Page 235 - Just Promoted A 12 Month Road Map for Success in Your New Leadership Role

220 Just Promoted!

change to avoid future stagnation. We also begin to look at work and personal
life issues that can benefit you in the process of moving up.

Quick Reminders to Keep You on Track

■ Individuals, groups, and organizations usually are comfortable with the
status quo; they often resist change. Understanding why is fundamental
to being able to plan and execute actions that will improve and
strengthen your organization.
■ The primary aspect of resisting change centers on the resistance to your
leadership agenda. There will always be some people who would prefer
someone other than you at the helm and a different set of priorities.
■ Understanding your organization’s culture, that is, “what it’s really like
around here,” is critical to your early success.
■ Several concepts are important in understanding organizational culture:
1. Whenever people live or work together, they form a culture.
2. Every culture develops unwritten expectations and ways of doing
things, called norms, that are major determinants of the behavior
within that culture.
3. Cultures are not stagnant; they change.
■ The most effective approaches to organizational planned change stress
high levels of employee participation. Your first year in managing a
function will provide you a great opportunity to build involvement, opti-
mism, and hope for the future.
■ Important principles to adhere to in your effort to achieve the objective
of a fully functioning organization include the following:
1. Involve people and build from their individual and organizational
strengths.
2. Model a true commitment to results.
3. Apply diagnostic problem-solving concepts.
4. Focus on changing norms and culture where appropriate.
5. View your organization as a dynamic system.
6. Use positive tension for initiating and managing the movement
toward change.
7. As a leader, assume the role of a catalyst, facilitator, decision maker,
visionary, and leader of momentum.