#151 - Build Your Model for Leadership and Leading Change - Marsha Acker
Oct 9, 2023
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Marsha Acker, author of 'Build Your Model for Leading Change' and host of 'Defining Moments of Leadership' podcast, shares insights on building a model for leadership and leading change. Topics covered include challenges for organizations in making changes, David Kantor's theories on structural dynamics and functional awareness, communication challenges, and the three different models leaders need to think about.
Prioritizing genuine dialogue and effective communication is crucial for facilitating meaningful change in organizations.
Creating a personal model for leadership, encompassing behavior, leadership style, and approach to change, is vital for navigating change effectively.
Effective communication requires dedicating time and effort to understand the underlying dynamics, separating the 'what' from the 'how,' and fostering dedicated dialogue.
Deep dives
The Importance of Effective Conversation and Communication
One of the main challenges in organizations is the lack of focus on creating space for real conversation and effective communication. By attending to the surface-level topics and neglecting deeper levels of conversation, organizations hinder their ability to facilitate meaningful change. It is crucial for leaders to prioritize communication and develop the skills needed to engage in genuine dialogue, below the surface level. By doing so, they can foster understanding, address challenges, and propel their teams towards successful change.
Building Your Personal Model for Leadership and Change
Creating a personal model for leadership is essential in navigating change effectively. Leaders should reflect on their own models for behavior, leadership, and living, and understand how these models shape their approach to leading change. By embracing self-awareness and evolving their models, leaders can refine their leadership range and communicative competence, adapting their behavior based on the demands of the situation. The model for leading change should align with the leader's overall model, emphasizing the importance of effective communication and behavior in driving and sustaining desired organizational change.
The Challenging Nature of Communication
Communication can be challenging due to the misconception that it is a skill everyone has mastered. This belief prevents individuals and organizations from prioritizing communication development. Without dedicating time and effort to improve communication, individuals resort to tools, processes, and techniques, overlooking the underlying dynamics of communication. Slowing down conversations, separating the 'what' from the 'how,' and carving out dedicated time for dialogue can help address these challenges and foster effective communication.
Nurturing Your Leadership Range and Autonomy
Developing a leadership model involves expanding one's leadership range and embracing autonomy. Leaders should analyze their tendencies and strengths while challenging themselves to step outside their comfort zones. This involves distinguishing between imitation, constraint, and autonomy in discovering their unique leadership style. By acknowledging the importance of range and continuously evolving their leadership approach, leaders can adapt to various situations and effectively lead change in their organizations.
Creating a Life Worth Living and Leading Change
Leadership extends beyond the professional realm, with a model for living influencing a leader's approach to change. Defining what constitutes a life worth living and understanding personal purpose and values are crucial in achieving balance and fulfillment as a leader. By aligning personal and professional models, leaders can bring authenticity and a sense of purpose to their approach to leading change. Establishing clarity around what needs to change and understanding how change occurs, such as emphasizing communication and behavior, enables leaders to effectively navigate and drive meaningful change.
“Leading change is high stakes, but we don’t spend a great deal of time focusing on conversation and creating space to engage in real conversation."
Marsha Acker is the author of “Build Your Model for Leading Change” and the host of “Defining Moments of Leadership” podcast. In this episode, we discussed building our own model for leadership and leading change. Marsha first started by sharing the concept of a model and some of the common challenges for organizations in making changes. Then we discussed David Kantor’s theories on structural dynamics and functional awareness for understanding behavioral model, which include the concepts of leadership range and communicative competence. Marsha outlined what makes communication so challenging and what we can do to achieve a more effective communication. Towards the end, she shared the three different models that leaders need to think about, i.e. model for leadership, model for living, and model for leading change.
Listen out for:
Career Journey - [00:03:54]
Defining Moments of Leadership Podcast - [00:10:14]
Building Our Model - [00:14:11]
Challenges for Making Organization Change - [00:19:48]
Behavioral Model - [00:23:57]
Structural Dynamics - [00:27:30]
Functional Awareness - [00:33:01]
Communication Challenges - [00:38:12]
Model for Leadership - [00:40:55]
Model for Living - [00:44:12]
Model for Leading Change - [00:46:10]
3 Tech Lead Wisdom - [00:54:44]
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Marsha Acker’s Bio Marsha Acker is the founder and CEO of TeamCatapult, an executive & leadership team coach, author, speaker, facilitator, and the host of Defining Moments of Leadership Podcast. Marsha’s unparalleled at helping leaders identify and break through stuck patterns of communication that get in their way of high performance. She is known internationally as a facilitator of meaningful conversations, a host of dialogue and a passionate agilest. She is the author of The Art and Science of Facilitation: How to Lead Effective Collaboration with Agile Teams and Build Your Model for Leading Change: A guided workbook to catalyze clarity and confidence in leading yourself and others.
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