Spontaneity

Wow…what a week I have had.  First of all, to any of those who read this – I am now ENGAGED!  Yup, Dr. Carter’s wish finally came true for me   Second, I successfully facilitated the first (of many) regional director’s meeting for career services at the Newport News campus last Wednesday.  We stuck to my objectives, accomplished the tasks, and walked away with more motivation than ever.  It is amazing how much can be accomplished in a group when principles of adult learning (HRD) are put in use.  We accomplished so much during a limited time frame (4 hours), and believe this is the beginning of something great for our department.  I will keep everyone posted!

I also wanted to comment on the chapters we were assigned for our next class (which related a bit to my recent endeavors at work).  Schein mentions the anxiety that is associated with change efforts.  I definitely agree and have been part of several change processes that elicited that very emotion.  Yet, when change is pushed forward at my campus…I get the psychological safety from my campus president.  He makes us all feel that the new processes are achievable and possible.  He gives us the comfort and motivation needed to overcome the anxiety aspect.  This actually has occurred recently with the change-over to SACS accreditation…BIG CHANGE!  I admire this aspect of our leader, and hope to have the same effect when I encourage change.  Another interesting question posed by Schein was whether or not organizations can make successful change without some sort of threat or crisis before people will be motivated to make the change.  In my experience, most people tend to make change when they can see it is necessary – basically, during a crisis such as employment percentages dropping off drastically or several people leaving important positions/roles.  I think many people have the “if it aint broke, don’t fix it” kind of attitude.  In my department, it is very difficult to encourage change at this point, since we have been very successful over the last few years.  Some advisers do not see the need to change anything, which is why our past annual meetings have been somewhat of a disappointment.  We spend so much time/effort gearing up for the event and proposing new “best practices”, but in the end…everyone resorts back to their old ways.  Well, after reading Schein and understanding the importance of the LEADER…along with cultural norms, assumptions, etc., I am very confident that I can motivate our department forward.  We have a great team in place…along with some great processes and ideas.  It is now my goal to expand upon our current successes and lead us into the next level…a higher level!