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The Best Tool For Leaders

Decent Essays

Leadership is about change which can be one of the toughest aspects of any leadership position. The best tool for leaders is to understand the predictable sources of resistance in each situation and then strategize around them.1 Smart leaders invite others into the planning and allow those affected by change to make choices. A leader, must identify the problem, choose the best method to change, develop an alternative solution to the problem, implement the selected alternative, and finally evaluate the decision outcome. Post implementation evaluation determines whether the problem has been fixed as a result of the changes or not, and what improvements are needed for the changes to be more effective.
Resistance to change is normal and should be expected, as it comes from fear of change, uncertainty, and concerns about competence. It can stem from employees’ lack of understanding that the changes are not about them, but the whole organization. For example, they might not feel personally responsible for the patient getting a nosocomial infection because the patient is treated or being taken care of by different staff, clinicians and in different shifts. The case study described how the employees had trouble understanding how wearing a pin or signing postings would help improve patient care. Often the root cause of a problem is not addressed and a more downstream, visible issue is. For instance, the case study explains a method for reducing on-site infections at the root cause,

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