Analysis : Office For Environmental Programs

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.

“The images, metaphors, or frames that we hold, both of managing and of change, influence our ideas of what we think managing change is all about” (Palmer, Dunford, & Akin, 2009). As people we all see through our own eyes, we call see a different perspective and have a different reaction to what is coming next. As human beings we react differently to situations. Situations of change are transitions that some are able to adapt to quickly while others have a hard time. Being the leader of that change can be difficult and helping make a change does not come easily or effectively. Keep and Newcomer (2008)

Leaders change systems, structures and policies that have not yet been confronted. They hire, promote and develop employees who can implement the vision for change. In addition, they revitalise the process with a new round of projects or change agents.(Cengage Learning AUS, 2015)

This will allow me to collect qualitative data about each community in order to determine how they view climate change and what solutions they pose. In total, I plan to survey about 20 individuals in both Larrakia and the Charles Darwin University. These interviews will last 45 minutes to an hour. I will, with permission, record each interview with a tape recorder in addition to taking handwritten notes. A challenge that may occur during the interviews is the amount of knowledge the participants have on current sustainability laws and programs in Australia. They may not be well versed in such policy matters. Additionally, depending on what the students at the university are studying, they will have varying knowledge on climate change and policy. To alleviate this problem, I will provide a brief overview about the different initiatives Australia has taken to combat global warming before each interview.

In today’s business world, one of the most important contributing factors to the overall success of an organization is the effectiveness of their leadership. Effective leaders carry with them a strong skill set along with a broad knowledge base gained from experience that allows them to effectively and efficiently manage change initiatives. An organization that possessing an effective leadership team is more likely to experience success, especially it comes to creating effective change. The leaders’ role is crucial during a change

Organizations must respond to their internal and external environment. Therefore, organizational success heavily relies on leaderships ability to manage change. Unfortunately, many leaders struggle to effectively lead change initiatives. In fact, Ashkenas (2013, para. 1) reported 60 – 70% of organizational change initiatives fail to meet their objectives.

These environmental challenges are so hard to overcome because different people do not want to spend money and time fixing the same dilemmas. A common belief is that these problems are not going to matter anytime soon, so we have no reason to care. However, this is incorrect. We need to act now in order to move past

Leadership is critical when executing a strategic change initiative. By differentiating leadership and management, leadership styles and the key factors of change we can better understand what should be done to successfully lead change. Success is not obtained through leadership alone but by developing a group of individuals from all levels of the organization who work together as a team. . (Leban and Stone, 2007)

Environmental change is a logical certainty, and progressively a lived human concern. However, it is not yet what everybody should call social-global problem in one voice. It's not an essential almost we shape our social practices, nor a sufficiently huge social standard to go about as an imperative on our conduct. Around the planet there is developing energy to characterize environmental change as a security issue and thus as a motivation topping issue that merits noteworthy consideration and assets. Calls for movement are developing - yet at the same time outlined activities to address the issue has a cost or weight that will hamper business and go about as a drag on the economy.

Large scale change is not a simple matter, the complexity and many moving parts can be distilled down into a couple models, however pulling off a successful transformation is extremely challenging. Unfortunately, the odds are not good for change. Research by John Kotter revealed that only thirty percent of change programs succeed. The main reasons for the failures are not related to resources or budgets, but behavior and more specifically, employee resistance and management behaviors that do not support the intended changes. These are the two leading causes that result in seventy percent of failures. Kotter first reported on this dismal success rate back in 1995, and quite honestly, there has been little progress at advancing the success of

John Kotter, a leading advocate and educator in change initiatives, expresses two essential characteristics that must be present in any change initiative. First, any change that is considered to be useful and necessary must go through a multi-step process that will transcend obstacles in its way. Second, it is essential that any change initiative must be lead by effective leadership (Kotter, 1996). However, any leader in a change initiate must reconcile the reality that a major component to mankind’s instinctive nature is that people have an inherent need for predictability and order (Hogan, 2007). Leaders must, therefore, consider that initiatives may be experienced in ways that contradict this basic need leading to employee resistance (Bernerth, 2011). Considering such a potential obstacle, Kotter developed an eight-stage change process to guide organizations through initiatives in ways that may retain employee stability and enable employees to maintain a sense of identity and understanding (Huy, 1999).

The book The Heart of Change shows the practical side of the theories that are taught in the course textbook. It presents stories of successes and failures based in the application of concepts discussed in Organizational Behavior and Management and in class. Although we talked about several different concepts the ones that are evident in the examples in The Heart Of Change are the more progressive and individual centered approaches. The leadership characteristics that are important to successful change in an organization are those that are espoused in the transformational theory of management. It makes sense that ideals in line with the transformational management theory

Over the course of the next 15 years there are very simple yet, crucial strategies that must be in place to amend not the foundational goals of America or the American dream but rather, the means of achieving it. This calls first for a new approach to the environmental movement: disregard everything that has been labeled and stigmatized as environmentalism. Instead the education infrastructure must be replaced with the institution of logic and respect for

Change is a double-edged sword (Fullan, 2001). Change is a word that might inspire or put fear into people. Leadership is challenging when it comes to dealing with change and how individuals react within the organization to the change. Marzano, McNulty, and Waters (2005) discuss two orders of change in their book School Leadership that Works; first and second. Fullan (2001) also adds to the discussion in his book Leading in a Culture of Change, with regard to understanding change. In Change Leadership, Keagan and Wagner (2006) discuss many factors of change and the systematic approach to change. Change affects people in different ways. Leaders need to be able to respond to the individuals throughout the change process.

In order to move forward and keep ahead, I believe an organization need change leaders who have capabilities to have their workforce go from change avoidance to change acceptance. “One of the most significant strengths of an effective leader is the ability to create a positive work climate where people are energized to do their best work, free of unnecessary distractions” (Cronkite, n.d.). During this part of the change process I feel the change leader would have better success if he would be tactful and harness the skills of others by working in a collaborative rather than hierarchical way. Leadership in an organization involves instilling motivation and enthusiasm in the employees. An effective leader knows how to manage and tackle difficult situations and people. Many reasons can cause a force of change in organizations but I feel it’s up to change leaders to manage these planned and unexpected changes. (Word count: 548)