In Preparing Government to Lead Change: Creativity and Innovation Developmental Strategies, I illustrated the difference between change management and leading change using the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Leading Change definition. I then introduced developmental strategies to educate, expose and provide career experiences through the leading change competency of creativity and innovation.
In Preparing Government for Leading Change: External Awareness Developmental Strategies, I explored developmental strategies to demonstrate external awareness. Also, in Preparing Government for Leading Change: Strategies to Demonstrate Flexibility I revealed flexibility in action with learning and career experiences. In addition, opportunities to practice resilience were shared in Preparing Government for Leading Change: Strategies to Build Resilience. And, I shared opportunity planning in the last blog post, Preparing Government for Leading Change: Developing Strategic Thinking.
Vision as a Leading Change Competency
The sixth and last leading change executive competency is vision. As defined by OPM, the executive competency of vision takes a long-term view and builds a shared vision with others; acts as a catalyst for organizational change; and, influences others to translate vision into action.
Should the first leading change competency be vision? How can you lead change if you don’t know how to plan for the future? The prior five competencies identify, test, anticipate, and plan for leading change. Start with creativity and innovation by questioning conventional approaches and encouraging new ideas. Include views of stakeholders and be aware of the organization’s impact on the external environment. Then, use flexibility and resilience to stretch ideas to rapidly adapt new information and test if ideas can recover quickly from setbacks. And, strategic thinking gives you the mindset to lead change by moving creativity into a long-term view by translating vision into action.
Use the power of a vision checklist to first identify an effective vision. To build a shared vision with others, you need to be a catalyst for organizational change to influence others. In chemistry, a catalyst facilitates a chemical reaction or system process without being consumed in the reaction. To lead change, you are a human catalyst to facilitate a reaction within the organizational process without burning yourself out. That is why it is important to integrate the use of all of the leading change competencies to effectively prepare government to lead change. And, when preparing government to lead change, map ways to develop individual, team and organizational vision with learning, coaching and mentoring, and career experiences.
Lead Change by Learning About Vision
Learn about shared vision by taking Building a Culture of Engagement Virtual Training offered by the Partnership for Public Service. Another great course to translate vision into action is Balanced Scorecard Training offered by the Balanced Scorecard Institute. I have also found The Vision Driven Leader: 10 Questions to Focus Your Efforts, Energize Your Team, and Scale Your Business by Michael Hyatt helpful to draft a vision, prepare for resistance and create a shared vision. And, build an actionable three-year plan from a vision with Vivid Vision: A Remarkable Tool for Aligning Your Business Around a Shared Vision of the Future by Cameron Herold. In addition, expand on the tools in creating a vision for your career to build a long-term view and create a shared vision.
Lead Change with Vision Coaching and Mentoring
Bring in certified coaches and facilitators to discuss the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) results and facilitate focus group action planning. And, create partnerships with organizational development experts from local universities to facilitate vision, mission and strategic objectives development sessions with organizational leaders and teams.
Lead Change with Vision Developmental Experiences
The best way to experience vision translated into action is to connect it to business measures. Lead an organizational scorecard activity that tracks execution of the progress toward the goal. This way you are translating organizational data into performance measures. Also, explore opportunities to lead customer service improvement initiatives. And, participate in forecasting by engaging in a workforce planning exercise with experts and various members of your organization.
Prepare government for leading change by starting with creativity and using vision to translate it into action.
You may also be interested in A Roadmap for Leadership Development and Proficiency Levels for Leadership Competencies.
Adelle J. Dantzler, M.S. Ed., has advanced from a GS-3 student worker to a GS-15 Human Resources Specialist in the federal government. She has used her master’s experience in instructional design to create innovative, customized virtual and instructor-led courses and curriculums at the high potential, team leader, GS-15, and senior executive levels at four federal agencies. As a Federal Job Search Trainer/Career Coach, she has successfully coached hundreds on the job search and facilitated career management, leadership and team-building with her certifications as a MBTI® & FIRO-B® Practitioner, Crucial Conversations and InsideOut Coaching Presenter, and EQ-i2.0 and CCL 360 coach.
I loved the chemistry analogy: “In chemistry, a catalyst facilitates a chemical reaction or system process without being consumed in the reaction. To lead change, you are a human catalyst to facilitate a reaction within the organizational process without burning yourself out.” An important point you brought up as folks try to lead change.
So glad you connected with the analogy. I wish we could get this communicated throughout the government. Just imagine if at least 20% of those in the government believed they were human catalysts. Can you imagine the energy that would fuel leading change?