Avoiding Leadership Blind Spots

In the Exchange article, "Helping Employees Cope with Change," Lorraine Schrag, Elyssa, and Tedi Siminowsky discuss director blind spots as a problem with making change happen…

“More often than not, when teachers resist a new idea, they are not so much opposed to the idea itself, as they are anxious about the social consequences of the change. They may be concerned with how this change will affect their relationship with the children, whether it will keep them from working closely with teachers they enjoy, whether it will force them outside their comfort zone to work in an area where they lack expertise.

“If the director is so preoccupied with the logistics of implementing the change that she fails to see such social and emotional impacts of change, no amount of haranguing on the merits of the idea will overcome teachers' resistance. When signs of resistance appear, the director may find it helpful to talk to concerned staff members on a one-to-one basis to explore their feelings about the change. An alternative is to pull aside teachers who have already bought into the change and ask for their views on what it is that is causing some staff members to fight the idea. Only when the director has overcome her blind spots and seen the root causes of resistance can she begin to work toward successful implementation of the change.”

This full article appears on our web site at http://mail.ccie.com/go/eed/890

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