Integrating Change Models and the Theology of Leadership
A sentiment common to almost any organization is that the one fact that remains constant is change. As society changes, and human understanding grows, any organization that maintains a static posture, assures its demise. Churches and Christian organizations are no exception. The gospel may remain the same, but the method for communicating it must speak to the audience to assure understanding. The Christian leader must be prepared to meet this challenge by incorporating an effective model for change into his theology of leadership in order to keep the ministry relevant and effective. Searching for such a change agent can prove to be challenging as well. To aid in this search, four different contemporary change models were selected, and an evaluation of these models yielded those with the most suitable strategies to be coupled with a leader’s theology of leadership in preparation for effective leadership.
Analysis of Contemporary Change Models
Initiating meaningful change in any organization can be difficult in the best of circumstances. In order for any ministry leader to attempt improvement to a ministry structure, establishing the need for a shift in direction is necessary to accomplish the desired goal. The change model used by the leader must also fit his theology of leadership. An analysis of four change models revealed telling characteristics of each, presenting their possible suitability.
Kotter’s Leading Change Model presented a process of eight steps for organizational transformation (Kotter, 2007). These steps include: urgency established, coalition development, vision creation, vision casting, vision action empowerment, creation of short-term wins, consolidation o...
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Leadership within Christian community should be with distinct qualities and traits of an effective Christian leader. The author defined leadership by not focusing on profit when Christ said, “Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.” The author explored the leadership qualities and practices that are not only distinct within the community of Christian leadership but also applicable in any arena of leadership. Significance comes from working with associates and friends. Similarly, the joy of success comes from the journey toward it than its accomplishment. Grace-full leader is a responsive leader who allows an organization to discontinue practices that are no longer effective and replace them with other good ideas and effective methods.
If any organizations want to effectively employ an organizational strategy, they will need leaders who have the abilities to push and circumnavigate change, at the same time guaranteeing that those changes are tenaciously parallel with business goals. The success or failure of a change initiative is determined by more than how it begins and develops, it also entails priming organization for the transformation, and ensuring the parties involved that the change will be successful. In this proposal this author will examine change initiative of a law enforcement organization through the perceptive of the leader and the follower. Moreover, this author will discuss the successes and failures experienced during the change process of the law enforcement organization. Finally this author will discuss the hypotheses and models used to enable the overall change process.
Leading Change was named the top management book of the year by Management General. There are three major sections in this book. The first section is ¡§the change of problem and its solution¡¨ ; which discusses why firms fail. The second one is ¡§the eight-stage process¡¨ that deals with methods of performing changes. Lastly, ¡§implications for the twenty-first century¡¨ is discussed as the conclusion. The eight stages of process are as followed: (1) Establishing a sense of urgency. (2) Creating the guiding coalition. (3) Developing a vision and a strategy. (4) Communicating the change of vision. (5) Empowering employees for broad-based action. (6) Generating short-term wins. (7) Consolidating gains and producing more changes. (8) Anchoring new approaches in the culture.
Spector, B. (2013). Implementing organizational change: theory into practice. (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ
The eight steps of Kotter’s Model of Change include create a sense of urgency, form a coalition or team, create a vision for change and develop strategies to implement the change, communicate the vision and
Toward the end of his book, Hunter shares a phrase with a similar intent of the four domains of Blanchard and Hodges. He writes: “Thoughts become actions, actions become habits, habits become our character, and our character becomes our destiny.” (Hunter, 1998, p. 167). With this quote in mind, Hunter affirms Blanchard and Hodges’s perspective of servant leadership. Both authors concur that by centering one’s life on the love of Jesus Christ, servant leadership will come naturally. When a leader puts their own selfish needs aside and places their trust in God, they will be empowered to spread Christ’s light to all those they meet. Leading in this way mirrors the way Jesus led because it calls for service as a way of
The way person leads a group of people or an organization is key to a successful business or outreach. There are many styles and techniques for a leader to implement. Christian leaders are no exception; some might say being a leader in a church organization can be a more scrutinizing position than other leaders. Since, a church leader has expectations on how they should act or conduct themselves because of the Christian faith. This paper will discuss an interview with a person in leadership brother Larry and will give an account of his leadership approach. Furthermore, what strengths and weaknesses are prevalent according to authors Kouzes and Posner and the model they have in their book, Christian Reflections on The Leadership Challenge.
According to Yoder-Wise (2015), a leader can be defined as, “an individual who works with others to develop a clear vision of the preferred future and to make that vision happen” (p 35). As employees, we often have our own ideal of a good leader, which may be influenced by experiences and perception of workplace norms. While one’s opinion of an effective leader may vary, there are several recognized leadership theories. The following will focus on the transformational leadership approach.
In today’s ever changing world people must adapt to change. If an organization wants to be successful or remain successful they must embrace change. This book helps us identify why people succeed and or fail at large scale change. A lot of companies have a problem with integrating change, The Heart of Change, outlines ways a company can integrate change. The text book Ivanceich’s Organizational Behavior and Kotter and Cohen’s The Heart of Change outlines how change can be a good thing within an organization. The Heart of Change introduces its readers to eight steps the authors feel are important in introducing a large scale organizational change. Today’s organizations have to deal with leadership change, change in the economy,
Change is inevitable and bound to happen in all aspects of life including business. Although change is important in an organization, it can also be seen as a strength and weakness. Effective leadership is about mastering change. One must be willing to change in order to grow and be successful. This paper will compare and contrast Kotter and Kurt Lewin step in their change management models. Furthermore, it will elaborate on the concepts and explain whether these methods can be used at the same time. In addition, this paper will include a Christian worldview of the information discussed and how it relates to the change management models.
With that said, the time has come at OGBC to manage the inevitable transition of welcoming a new pastor. The researcher is an associate minister at OGBC and recognized the need for developing a transition plan to help her church to transition well. Transition is the process of letting go of the ways things used to be and then holding on of the way they subsequently become. William Bridges identifies a place in between the transition process called the “neutral zone”. Bridges suggests that while in the neutral zone people resist the transition because it takes longer (often much longer) than change, and it leaves us in this zone while a replacement reality and a new reality is gradually being formed. The researcher’s church was in the neutral zone for three years until they finally selected a new pastor. The time has come for OGBC to let go of the way things used to be and take hold of the way things have become and then move forward with their new pastor embracing the process for a healthy pastoral transition. Transition is the way that we all come to terms with change. The pastoral transition process does not have to be chaotic thus, this project is develop in the anticipation to make the way smoother for
Kotter, JP 1995, Leading change: why transformation efforts fail. In Harvard Business Review on Change, Harvard Business School Press, Boston.
The change process within any organization can prove to be difficult and very stressful, not only for the employees but also for the management team. Hayes (2014), highlights seven core activities that must take place in order for change to be effective: recognizing the need for change, diagnosing the change and formulating a future state, planning the desired change, implementing the strategies, sustaining the implemented change, managing all those involved and learning from the change. Individually, these steps are comprised of key actions and decisions that must be properly addressed in order to move on to the next step. This paper is going to examine how change managers manage the implementation of change and strategies used
Kotter, J. P. (2007). ‘Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail’. Harvard Business Review, January: 96-103.
When organizational change proves necessary, all people at all levels of the organization should address change as a “how,” “what,” and “why” problem in order for the change to be sustained over time.