right sense of urgency.
|
|
|
![Government Leader[valor]](/images/govleader_smlogo.gif "Government Leader [valor]"){kind=small}
