Abstract:

There have been a multitude of reform efforts that have been tried in both public schools and higher education institutions with few results of improvement. There have been a plethora of reform efforts such as quality management, continuous improvement, restructuring, turn-around schools, data-informed decision-making and teacher evaluation changes.

Leading change is difficult. Researchers are now investigating how the trust factor, lack of social agency, and churn of champion leaders have thus far resulted in little demonstrable change.

This presentation investigates the current research regarding institutional change, the effects of leadership churn and the importance of empowering relationships within the organization on building trust and collaborative networks to establish the needed resilient culture.

In order for an organization to thrive, trust probably is the most important factor. Without trust, fear and uncertainty permeate the organizational culture. Hiring a champion leader can lead to the empowerment of employees, thus beginning the first stage of building a resilient culture. The champion leader establishes a guiding coalition of people to work together to bring about the necessary change, because no single individual, no matter how talented, can bring about this change without help. The people selected by the leader to assist, whether within or outside the organization, must be individuals of high credibility. These partners in the change process must possess four key characteristics according to Kotter: positional power, expertise, credibility and leadership.1

The major goal of these partners for change is to engender trust, collaboration, and elevate relationships throughout the organization, including staff as well as faculty. Institutional practices promoting self-efficacy throughout the organization must be of highest priority. This relationship building must be authentic rather than the phony efforts often instituted in organizations.

In addition to building relationships, the partners for change must establish a sense of urgency for change and revisit the vision, mission, core values and smart goals of the organization. They must ensure the vision, mission, core values and smart goals are aligned.

The presenters will provide materials and resources to enable audience members to diagnose the current status of the organizational culture in their own settings and to provide strategies and techniques to build a resilient culture that fosters positive relationships, trust and culture.

References:
[1] Kotter, John (1996). "Leading Change." Boston: Harvard Business School Press, p. 57.

Keywords:

Institutional change, resilient culture, promoting self-efficacy.