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Of Hope and Change

Written by: Bill Gschwind

Article Overview: Leaders everywhere would do well to watch the inauguration through the eyes of change management. The reactions exhibited by attendees and pundits alike parallel those of the people affected by change in your organization.

Of Hope and Change

What a day! Regardless of your political point of view, the peaceful transfer of power that is the cornerstone of the American political system is something to celebrate and watch with awe. In few other countries, and certainly none with the power of the United States, does the government pass from one person and party to the opposition without significant strife. In most countries it occurs at the end of a gun. So whether or not you are a supporter of President Obama’s policies, today is a great day for democracy.

For leaders, this is also a day to observe how people react to change. We will see tears of joy and tears of fear. We will see celebration and grieving. Some will see the coming greatness while others see the coming Armageddon. In these times of change, leaders are responsible for managing the change process and the emotions it elicits. The supporters of the change will see only the benefits and they will refuse to see, or are simply blind to, the potential pitfalls. Those who don’t support the change see only the failure lurking on the horizon. They are incapable of accepting that the change offers opportunities for growth and improvement. If the leader fails to manage this process properly, the result will be a failure to grasp opportunity and serious damage to the culture of the organization.

It’s been 16 years since the United States had an inauguration that was truly celebrated. Midterm inaugurations don’t carry the same anticipation that accompanies a change of presidents. Bush came to office in 2000 amid the trials and tribulations of the Bush-Gore debacle, settled only by a divisive Supreme Court decision. So it’s been since Bill Clinton took office in 1992 that we’ve seen a celebrated change of power, something few of us can remember. The youth so pivotal to the outcome of this election were elementary school children at the time. There was no internet, I-phones, laptop computers. Wow!

So business leaders, executives and supervisors alike, should step back for a moment to observe and learn a few things from this change process. It is your job to marshal change through your organization. While the affect of your actions may have little impact on the country, the impact on your organization is no less impactful, the emotions and expectations of your co-workers no less real. You will create anticipation as planning for the change takes place. When the “change” is to be shared with the team, there will be expectations created by the listeners. Too much hype and the announcement is a let-down. Too little and the impact becomes magnified and distorted. Either way, they will watch to see what follows the announcement either clamoring to get on board and yawning and exclaiming, “Same story, different week.” “Wait a minute and this too will pass.

It is too early to draw conclusions about the new president’s inauguration address. But when change management is your job, watching what the nation goes through and learning from the observations will make you better and more effective at moving your organization into uncharted territory.

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Article Tags: armageddon, awe, bill clinton, bush gore, business leaders, change leaders, debacle, government pass, greatness, inauguration, laptop computers, obama, peaceful transfer, potential pitfalls, presidents bush, strife, supreme court decision, tears of fear, tears of joy, trials and tribulations
Referred by: http://www.processspecialist.com/



Related Forum Posts
Re: Spellcheck? - [quote="TheAnonymousMan":2f894q6j]When discussing the majority of people I would definitely say that most people hit the "Change" or "Ignore" button without thinking too much about the correct spelling of a word. All bosses are concerned about is getting the report to the Directors meeting on time.[/quote:2f894q6j] That probably depends on what the "majority" are trying to accomplish. I have word set to alert me about misspellings and grammatical problems, so I fix most as I go. But I also add names etc to the dictionary because I get tired of seeing the red and green squiggles when I know the info is right. If you're only going to click "Change" or "Ignore" then why bother to take the time to use spell check????? Business people that I work for want the info compiled in a timely manner and they want it right - which is fine because that's the way I strive to do any project. Sending out a memo, letter, report etc with obvious spelling and grammatical mistakes makes the person and the company look bad as far as I'm concerned. Shri
Re: e-Commerce and e-Payment providers - Hi GT It is only fairly recently that people in South Africa have been able to get full use of Paypal as we were only able at one time to make payments but not receive them. Fortunately this has now changed. I have received money through Global X Change for one of the affiliate programs that I promote and have found them pretty good as the money is normally transferred directly into my bank account within 2-3 days and I have not had any problems with them. MichelleJ
Re: Team, Need your Help . . . . - You're welcome. Hope it helps a little!
Re: Hello World! :) Newbie here! - Welcome! Hope to see you around frequently.
Re: Obama Wants Social Security for Illegals - [quote="Alan Mater":3kaa8sg4] Obama WILL make changes... but they're not the changes we as a country need or should look forward to.[/quote:3kaa8sg4] Sad but this is exactly how I feel about it. Change is coming - but unless I'm really wrong, it is not a change this country needs. Amazing how much a good speaker with a good speech writer can do. If you paid attention to the things he said "off script" - much of it is frightening. Chris


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