Leadership and Change

They are providing a vocabulary and context for considering leadership opportunities and discussing them among my networks. The theories of change have underscored the amount of effort, trust, and TIME required to move forward and have encouraged me not to give up too quickly on innovations that I believe to have value to the greater mission. - nan

I believe that K&P will be most helpful to me in the future, for it's easily understood format and simple yet poignant steps toward becoming a good leader allow me to quickly absorb or remind myself of key ideas. I'm sure this book will become a great resource for me.

Many of the other reading assignments have been a little overwhelming and, as a result, created a memory block for me. It's easy to forget the concepts introduced in one difficult reading when necessary to push on to the next difficult one so quickly.

I think the biggest thing that I have been able to take from the class concepts is a new awareness. I'm much more observant of the people I am around and how they work. I use what I see to change how I react and how I deal with others. I have realized just how good of a leader my director is based on the things she does, which sometimes seem like she is a study subject for K&P. This has given me a new appreciation for her and has taught me how I can improve my leadership skills and do the same things.

Currently, I am finishing up my last semester as a grad student and will be writing my thesis this summer. This class is helpful to me as I look ahead and think about what role I want to play in different jobs I will apply for.

I am learning the ways that I am a leader, but also ways in which I will need to grow in order to more effectively create and lead change.

I think that even though I do my fair share of criticizing K & P- that book will continue to be something I refer back to as I am thinking about best practices. It currently helps me understand people who I work with and why like or don't like their leadership styles, which is helpful in thinking about my approaches now and in the future.

Like Jen, I also feel like I am more aware of the organization and leadership of my workplace. I see where improvements might be made and because of this class, I have better sense of how to make those improvements happen. In addition, I also recognize instances where I might have done things differently to reach a certain outcome and can use this knowledge of the past to approach new endeavors differently. Lastly, K&P provide tangible skills that will no doubt stick with me (even in their simplicity).

The process used in blogging has helped me express my thoughts better. It allows me to express my opinion for all to see, but also to make sure it is what I meant to say. In conversation that does not always occur.

My sense was as we have been doing the blog, that this was an important piece to help me in becoming more authentic and allow my wholistic side to show. Blogging it first is almost like practice to help when the chance for conversation arises.

I came into this class without any expectations. I have had an awareness for my thesis that was huge. Reading chapters of books and then reflecting on them felt odd and piece meal, but it occurred to me that it is a resistance to wholeness. I have been thinking it was just my profession that was resisting the shift in paradigms now I suspect it may be everyone. This will give me a new perspective when looking for the blocks to wholeness.

I feel like the concepts and skills that I have been learning are in general keeping me ‘up with the times’. As I mentioned in our first meeting I do not come from an academic background. I was concerned with how I was going to perceive the class and what it was going to really ‘do for me’. It has as other things have broadened my views on what theories; concepts and ideas are currently being used as the ‘buzzwords’ of business.
Irene

I appreciate being exposed to the analysis of what makes leaders effective and the steps needed for good leadership. Previously I was somewhat in the school of thought that leaders were born not made. Now, I realize there are leadership skills that can be learned and refined. Leaders can be developed.

It is encouraging for me that when I do get into a leadership position in the future I will be better armed. For the present time though, instead of a black/white view of leaders, I can now appreciate the subtle shades of gray. I can now look at leaders and and have an idea what they do well and where they can improve.

I think the concept that will have the most lasting effect on my career is Kouzes and Posner's 'Characteristics of Admired Leaders'. The four most common characteristics (Honest, Forward-looking, inspiring and competent) have already impacted the way I approach my career. By measuring myself against these principles I've improved my sense of how effective I'm being as a leader in my job. Although abstract, the principles are easy to relate to and conceptualize, making it easy to use them daily.

Scott Dauner

This course, combined with the Foundations of Ethical Practice Skills Course, reframed my MPA degree plan. I am grateful. The details cannot be posted, but a combination of the course discussions, the lectures, the readings, and the accumulated questions from the first year of study finally resulted in a clearer picture of how I might use this material now and into the future. I am pleased that the many hours, and days, spent teasing the articles apart were well spent.
I have also appreciated the number of out-of-class relationships that are developing, because there are some outstanding and experienced people who are walking the same ground.

