Lessons from Leaders

There is much to be said about learning from others.  In my quest to learn more about leading change, I have interviewed a number of people who have been recognized as successful in bringing about change in their respective organizations.  Here are some interesting thoughts that others have shared about leading change. 

 

Sheriff Ed Bonner, of Placer County, says, “Don’t let your ego get in the way.”  Sometimes we as leaders have an idea that we want to implement and believe we know how to best implement it.  In our hurry to implement the idea, we may be closed to other ways of accomplishing the goal.  When we refuse to let go of our way of implementing the idea, we may alienate others and miss better solutions.  Hence, our ego gets in the way and may be the demise of our idea.

 

Mike DiMiceli, Assistant Executive Director, California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, said that many leaders run aground while trying to lead change.  He offered several examples. 

 

First, leaders can underestimate the nature and scope of a change and find themselves not being able to balance the demands of running day-to-day operations, while at the same time leading change efforts that require significant amounts of time and energy.  Often they give too much time to one at the expense of the other.  One way to deal with this is to assign someone the responsibility of guiding the change effort that can give it the time and attention needed.

 

Second, leaders may assume that the approach used to lead one change effort will work in leading another.  The key is recognizing that each change may involve different people who have different perspectives.  Since change is all about people, we need to use an approach in leading change that will work for each group of people.  What works with one group may not work with another.

 

Third, leaders may recognize the need to influence outside stakeholders, but feel that they can direct inside stakeholders.  Directing inside stakeholders, like employees, is rarely as effective as influencing them to support the change.

 

San Jose Police Department’s Chief Joe McNamara, retired, talked about the power of allowing others to participate in the decision-making process.  Chief McNamara established a Participative Management Committee comprised of anyone who wanted to help bring about change. 

 

He believes that approach enabled him to make changes that would never have been possible otherwise.  One example he shared was setting a limit on the amount of time a detective could remain assigned to investigations.  After the established period of time, a detective had to move to another assignment outside of investigations.  This was a significant departure from past practice, as well as unique within the profession.