I'm still slowly processing the content of this course and assume I will be for a long time to come, but the main concept that's impacting my thoughts on leadership right now is the transitional nature of the role. I think that based on our readings and on the themes of the course, I have a growing awareness of "the big picture" and how different styles of leadership and different skills are applicable in different situations. In addition, things are constantly changing and new innovations constantly arise, so any leader must be a life-long learner.

I'm struggling with the line of theory and practice...but all good leaders should I guess. I mainly signed up for this class to connect with other leaders and to be grounded in leadership theories. I quite regularly implement the K&P reading ideas into my work setting. I'm really enjoying the class and greatly appreciate that the instructor is willing to work with us and implement our feedback!

Provides language and academic precedents with which to further discussions about leadership and how that interfaces with change.

The forum also provides a valuable reminder about the need for context when discussing issues that link with varying knowledge backgrounds. The need to introduce architectural concepts that are "givens" within the College of Design are critical to prefacing my response.

The thoughtful perspective form K&P and the insightful comments from the blogs makes me think about the traditional leadership skills what I've learned in China both at school and in my family. They all connected with each other and provided a new broader concept of leadership and change. This has given me a new awareness of how can I improve my leadership skills in the future.

I have found that the K&P text has offered me a lot of solid "how to" information about leadership. That, coupled with class discussion, have kept the concepts in my mind as I think about leadership, both personally and professionally. I've had a harder time bringing the theoretical course concepts into play, especially the articles on innovation (Harkins & Van de Ven). For myself, the most useful exercise so far was attending the caucuses. We all participated in the same exercise and came away with a great variety of perspectives on models of change and implications for leadership.

This class and the leadership concepts taught within it could not have come at a better time for me professionally. I am currently growing out of the "young, energetic, and unexperienced" box at work and expanding in to a role of "energetic, strategic thinker, new initiative implementor."

I have always felt that I have potentially strong leadership potential within me, but have not always been sure how or when to utilize it. K & P is fairly simple and intuitive and I know will be an outstanding resource for me to re-read and reference as my professional career progresses.

I am currently transitioning out of a leadership position as owner and president during the process of a merger with another organization. In the process, since my interest is to ultimately leave my current industry, part of what I am selling to the other organization is the sales team we have built and the person who manages that team.

My intent is to place my current sales manager into the lead position in the new office that will be created. My role will be developing new business and sales, however I will no longer be the go to person. What a relief.

Before this process is complete, I have to lead the process of buy in from both the members of my organization and from the people who are purchasing our team. Most useful in this process has been the K&P characteristics of good leaders. I sell my team using descriptors like "model the way" "share the vision" etc and tie them back my teamates achievements. I sell the new organization to my team using similar words like visionary and innovative. My self interest is to get out of the way of my team and let them be in charge of the new office.

I'm not sure I would have this mentality or the tools to accomplish it without the learning from this course.

I have been assessing the way I lead my team team and taking examples from K&P and other readings to create more participation, to improve communication, to enhance their learning experiences as well as mine and also for over all improvement. I have been looking beyond my work to other aspects in my life, in both family and volunteer work. Also, I know there are greater changes I would like to take for the "greater good" and hope to work on those ideas.

The skills and concepts taught in this class have served as a motivational tool in getting me to think beyond my comfort zone. The focus on change and personal development in regards to values and goals served as both reinforcement and a challenge to my personal
leadership development.
As the current leader of a women’s group that I have been a part of for more than ten years, this class couldn’t have been timelier. The discussions and readings have enabled me to think and look more closely at the changes we have gone through as a group and what we could do together as a group to deal with the changes we are experiencing. I have been led to help further group discussions on why we are comfortable with what we know as a people and how we can use our current opportunities to embrace change that would help to further our goals as a group.